Whyis Tribe spending money for park?

To the People of theConfederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation regarding the future ownershipof Osoyoos State Park. In a presentation to the Park Hearing Committee lastweek in Wenatchee, the Tribes proclaimed how they would operate and pay for themaintenance of the Osoyoos State Park. 

In the five plus pagedocument they said they were to use the Wells Dam monies, which are not to besquandered by the Tribal Council, timber revenues from two mills that are shutdown and there has been no logging on the Reservation for a year, andcasino revenues that are questionable at best. They further stated thatthey would have trained staff from their parks department and TANF trainees tooperate the park. They expect our People to travel 100 miles round trip to workat the park? Or will they have to contract the employment?

They stated they haveexperience in running parks, and yet the Seven Bays is not under our ownershipanymore, Barneys Junction has been opened and closed so many times onewonders if it is still in operation, and other parks off the Reservationhave failed because of underfunding of the operation. Fort Okanogan shouldbe our priority and we only operated it a few years and stopped due tolack of funding. 

The mistake we(CCT) made at Twisp and went to court, delaying the project a year, andthen losing in court is not the way we are to improve relations with thesurrounding communities. We should have been working with the City of Orovilleand discussing ways to either work together or come to someamiable agreement before we delayed the Osoyoos State Park decision lastyear. We have lost thousands of dollars fighting land issues and the onlything we have accomplished is to develop mistrust and buy that attorney inSeattle another boat or a plane.

The operation andmaintenance cost for the Osoyoos State Park is from $250,000 to $350,000annually. The Tribes have underestimated the cost and should reconsidertheir attempt to gain ownership of the park. 

The People of theColville Tribes should ask some questions about how we are spending moneyand why we shut down four enterprises, a couple of mills within theboundary of the Reservation and then take on a park in Oroville? I do not wantthe committed employees of the Tribes or the hard working people ofCTEC to think that this letter is an indictment of you, because it is not.

I wish only to let youknow how I feel and how frustrating it is to see how badly things are beinghandled just to get a few councilmen re-elected this next term.

W’ay,

Arnie Marchand, anOkanagan Indian

Member of the ColvilleTribes and

a Citizen of Oroville

WDFWnot saving us money

In response to TerryDonoho letter “Kretz and the WDFW” about WDFW not paying property taxes to thecounty in which they purchase land. “But makes payments in lieu of taxes.”

Where do you think these(PILT) come from? Answer, they come from us taxpayers.

Regardless of how themoney is received from the WDFW. They do not generate enough money to supportthis agency, it is all supported by our tax dollars.

And as bad as it is to seeOkanogan County being broken up by development at least taxes are generated bythe developer and the buyer that builds on the property.

There are a lot of farmlands in western Washington that should be considered for WDFW lands forwildlife. These lands go into the wooded hills back of the crop and farm lands.These land are being purchased for development Why isn’t the WDFW purchasingthese lands to protect wildlife from development?

If the WDFW lets you thinkthey are saving us money, think about how much it will cost us taxpayers. Onlyif a person likes to get beat with a club, because it will fill good when itstops. You might be one who thinks, that the WDFW is going save taxpayersmoney.

Brian Kirchner

Okanogan

Don’tlike talking to a machine

I do not know who decidedto have our clinic (Midvalley Medical Group) set up like a big city business.It is the most hateful thing to talk to a machine or have it call you withinformation. No questions, can you ask.

We live over 60 miles awayand find it expensive to wait for a machine to finally get to the (option1,2,3,4,etc.) that you need. As a rule what you want is not on the machineslist. The ability to talk to a individual is much more personal.

I miss talking to Donita,I feel she should be in the office, to me it would be wonderful for our clinicto return to live people. I want you to know every time I meet some one fromour clinic we discuss the asinine machine and miss talking to a live person.

It is my belief that youdid not think of your patients but, only of yourself. By the way your patientsare your clinic, when not feeling well talking to a machine is beyondunderstanding. As I said before, get Donita back, I’m sure all who call theclinic miss her.

Cleta Adams

Oroville

Not opportunistic developers

The writer for Citizensfor a Sustainable Okanogan has portrayed the members of the Coalition forProperty Rights as opportunistic developers who wish to slice and dice OkanoganCounty. This is simply not true.

We are average citizenswho wish to pass our land and our lifestyle on to future generations. Many ofthe members participated throughout the process of creating the proposedComprehensive Plan. As farmers, ranchers, business owners and private citizenswe represent a broad range of interests in Okanogan County.

Private property rightsare protected by both the Washington State and U.S. Constitutions. We believethat protecting property rights is the most effective way to manage resources forthe future. The preservation of private property is essential to the protectionof the other freedoms and rights that are enumerated in these documents andgiven to us by our
creator.

As a truck driver who ownshis truck, I must keep it maintained in top notch condition so that my businesswill be profitable. A company driver does not have the same incentive to takecare of his employer’s truck. The same is true for those who own and make theirliving off the land. The government has and will never maintain anything ascarefully as citizen owners will safeguard their own property.

We appreciate the uniquebeauty and abundance of natural resources that Okanogan County offers and, asproperty owners, we want to manage these resources in such a way that they willcontinue to provide for not only our needs, but those of generations to come.

Sincerely,

Donald C. Storm

Riverside

Can’t wait for health reform

Recently, researchers withthe nonpartisan Urban Institute and Robert Woods Johnson Foundation used a HealthInsurance Policy Simulation Model to estimate how health insurance coverage andcost trends will likely change between now and 2019.

The Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to healthand health care. The study is titled “The Cost of Failure to Enact HealthReform: Implications for States” http//www.rwjf.org/files/research/49148.pdf

The report shows thatunder the worst-case scenario, within 10 years:

The number of peoplewithout insurance would increase by more than 30 percent in 29 states. In everystate, the number of uninsured would increase by at least 10 percent.

Businesses would see theirpremiums increase — more than doubling in 27 states. Even in the best casescenario, employers in 46 states would see premiums increase by more than 60percent.

Every state would see asmaller share of its population getting health care through their job. Half ofthe states would see the number of people with ESI (what is ESI?) fall by morethan 10 percent. Every state would see spending for Medicaid/Children’s HealthInsurance Program (CHIP) rise by more than 75 percent.

The amount ofuncompensated care in the health system would more than double in 45 states.

The report is extensive,but most of the pages cover details of how each individual State would beaffected. I strongly encourage even those who have decided to be against thisreform at least read the

Overview and theConclusion to this report.  It is hard to imagine how Washingtonianscan wait any longer for reform.

I am fortunate to have health insurance, and do not want tosee my coverage dwindle away and my premiums increase. Those withoutinsurance need to be able to obtain it, and without reform, their situation(and their burden to the taxpayers and health care consumers) will only growworse.

We need health care reform as soon as possible. Nomatter what your political affiliation, please contact your members in congressand stress to them the importance of working on a reform bill that serves all Americans.

Jean Pfeifer

Tonasket