Correspondence: June 24

Correspondence: June 24

staff
June 24, 2010

Quincy City Council should not get involved with Crescent Bar

The Crescent Bar residents will be presenting their plan for the island on July 6 to the Quincy City Council.

If their plan includes residents, the Council members must not get involved. FERC in all of their communications to GCPUD Commissioners has said continuously “no residents.” The PUD must follow FERC’s instructions. They have no choice. It is a done deal. We must stand behind the PUD Commissioners.

If the Crescent Bar residents really care about Quincy, Grant County and more importantly the island, they would “let go” and move on.

We, the City of Quincy citizens who are Grant County PUD ratepayers, are not the only ones who are owners of Crescent Bar Island. Our fellow Grant County residents who are ratepayers are also owners. We have a responsibility to all ratepayers and all people of Grant County to do it right this time. We must ensure the future generations of all income levels an affordable paradise to build their loving family memories.

— Gayle Sorlien

North Central Regional Library gratified by court’s decision on pornography

The Board of Trustees of the North Central Regional Library opposes censorship at its most fundamental level and we strive in all our decisions to support our mission, “To promote reading and lifelong learning.” We affirm the right of all people to use our libraries safely without fear of others using library computers to commit illegal acts, harass employees or expose children and others to unwanted assaults of inappropriate behavior.

The lawsuit brought by the ACLU against the library, Bradburn et.al vs. North Central Regional Library, raises profound issues. While pornography can be lawful and constitutionally protected information, we believe that it is inappropriate to include it in the library’s collections. Accessing internet pornography at the library has the potential to harm our children and other patrons. Library employees deserve workplaces free of pornography and the behavior it sometimes inspires.

We believe our patrons expect us to provide resources and facilities that are conducive to contemplative thought and intellectual stimulation. We also believe the public wants the Board of Trustees to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars that support the North Central Regional Library. However difficult and controversial, we will not abdicate the responsibility to make these important decisions.

We are gratified by the Washington State Supreme Court’s recent decision that “just as a public library has discretion to make content-based decisions about which magazines and books to include in its collection, it has discretion to make decisions about internet content.” Our commitment to the communities of North Central Washington remains, as always, to exercise this discretion faithfully and with the utmost integrity.

—The Board of Trustees of the North Central Regional Library, Deborah Moore, Chair, Grant County, et. al.

Lynn Beltz, Ferry County

Jim Brucker, Okanogan County

Gail Huntley, Grant County

Alec McKay, Douglas County

Jennifer Maydole, Chelan County

Barbara Wolff, Chelan County