Letters

Thanks to James Bush for his timely "Parks Horror Story" (4th & James, 9/17). While Bush was listening to park neighbors, another horror story was unfolding at that exact moment at Golden Gardens Park, at a meeting on the proposed installation of two 300-watt floodlights at the park's off-leash area. The Parks Department was meticulous in sending invitations to groups, but failed to post any notices at the site. Had not two off-leash users taken it upon themselves to make their own signs, the people most affected by the proposed change would not have know about the meeting.

Of the 40-plus people who attended the September 9 meeting, virtually all made positive comments, and the facilitator led the group to believe that the future would bring either lights or more public discussion. Imagine our dismay when, within 48 hours of the meeting, the Parks Department issued a notice to the Ballard News-Tribune that it had rendered its decision and there would be no lights at Golden Gardens.

Once again, Seattle's Parks Department has failed in its mandate to: 1. Give appropriate notice to all affected parties; 2. Give adequate opportunity for public comment; 3. Balance the needs of interested parties. The DPR would apparently rather dictate that facilitate.
Sharon LeVine, dog owner
Seattle

Although James Bush was dead-on in his September 17 take on the Seattle Parks Department's "notoriously poor record of public notification and meaningful dialogue with park neighbors" (4th & James), he is off in his assessment of City Council member Licata's draft ordinance as simply a "nice gesture." Legislating the Parks Department to work with citizens to evaluate their policy and procedures and report the findings to City Council would be a powerful first step towards ensuring that the department becomes more open and inclusive in deciding the future of our city parks.
Greg Hollobaugh
Seattle

Roger Downey was quite mistaken to suggest that the "baseball stadium . . . has gotten away without spending a cent on art" (Art Town, 9/10). Not only have we spent a cent, before all the accounting is complete, we will have invested $1.3 million to commission and integrate public art within the ballpark plus tens of thousands of additional administrative, legal, and architectural support services.

Ten artists from King County and one other from Vancouver, BC, were chosen through a peer review process that started almost two years ago. The successful artists, including the likes of Gerry Tsutakawa, Ries Niemi, Ross Beecher, are well under way creating works that promise to set a national standard for art in sporting facilities.

These works have captured the attention of other Seattle newspapers, which have offered their critical acclaim on several occasions. In light of the involvement among respected local artists and the visibility given to the works in the local press, it is surprising that Roger Downey is unaware of the existence of the ballpark's art program.

We would be more than happy to remedy this situation. We invite Roger to the Public Facilities District office to show him what is on the drawing boards in some of this region's most creative art studios.
Ken Johnsen, Executive Director
Public Facilities District, Washington State Major League Baseball STadium

In response to Eric Scigliano's Quick & Dirty item "The Color of Money" (9/10), I would like to comment on the obviously racist treatment of Mr. Ansari and Mr. Gatterson by the Washington Mutual bank. I appreciate Seattle Weekly for printing such articles.

I am a Metro bus driver, one of those who says hello to all the people that I see all day. I have noticed that many black people react to my greeting by ignoring me or acting defensive, saying something like, "Oh, I have a bus pass." I was just saying hello, but I realized that as a group, they are not used to being treated in any way but unfriendly, unwelcome etc. You get conditioned to just not look at people, to put up a wall. I am not surprised that Mr. Ansari did not respond or smile back at the bank employee.

White America is full of good people who don't think they are racist, who think blacks' situation doesn't stink. What stinks is denial, that black people are regularly denied loans at banks, housing, job opportunities, they are singled out by security guards as potential shoplifters, waited on last at department stores, and asked for more ID for their checks and Visas.

I am not surprised that this happened in a North Seattle bank, and I would suggest that Washington Mutual should look into some serious cultural diversity training as I am sure it does train its employees well.

As for the young college students that were treated so badly, I hope they keep believing in themselves, despite ignorance that is always in their path.
James Ybarra
Seattle

John Longenbaugh's review of the Intiman's Red reveals his own pathetic inadequacy to judge the play ("Through Asian Eyes," 9/17). He begins by snipping at multiculturalism, then whines the play does not teach him about the historical events of the Cultural Revolution and Chinese Opera. Why didn't he prepare himself for the play?