YOUR|LETTERS- October 13, 2010 issue
Published on Mon, Oct 11, 2010Read More Letters to the Editor
Health care and research for mentally ill needs more funding
Dear Editor,
I was surprised by the lead editorial by Pam Stevens regarding the tragedy of mental illness in our community.
Her editorials in the past repeatedly rail against “Big Government” and Taxation.
I don’t understand her statement that “more needs to be done to help and even find cures for those suffering from mental illness”.
Just who does she think can pay for this? Certainly not the families of the afflicted, who already are doing all they can, and may have no health insurance.
Private enterprise is not interested, except in developing expensive new drugs, since there is no profit in other treatments for the mentally ill.
Non-profits such as Compass Health must grovel to the community to raise money for therapy, and even for bag lunches for the homeless mentally ill.
That leaves us, you and me, society as a whole, to support this research and care for the good of all.
This is best accomplished by the government, through taxation.
Mental health care is woefully underfunded in Snohomish County, and there are inadequate providers and services for our suffering friends, children and neighbors.
I heartily agree more needs to be done, and I challenge Ms. Stevens to suggest alternative funding mechanisms to achieve our mutual goal.
Katherine Runyon MD
Lake Stevens
Khmer Rouge regime survivors often develop mental illness
Dear Editor,
In response to your editorial on Mental Illness (9/29/10), I would like to make an attempt to recognize the background of the woman who was behind the tragedy in Seattle.
It’s been well documented that survivors of the Khmer Rouge’s concentration camps have suffered extreme PTSD. Women, it has been shown, who have survived the Khmer Rouge’s regime suffer quite frequently from severe depression, PTSD and schizophrenia—more so than their male counterparts—and are often plagued with life-long trauma.
This is most likely due to being repeatedly raped, tortured, and being forced to watch their babies and children killed in front of them. Things which most Americans, with or without mental illness, can thankfully not relate to.
It’s quite possible that, with age, the life that she left behind when she fled through the jungle to Thailand (and eventually America) for her life and freedom, crept back up on her through murky shadows, haunting her to the point she couldn’t discern past from present, danger from safety, family from foe.
I recommend watching the Killing Fields to get an idea of what she lived through and where her mind had quite possibly reverted to when she tragically ended three family members lives, and her own.
Amy Inthapanya
Lake Stevens
Roe should get your vote for County Prosecutor
Dear Editor,
Mark Roe needs to be our Prosecutor. Mark has served the citizens of Snohomish County for over 22 years prosecuting the toughest crimes. He has worked closely with law enforcement, crime victims, and communities to protect our quality of life. I have closely worked with Mark for several years and know that he brings integrity and proven leadership to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Mark Roe has earned the trust and respect of victims rights advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors and defense attorneys, and leaders (both republican and democratic) throughout the county.
Our Snohomish County Police Chiefs and Sheriff Association unanimously endorsed Mark as our Prosecutor because he has the experience and leadership to serve our community well.
Mark brings years of successful management skills to lead the Prosecutor’s Office during challenging financial times. Tough decisions need to be made each day in the Prosecutor’s Office and we need a solid, experienced Prosecutor. Please join me in voting for Mark Roe for Prosecutor.
John Lovick
Signs, staples should be cleaned up after yard sales
Dear Editor,
I visit Lake Stevens on a regular basis in the summer months. I stay in the area of Wyatt Park. I would like to comment on the numerous “Yard Sale “ signs around the area.
I have no problem with advertising the sales, my problem is leaving the signs up after the date of the sale. They are taped, stapled, etc. to anything that does not move. Then they remain there until they fall off and become trash in the side of the road. The remnants remain on the poles and really make the area look trashy.
Just look around at some of the corners in the area, if the signs are gone, the tape, staples, etc. remain looking terrible. (One example is 99th and Chapel Hill, also Market Place and 91st ).
I am just a guy who thinks anyone having a sale, should go at the end of the sale and retrieve their signs.
This is one way of making our neighborhoods look like a neighborhood. It doesn’t take much.
We all complain about things on a larger scale (me being one of the complainers). Just picking up the signs we put out for a weekend sale would be one way to make our neighborhoods look better.
If it was a business doing this we would be on them to clean up. This also happens in my hometown, and we are working on it there also. Maybe this is something we can take some personal pride in and not just let someone else worry about it.
Richard Kerzetski
Las Vegas, Nevada
Roe is known for victim advocacy and fairness
Dear Editor,
Mark Roe is the experienced, professional Prosecuting Attorney Snohomish County needs. He was hired by Prosecutor Seth Dawson more than 20 years ago. He is a master of the deep and refined skills required to be an effective trial attorney and has successfully prosecuted every type of felony crime.
Even before a trial, though, successful prosecution requires careful analysis of case facts, close work with law enforcement officers, accurate and fair charging decisions, sensitive relationships with crime victims, and working relationships with skilled defense attorney. Mark Roe is a master of those skills also.
As a crime victim advocate, I worked with Mark Roe on hundreds of violent crime cases; he is an ultimate professional in another important way: his integrity is unquestioned and he does not worry about political fallout from his decisions and performance.
Without fail, his concern is about doing the right, fair and just thing. Accordingly, Mark Roe has been endorsed by the bar association, law enforcement officials and organizations, and crime victims and victim advocates.
Mark Roe has been a leader in developing the nationally certified Dawson Place Children’s Advocacy Center, the only one in the state. He has supervised and trained many highly skilled prosecuting attorneys, and is on the Board of community victim advocacy agency, Friends and Families of Violent Crime Victims.
Snohomish County is uniquely fortunate to have a person with Mark Roe’s personal and professional capability who is willing and well prepared to be the Prosecutor.
Bill France
Everett
Dear Editor,
I was surprised by the lead editorial by Pam Stevens regarding the tragedy of mental illness in our community.
Her editorials in the past repeatedly rail against “Big Government” and Taxation.
I don’t understand her statement that “more needs to be done to help and even find cures for those suffering from mental illness”.
Just who does she think can pay for this? Certainly not the families of the afflicted, who already are doing all they can, and may have no health insurance.
Private enterprise is not interested, except in developing expensive new drugs, since there is no profit in other treatments for the mentally ill.
Non-profits such as Compass Health must grovel to the community to raise money for therapy, and even for bag lunches for the homeless mentally ill.
That leaves us, you and me, society as a whole, to support this research and care for the good of all.
This is best accomplished by the government, through taxation.
Mental health care is woefully underfunded in Snohomish County, and there are inadequate providers and services for our suffering friends, children and neighbors.
I heartily agree more needs to be done, and I challenge Ms. Stevens to suggest alternative funding mechanisms to achieve our mutual goal.
Katherine Runyon MD
Lake Stevens
Khmer Rouge regime survivors often develop mental illness
Dear Editor,
In response to your editorial on Mental Illness (9/29/10), I would like to make an attempt to recognize the background of the woman who was behind the tragedy in Seattle.
It’s been well documented that survivors of the Khmer Rouge’s concentration camps have suffered extreme PTSD. Women, it has been shown, who have survived the Khmer Rouge’s regime suffer quite frequently from severe depression, PTSD and schizophrenia—more so than their male counterparts—and are often plagued with life-long trauma.
This is most likely due to being repeatedly raped, tortured, and being forced to watch their babies and children killed in front of them. Things which most Americans, with or without mental illness, can thankfully not relate to.
It’s quite possible that, with age, the life that she left behind when she fled through the jungle to Thailand (and eventually America) for her life and freedom, crept back up on her through murky shadows, haunting her to the point she couldn’t discern past from present, danger from safety, family from foe.
I recommend watching the Killing Fields to get an idea of what she lived through and where her mind had quite possibly reverted to when she tragically ended three family members lives, and her own.
Amy Inthapanya
Lake Stevens
Roe should get your vote for County Prosecutor
Dear Editor,
Mark Roe needs to be our Prosecutor. Mark has served the citizens of Snohomish County for over 22 years prosecuting the toughest crimes. He has worked closely with law enforcement, crime victims, and communities to protect our quality of life. I have closely worked with Mark for several years and know that he brings integrity and proven leadership to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Mark Roe has earned the trust and respect of victims rights advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors and defense attorneys, and leaders (both republican and democratic) throughout the county.
Our Snohomish County Police Chiefs and Sheriff Association unanimously endorsed Mark as our Prosecutor because he has the experience and leadership to serve our community well.
Mark brings years of successful management skills to lead the Prosecutor’s Office during challenging financial times. Tough decisions need to be made each day in the Prosecutor’s Office and we need a solid, experienced Prosecutor. Please join me in voting for Mark Roe for Prosecutor.
John Lovick
Mill Creek
Signs, staples should be cleaned up after yard sales
Dear Editor,
I visit Lake Stevens on a regular basis in the summer months. I stay in the area of Wyatt Park. I would like to comment on the numerous “Yard Sale “ signs around the area.
I have no problem with advertising the sales, my problem is leaving the signs up after the date of the sale. They are taped, stapled, etc. to anything that does not move. Then they remain there until they fall off and become trash in the side of the road. The remnants remain on the poles and really make the area look trashy.
Just look around at some of the corners in the area, if the signs are gone, the tape, staples, etc. remain looking terrible. (One example is 99th and Chapel Hill, also Market Place and 91st ).
I am just a guy who thinks anyone having a sale, should go at the end of the sale and retrieve their signs.
This is one way of making our neighborhoods look like a neighborhood. It doesn’t take much.
We all complain about things on a larger scale (me being one of the complainers). Just picking up the signs we put out for a weekend sale would be one way to make our neighborhoods look better.
If it was a business doing this we would be on them to clean up. This also happens in my hometown, and we are working on it there also. Maybe this is something we can take some personal pride in and not just let someone else worry about it.
Richard Kerzetski
Las Vegas, Nevada
Roe is known for victim advocacy and fairness
Dear Editor,
Mark Roe is the experienced, professional Prosecuting Attorney Snohomish County needs. He was hired by Prosecutor Seth Dawson more than 20 years ago. He is a master of the deep and refined skills required to be an effective trial attorney and has successfully prosecuted every type of felony crime.
Even before a trial, though, successful prosecution requires careful analysis of case facts, close work with law enforcement officers, accurate and fair charging decisions, sensitive relationships with crime victims, and working relationships with skilled defense attorney. Mark Roe is a master of those skills also.
As a crime victim advocate, I worked with Mark Roe on hundreds of violent crime cases; he is an ultimate professional in another important way: his integrity is unquestioned and he does not worry about political fallout from his decisions and performance.
Without fail, his concern is about doing the right, fair and just thing. Accordingly, Mark Roe has been endorsed by the bar association, law enforcement officials and organizations, and crime victims and victim advocates.
Mark Roe has been a leader in developing the nationally certified Dawson Place Children’s Advocacy Center, the only one in the state. He has supervised and trained many highly skilled prosecuting attorneys, and is on the Board of community victim advocacy agency, Friends and Families of Violent Crime Victims.
Snohomish County is uniquely fortunate to have a person with Mark Roe’s personal and professional capability who is willing and well prepared to be the Prosecutor.
Bill France
Everett
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