PAAs do connect

In my letter last week, I incorrectly stated that the three PAAs were not contiguous, when in fact, they do connect in a several square block area in the middle. However, it does not change my opinion that incorporation of the PAA will not work. The size is too big, the geographic area’s too spread apart and heavily weighted on East and West, and there is too large of a population to incorporate without the commercial income. It would require burdensome taxes and it would be irresponsible to duplicate services when another city is willing to annex. Kirkland did cherry pick the commercial zones and while it may have been a strategy to build up income in order to move forward with the full annexation, it has proved to be a disastrous decision now.

Cami Keyes, Kirkland

Seattle’s tunnel

Seattle has poor leadership if they wish to pursue a tunnel beneath the water level of Puget Sound on Alaska Way. Although it has not been clearly defined, there is a newly discovered shear fault line perpendicular to the direction of Alaska Way. If this is true, a shear earthquake could destroy the tunnel and all the motorists within it. I would not use the tunnel.

Larry E. Johnson, Kirkland

A story true to our times

During the Great Depression of the twenties and thirties, a Cincinnati newspaper reported a story that may or may not be true, but it may well apply in these times:

An immigrant from Europe landed in the U.S. About the time his son was in college, the great Wall Street market exploded. The immigrant had started a hot dog stand and was doing great. He and his wife ran the business and were able to pay the tuition for his son to complete his college education. When the young man came home from college, he said to his dad, “Dad, don’t you know there is a depression going on?” This upset his dad and as a result he seemed to not pay as much attention to his business.

I think we have millions of bright people in this country and I suggest that as time goes on many of these people will get busy and become successful such as the noted immigrant and our country will succeed again. Good luck to these young people.

Emert A. Browning, Kirkland

Stimulus plan is really just a spending plan

The stimulus plan being debated in Washington takes taxpayers’ money out of productive areas in the private sector and puts it into the make-work public sector. It didn’t work in the 1930’s and it won’t work now. The plan would fix prices, even though economics teaches us that socialist price controls never work. Let prices drop so that they reflect economic reality.

Jeff E. Jared