Realtors trying to bully students
I’m writing to express my frustration with the self-interested parties who are opposing renters’ safety, particularly the Missoula Organizations of Realtors.It was disappointing that the Realtors were unwilling to offer any kind of constructive alternative at the committee hearing last week (Missoulian, “Rentals: Inspection proposal causes a stir,” Feb. 21). They were invited to sit on the subcommittee, but refused to participate. Now, at the last minute, they are trying to derail the hard work and compromise that has gone into crafting this ordinance.
The subcommittee was made up of a wide variety of individuals representing many different viewpoints, including our friends in the property management community. Even the University Homeowners Association supports the idea. Though we did not always agree, we treated each other with civility and respect. This ordinance is a product of that compromise and cooperation.
Associated Students of the University of Montana is always open to suggestions and willing to hear alternatives to the proposed language, but the students will not be bullied by an entrenched special interest that views itself as above the law. Students help fund local government through the payment of rent, and they have a right to participate just like everybody else.
Tara Ness, vice president, ASUM, Missoula
Many lied about income to get loans
According to CNBC, seven out of 10 people who are in trouble with their housing loans lied about their income to qualify for the loans!They and their cohorts should be put in jail for fraud, not bailed out.
Many innocent people are being hurt by this dishonesty.
O.G. Benson, Missoula
Women know what they’re getting into
It has been fun for me over the past several days to see the debate over the coming of the Hooters restaurant to Missoula.Personally, I think it is a stupid concept and I most likely won’t go there on that principle alone. However, the idea that it exploits women is a farce. The women who work there know full well in advance what they are signing on for. They fill out the job application and sign whatever paperwork is needed. No one is forcing them to do these things. Is it possible to exploit yourself?
And as one person pointed out in last Wednesday’s paper (letter, “Dress is the same as seen at the gym,” Feb. 20), what you see there is nothing we don’t see walking down the street, anyway.
To those women who feel insulted and degraded that some women would choose to work in a place like Hooters, I would suggest that the easiest way to put them out of business is to encourage the other women not to work there.
Jesse Gross, Missoula
If you’ve got it, why not flaunt it?
Thank you for printing all the hilarious letters about the new Missoula Hooters.If I had the body that these young gals have, I think I’d feel much better about my body and I’d be proud to show it off!
Personally, I’m not that interested in “hooters” since I’ve packed my own around all these years, but that letter (Feb. 21) about “Ding-Dongs” sounded great! I’d be first in line!
Evelyn Blackford, Missoula
Attraction is the women, not the food
In response to Mike Smith’s letter (Feb. 21), let’s see, where do I start?Hooters serves really average bar food. Really average. The only reason there is a Hooters chain at all is because of the infamous uniform the young women are required to wear and the folks who frequent the place for that reason. There are dozens of locally owned bars and restaurants in Missoula that serve better food and show far more respect for their employees’ and patrons’ intelligence.
If Hooters were such a great place to eat, they wouldn’t need the uniform or the name Hooters. Why don’t they just cut to the chase and call the place Boobs?
Personally, I like Celia Grohmann’s letter (Feb. 21) suggesting a restaurant called Ding-Dongs, where male servers would wear sequined thongs while serving really average chicken wings. Maybe Smith would eat there - because it would be simply a place to let your hair down and have a good time. I mean, it’s not what the servers are wearing that brings you in, right?
I’ve heard lots of stories about Hooters being family friendly, they treat kids really well, blah, blah, blah. Well, I have yet to take my child to any restaurant in Missoula where he wasn’t treated very well. So, there’s no reason to take him to Hooters. At least I don’t have to explain why the server is wearing some nonsensical “uniform” where her rear end is hanging out for some mook’s viewing pleasure. In the long run, I realize that none of these objections will matter and that Hooters will open it’s doors as planned. I won’t be there and neither will my child, which is fine because there are lots of Mike Smiths out there willing to buy the shirt and all that goes with it.
Jennifer Manning, Missoula
Mayor one of the best in recent times
Such is the state of politics these days that the emergence of an effective, positive, popular leader really is legitimate front-page news (“Mayor Engen: Popular and Busy,” Missoulian, Feb. 10). Missoula is fortunate to have such a leader in Mayor John Engen.It’s testament to reporter Keila Szpaller’s thoroughness that she managed to find even a few folks ready to criticize the mayor, albeit without much substance. Those few critics confirm the conventional wisdom that there’s no pleasing everyone.
As a close observer of Missoula mayors for more than a quarter-century, I can tell you we’ve had more than our share of good mayors and, in all that time, only one awful one. We’ve had mayors who were more politically experienced, more philosophical, more partisan, more bookish and more self-sure, but modern Missoula certainly has not had a better mayor than Engen. He may be the most people-oriented public servant I’ve ever met. He is, without doubt, the funniest.
What his few critics dismiss as “public relations” actually is extreme accessibility. You’re far more likely to find this mayor out among the citizens of Missoula than holed up in some meeting room at City Hall. Amongst the citizens of Missoula n yes, often cutting ribbons, presenting awards, emceeing charity events - Engen constantly talks and listens to his bosses, the people he serves. He’s totally in touch. He also has amazing instinct telling him when it’s best to lead and when it’s better to follow Missoulians. Being mayor is never about him. Don’t underestimate this as a factor in his popularity.
Engen is mayor of a well-run city filled with energy, pride and civic engagement, a prosperous city that’s a wonderful place to live. The only things not idyllic about Missoula are things we’re all working to improve - with Engen leading the way.
Steve Woodruff, Missoula
U.S.’s actions are unethical
We are responding to Willis Hintz’s letter of Feb. 18 (“Bush hasn’t expanded executive powers”).First, it is a known fact that past presidents have led our country into war by other than constitutionally approved means. This precedent does not excuse any elected official from honoring his oath of office: to uphold the Constitution. The current administration deliberately lied to get congressional approval to invade Iraq.
Second, there is no such thing as an ethical war. History shows us that any country, tribe or sect that attempts to control another country or tribe by force, no matter how justified the action, stoops to the use of unethical practices. The U.S. is no exception. Remember that just in the past few decades, millions of deaths have resulted from the American use of atomic bombs, napalm, Agent Orange, depleted uranium ammunition and white phosphorus poison. Under the Clinton administration, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated that the deaths resulting from sanctions of thousands of Iraqi children were justified (quoted from an interview on a DVD called “Genocide by Sanctions”).
Is it ethical to abduct people off of the streets of “friendly” countries, secretly fly them to prisons in countries outside the control of our government and torture and hold them indefinitely without being charged? The CIA under Bush continues to do just that. What about the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib? Is that ethical?
There is no end to the horrors of war. Our God commands, “Thou shall not kill.” That is what we believe. That is ethical.
Lucien Hut, Katherine Skinner, Missoula
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