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<H2 minmax_bound="true">This is the lead editorial from the Lewiston Tribune
today, Sunday....BL</H2>
<H2 minmax_bound="true">-------------- </H2>
<H2 minmax_bound="true">Do alliance picks support Moscow school suit?</H2>
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<P class=byline minmax_bound="true">Jim Fisher</P>
<P class=date minmax_bound="true">Sunday, September 30, 2007</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">The Greater Moscow Alliance has endorsed three candidates
for Moscow City Council, saying it wants to redirect a council that is "out of
step with the community." That assertion and the alliance's endorsements oblige
candidates Dan Carscallen, Wayne Krauss and Walter Steed to answer one big
question about how in step with the community they are:</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">Do you support or oppose Jerry Weitz's lawsuit to reverse
the community's March 27 vote to increase the Moscow School District's
supplemental levy?</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">A 56 percent majority of voters approved adding $1.97
million to the district's $5.6 million permanent property tax levy, allowing
continuation of school programs threatened by rising costs. The vote was hardly
surprising, considering Moscow's history as one of the most education-friendly
communities in the Northwest.</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">But it was illegal, says Weitz, a dentist and a member of
the Greater Moscow Alliance's board. Weitz sued to have the voters' will thrown
out, and if it is, the city's schools will be forced to make cuts in services
that most Moscow voters have shown they do not want.</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">Does that mean the Greater Moscow Alliance, which was
created to counter the influence of the Moscow Civic Association, also wants to
cut support for Moscow schools? </P>
<P minmax_bound="true">Not necessarily. Alliance President Stephen Busch says
the organization has taken no position on Weitz's lawsuit. The Moscow Civic
Association, on the other hand, says it "strongly supports" the levy Weitz seeks
to undo.</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">But Weitz is not the only alliance board member backing
the suit. Jim DeMeerler, the group's treasurer, expressed his favorable opinion
of the it, and criticism of the school district, in a Sept. 22 letter to the
Moscow-Pullman Daily News. </P>
<P minmax_bound="true">"The lawsuit is about philosophy and accountability - not
about money," DeMeerler wrote, as if money is not what the district stands to
lose should Weitz succeed.</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">And Thursday, another letter, from Moscow resident Varnel
Williams, appeared in the paper. Williams, who identified himself as a Greater
Moscow Alliance member, said he also supports Weitz's suit.</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">All this raises two questions:</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">First, why does a group that says its mission is "to
actively participate in local decisions to ensure Moscow and Latah County
remains a great place to live, work and do business" refuse to take a position
on one of the most important local decisions facing Moscow and Latah County?
</P>
<P minmax_bound="true">Second, what are Carscallen's, Krauss' and Steed's
positions on Weitz's lawsuit? Although they are running for seats on the Moscow
City Council, and not on the Moscow School Board, they owe voters unequivocal
statements of where they stand on such a vital issue to the community. It is, as
DeMeerler says, about philosophy and accountability. -
J.F.</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>