Letters to the Editor

The Editor:
I don’t want a long mushy letter in here, I just want to take a minute to ask everyone to pray, please pray hard for Kyle Quist, he is such and good person and unique individual and a friend and his wreck is effecting so many people so strongly, none of us are ready to have to let him go. Maybe if we can all pray hard enough we can send God a strong message letting him know that he is still needed on earth!  Pray for his family who is doing a wonderful job holding it together down at the hospital and pray for him to pull through. We just have to look at this as just a minor bump in his, and our, road of life! We love you Kyle, stay strong baby, we still need you! I’m not giving up faith until God makes his final decision! Love always, Waffty
Lora Broyan
Blaine

The Editor:
When Dave Gallion spoke at the candidate’s forum at the Blaine Senior Center last Monday, I was impressed by his calm, thoughtful manner, and by his years of experience in management, including management of volunteers, his expertise in budgeting, and his service on Blaine’s planning commission. Dave has the time and the intellectual resources to be a real asset on the Blaine City Council; I’m going to vote for him, and I hope you will, too.
Janet G. Hansen
(Blaine City Council member 1988 to
1995)
Blaine

The Editor:
Thank you to The Northern Light for holding the candidate’s forum last Tuesday evening at the Blaine Senior Center. It provided the public an opportunity to meet the candidates and ask them specific questions.
The manner in which the forum was conducted was conducive to a friendly exchange of ideas. It appeared that most people had an opportunity to hear a response to their question(s).
It became apparent from the discussions that the city of Blaine has specific financial challenges that it must resolve. This was recognized by all city council candidates. The solutions may not be easy but at a minimum those in attendance are aware of the situation.
Dennis M. Olason 
Blaine

The Editor:
The siege of Blaine: The October 18 issue of The Northern Light described how southbound border traffic will leave I-5 at the D Street off-ramp and proceed south on Peace Portal Drive to the I-5 on-ramp near Blaine Road.
This 18-month long derangement is gonna make the evacuation in New Orleans look like a stroll in the park. There will be an unimaginable disaster up and down Peace Portal Drive and throughout Blaine’s once sleepy streets. The Peace Portal and Blaine Road intersection is already a circus, even without a long train blocking the tracks. Now picture that intersection with gridlock in every direction including traffic jammed onto I-5 exit 274 and dangerously backed up onto the highway.
I suggest that the police department hire more folks for traffic control and road rage incidents, insurance companies should base collision adjusters downtown 24/7, and St. Joseph Hospital base a medivac helicopter at Blaine’s famous airport.
R. Warsofsky
Blaine
(Correction: The on-ramp that will be used is the one at Peace Portal and Marine Drive.)

The Editor:
I wish more people had attended the candidate’s forum. They would have seen David Gallion as a thoughtful, quietly, confident council candidate.
The planning commission has proved to be a good training ground for such past councilors as Dieter Schugt and Kathy Stauffer, and now for David Gallion and Harry Robinson as well.
Gallion convinced me that he really does have the ability, time and drive to do a good job for us. It was also evident that Kathy Stauffer will be a very effective fire commissioner. Please vote.
Alma Wagner, former mayor
and council member
Blaine

The Editor:
Election time is upon us. We began to pay increasing attention to Blaine politics a few years ago, and for the last few years have been to many of the city council meetings. Having respected John Liebert for many years, we were not surprised to see the dedication and tenacity that he brought to the job.
We were very interested in getting to know the other members of council as well. Two years ago, a candidate named Jason Overstreet was elected to council that we didn’t know as well as the other council members.
As his term progressed, it was evident that Jason cared about his responsibilities to the city and that he respected feedback and input from the citizens. As we began to know him personally, Jason’s persistence in reading every piece of literature that came his way and in doing thorough research on every issue before him, inspired my husband, Scott Dodd, to want to serve his city, as well.
Scott will be on council this next year and is eager to follow Jason’s example of stewardship and responsible accountability for the people and the issues of this city. We are eager for this new era. We are imploring the voters of Blaine to elect socially responsible representatives who do care about the issues and who do their homework in respect to the budget and to the impact of their decisions on this community and its financial future. Jason has been good for the city, just look through the council minutes, and you’ll quickly see how intelligent and conscientious he is. We support him and look forward to our future in the council. Go Borderites, Go!
Alanna Dodd
Blaine

The Editor:
I have great respect for both the authority and professionalism of those who protect our security. 
Nevertheless, there is a philosophy of implied national values in Ms. Fearon’s statement in The Northern Light (Oct. 18-24) that we, as Americans, need to question: that security is a priority.
The U.S. became the greatest economic and political power in the world precisely because its founders, from Jamestown on, were willing to accept overwhelming odds of failure in order to pursue their dreams of a future. Had new settlers demanded even 50 percent survival odds, probably most would not have made the transoceanic trip. It was this same “Oregon or Bust” determination that drove a new nation west, littering the Oregon Trail with graveyards along the way. Risk-taking, until recently, has been the defining gene in our national DNA. History has probably always been on the side of risk-takers.
Through sheer coincidence, I arrived to both Madrid and London immediately after major terrorist events there. In Spain, particularly, I was drawn into many private and public debates about whether their country should tighten their borders, turn defensive and self-reliant and reverse course in the EU, or continue to pursue a course of increased internationalization. Within days after the Atoche bombing, Spaniards adamantly chose to reaffirm their global future rather than succumb to nationalist fears naturally induced by such acts of terrorism, and voted in a new government. In both England and Spain, I was struck by how quickly people wanted to get on with the future rather than react to or dwell on the past, even though wounds were literally not yet healed.
Just as America was once the country where risk-takers emigrated to pursue their visions, other parts of the world are now tolerating higher levels of risk to their security in order to support what they perceive as the inevitable, if not entirely desirable, process of globalization.
While the U.S. builds a fence on its southern border and new entry ports in the north, Europe is investing in strategies to remove borders to ever expanding frontiers. One has only to compare international currencies over the past couple of years to understand whose side history, as always, is on.
I am not sanguine about risks to our national security. I simply do not believe that short-term security should be a driving motive in our national consciousness.
The issue for me is not the inconvenience of a waiting line; it is the long-term threat that history does not reward risk avoidance. Americans need to rearrange its priorities. We should have no patience with anything that deters our effort to engage with the rest of the world or the future. 
Bob Selby 
Blaine

The Editor:
I am writing to urge all qualified citizens of Blaine to vote for Harry Robinson for City Council Ward 2 Position 4. 
Over the past five years, I have had the pleasure of working with Harry on the Blaine planning commission. As a planning commissioner, Harry has consistently shown his ability to listen to, understand and respect our local citizens’ concerns regarding development regulations and proposals, to pinpoint and analyze important land use and zoning issues, and to render decisions that are in the best interests of our community.
Harry also supports the current procedure whereby our planning commission, appointed as the result of a democratic process, can be trusted to make local, community-based decisions and recommendations regarding certain land use and development proposals.
As a Blaine city councilor, Harry will bring his exceptional knowledge, skills and experience to a broader range of issues now facing our city.
I have full confidence that Harry will effectively represent the best interests of the city of Blaine and those of us residing in Ward 2. A vote for Harry is a vote for honesty, reliability and integrity on the city council.
Jeff Arntzen
Blaine

The Editor:
In The Northern Light (October 18-24, 2007), Ms. Hobberlin’s letter to the editor begins with the campaign slogan “Let’s be wild about Harry,” and then goes on to explain the reasons why she supports Mr. Robinson.
The reasons given, as well as Mr. Robinson’s campaign ad, both describe the qualities and traits of a very fine citizen. They don’t tell me what Mr. Robinson’s vision is for Blaine’s future.
For me to “be wild about Harry,” I must understand Mr. Robinson’s vision, which hopefully has been formed through his 14 years of living in the community and his understanding of Blaine’s challenges. He should clearly articulate his vision and the strategy needed to achieve it.
In this cynical political season, I would love to “be wild about Harry” or any other candidate.
It would help me greatly to be informed of his accomplishments during his seven years as Blaine’s planning commissioner and how that experience informs his plans to “create a city of which we can all be proud.”
Precisely because he is running unopposed, the onus is on Mr. Robinson to educate us all about his plans.
Carolina Selby
Blaine

Editor’s Note: Some out-of-town letters were cut because of space constraints.

Letters Policy
The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank-you letters should be limited to 10 names. A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please send your letter to:
225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 or fax 360/332-2777.
E-mail:editor@thenorthernlight.com

Letters Policy

The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank you letters are limited to five individuals or groups. A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please email letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com