Letters to the Editor

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Published: Aug 4, 2010

L&I'S SHORTCOMINGS

I empathize with the residents of the 700 block of Earp Street [A Million Stories, July 22]. When I reported a housing code violation, the 311 operator questioned the validity of my complaint about the use of a single-family house as a rooming house. After I cited the precise code section violated by the owner of an adjacent house, the operator accepted the complaint. An investigator did not contact me until five months had elapsed since my call. I had to persuade an investigator to accept a document from the real estate manager clearly identifying six unrelated people living in the single-family house. At first the investigator told me that he could not accept a letter unless it was addressed to him! Finally, he relented. In January, the city filed a code violation complaint against the absentee landlord. In the meantime, the neighbors suffered through another year of noise and trash at the unlicensed rooming house. I hope that complaints about shortcomings of the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) translate into improvements at the agency.

How can you be serious [Soapboxer, "Ruin to All," Jeffrey C. Billman, July 22]? Are you aware of the current economic climate in this country?

What do you think will happen if our energy bill doubles and the price of gasoline jumps to $4.50? My guess is social unrest. Cap-and-trade is worst thing that could happen to this country.

Skip, you're only proving [Billman's] point. By demanding cheap gas now (yes, gas is artificially cheap due to subsidies), we hasten its depletion and shift the environmental and economic burden onto the next generation.

We'd all be far better off if we were paying more now, which would reduce demand, buying us more time to transition to renewables while mitigating the impact on future generations.