Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 2, February 2003

Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

Letters and Opinions

Lake City artist speaks

(Editor's note: Recent issues of the Seattle Sun published letters from readers regarding public art in the Lake City neighborhood, with much of the attention focused on the "Gateway" sculptures in the medians along Lake City Way, which some critics have described as looking like giant potatoes. The following is a response from the artist of those sculptures, Mike Sweeney.)

The Lake City "Gateway" sculpture was installed in 1980. This was during a period of public backlash against the City's "1% for the Arts" projects. If controversy was a measure of success, then "Gateway" was a very successful installation.

The Michael Spafford mural in the state Capitol Building in Olympia was turned down; the Tacoma Dome neon sculpture was a political football and was nearly torn down, and "Gateway" caught a lot of flack.

Now, people are actually taking time to tend the whole median (along Lake City Way, between NE 123rd and NE 127th). It is becoming what I had hoped for uplifting. Suggestions from the community have inspired me to renamed the piece "Salmon Gateway."

----MIKE SWEENEY

State legislature faces challenges

The 2003 legislative session began in a climate of challenge and concern. We have just 105 days to repair a serious budget deficit, create a long-range plan for transportation, and find solutions for critical needs in our schools, colleges, health-care system, and human services.

While no one should underestimate the challenges ahead, neither should we underestimate our great strengths as a state, or our ability to work through temporary problems as we build for a better future.

I'm encouraged by the sense of seriousness and spirit of cooperation I see this year. In the first weeks of the legislative session, there has been very little of the political gamesmanship or bickering that so often stymies progress. That's important, because we'll need leadership coming from all directions to do our jobs well.

Budget: The worst budget deficit in a decade will test our principles. While no one is seriously proposing a general tax increase that could further harm our economy, I'm less confident about the Legislature's commitment to meeting our responsibilities in education, health care and human services.

As the Chair of the House Committee on Higher Education, I feel a special responsibility to help policy-makers understand the budget problems facing students, public schools, colleges, and universities.

We are in peril of losing top faculty to other states who pay higher salaries. If we fail to adequately support higher education or if we force college students to bear an unfair share of the funding burden we risk permanent damage to a major source of our prosperity. We must treat the University of Washington and other places of higher learning as the vital cultural and economic engines they have become.

I strongly believe we should take advantage of the lowest interest rates in a generation to launch new investments in higher education construction and repair.

Increasing capital funding would not harm the operating budget, which uses different funding sources. On the contrary, capitalizing on low interest rates would help our budget situation by putting people to work now on future needs.

Former governors Dan Evans and Booth Gardner agree this is a great time to invest in higher education. Getting more lawmakers to embrace this vision is among my highest priorities.

As we face our budget challenges, we must also remember our teachers, the senior citizens, the poor, and those in the shadows of life.

Yes, services must be cut to balance the budget. But we cannot sacrifice our vulnerable populations without sacrificing our moral responsibilities as leaders.

Health care: One thing we can do for our state budget and for family budgets is address the rising costs of health care and prescription drugs. Soaring prescription drug prices are a leading cause of state budget problems throughout the nation.

Since Congress has failed to address the problem, our Legislature must act.

I'm not alone in this view. We held positive hearings on prescription drug reform during our first week, and I'm optimistic we'll make progress before summer.

Transportation: Solving the transportation crisis is clearly the No. 1 priority of Seattle businesses and many Seattle residents. It is certainly among my highest priorities.

It is clear that to build solutions, we must also build public trust. I hope the first transportation bill we pass in 2003 requires a top-to-bottom performance audit of the state Department of Transportation. We must also require more transportation efficiencies that squeeze better value from our investments.

But no efficiency improvements can replace a realistic funding package. Last year, lawmakers sent a proposal to the public which failed.

This year, we need the courage to vote for a funding plan in the Legislature that supports transit and rail as well as roads. Lawmakers who balk at doing the right thing should be reminded that they asked for the job.

----PHYLLIS GUTIERREZ KENNEY

State Representative, 46th Legislative District

1-800-562-6000, e-mail: kenney_ph@leg.wa.gov