Letters to the Editor

Letter to the editor

According to the latest census data, Garfield County has the smallest number of residents in Washington State. Of all the counties, Garfield County is where you can be sure every vote counts. Levies are passed and lost by a minimum number of votes and our hospital levy is one where every vote counts.

If you have traveled the back roads of Washington, you will see communities struggling, which were once viable hubs of commerce. When healthcare and schools are lost, a community struggles to maintain services. Pomeroy is the county seat and the only town in Garfield County responsible for our healthy community. Our healthcare system which supports residents and staff in Pomeroy is vital to maintaining our community. It only takes one healthcare crisis to realize the importance of our emergency room and medical staff close to home. It takes everyone casting a vote to be one of the 60% required to maintain our facilities in Garfield County.

Vonni Mulrony

Pomeroy, Wash.

To the editor,

By way of comment on the “Survey will open grant doors” article in the February 20 East Washingtonian:

Reporter Dotty Van Vogt quotes City Council member Mike Cassetto as having said, with respect to zoning non-compliant (commercial) buildings code enforcement, that “I have a bad feeling about this”.

Well said, Mr. Cassetto, well said, indeed. So do I.

I am the unfortunate owner of 1½ storefront properties on the odd side of the 700 block of Main Street. As such, by my own informal survey I count almost twenty Main Street commercial properties between 5th and 10th Streets which may arguably be vacant, in warehousing use, or be occupied by dormant or moribund business enterprises. A situation not all that different from the one in many other small farm towns in the Palouse, including Dayton and Colfax.

I’m not unsympathetic to the well-intentioned aspiration to “turn Pomeroy around” from what appears to be an inexorable slide into a bedroom/retiree community. However, I question whether rousting commercial property owners to do more than to keep up the appearance and security of their buildings will have any more effect on our Main Street situation than have any number of other such past initiatives. More neon signs, perhaps?

I also question whether sabre-rattling under threat of criminal sanctions against commercial property owners has any legitimate place in a small farm town. Such threats engender far more ill will than good. The economic headwinds against the remediation of the dire infrastructural condition of many Main Street buildings blow strongly, given their decades of past neglect. Shoddy Infrastructural maintenance, frequently foregone in favor of duct tape and baling twine cosmetic work, the list goes on. The interior demolition costs to sort out past neglect frequently exceed the assessed value of the building.

Given the dearth of credible, qualified, and substantial interest in the leasing of Main Street commercial space, serious-minded attention to the numberless deficiencies in such buildings becomes, beyond a certain point, mere stranded investment, quite above and beyond the cost of vacant commercial building fire and casualty insurance.

Even in larger cities where the “vacant commercial building problem” has been considered over a period of years–New York, San Francisco, San Antonio (Texas), e.g.–it’s been conceded that the economic reasons for commercial property vacancies are considerably more complex than they might appear to be at first blush.

There’s more to be said on this subject, of course. Much more. Perhaps at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum.

Christopher K. Muñoz

Pomeroy

To the editor,

The SEWEDA Board would like to encourage the residents of Garfield County to vote “Yes” on the special hospital levy April 28. Though there are many reasons to approve this measure, we would like to focus on two.

Our county is served by Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and is served quite well. They presently respond to accidents and medical events in Garfield County under the direction of our Fire District. The funds to support the EMTs come from regular local property tax assessments.

If the Garfield County Hospital ceased to exist, the EMT’s role would be significantly impacted. The frequency of calls would increase because City residents would no longer have the local facility to take themselves to. In addition, many patients that are served by the EMTs are transported to the local hospital for further evaluation and treatment. Without the hospital, these patients would have to be transported to the Valley, requiring more time, and money, in every case.

The Fire District will need to fund an increase in paid hours, manpower, and additional equipment, including an additional ambulance. From a taxpayer perspective, the money saved by not having to support a hospital levy would at least in part be offset by the likelihood of the Fire District having to run their own special levy. In addition, there are numerous studies which indicate to varying degrees the importance of getting to a hospital quickly. Stabilizing a patient prior to transport is an important part of the process.

Secondly, the loss of the hospital would negatively impact our local economy. The hospital presently maintains a minimum staff of 75 people, most of whom reside in Pomeroy. The resulting unemployment of a failed levy will impact our retail market and may create a situation where people are moving out of town. Ironically, the timing of this event coincides with the efforts of the City and SEWEDA to create more opportunities for people to live and work in Pomeroy.

It might be easy to take the economic impact factor lightly and pass it off as not important to you. But small towns and rural communities throughout the United States are looking for ways to strengthen their economies, provide a better quality of life, and build on local assets. As the largest employer in Garfield County, the hospital plays a vital role in our economic future.

Like many rural medical institutions, the Garfield County Hospital is faced with multiple challenges. As the administration continues to work with the community to achieve the goal of providing quality professional service, they are going to need the appropriate resources. The SEWEDA Board urges you to vote yes on the Hospital Levy.

Garfield County SEWEDA Board:

Jack Peasley, Grant Morgan, Port of Garfield, Matt Newberg, Jim Harris, Brian Bartels, Ashley Dixon, Rachel Anderson, Mike Cassetto, Justin Dixon.