Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 8

ALL EDITIONS A8 Monday, September 25, 1989 The Arizona Republic Founded in 18 90 Published since 1946 by: Phoenix Newspapers, 120 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, Ariz. 85004 EUGENE C. PULLIAM 18891975 Publisher, 19461975 EUGENES. PULLIAM President WILLIAM P.

CHESHIRE Editor of the Editorial Pages JOHN F. OPPEDAHL Managing Editor WM. R. HOGAN Vice President General Manager CONRAD KLOH Director of Sales and Marketing BILLSHOVER Director of Public Affairs Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is. There Is Liberty II Corinthians 3:17 EDITORIALS PHOENIX CITY ELECTION arz.i a mm i Council recommendations 4.

YlX WO 4 Opponent Richard Adams, trounced in 1987, has lost three legislative races, and can be considered more of a pest than a candidate. The voters should have no hesitation about voting for Mr. Nelson. District5 With 12 years of service, Howard Adams has the reputation of being the man developers use 4 BEFORE the election season got rolling, it was hoped that city council races would produce feisty candidates and spirited debates the kind of combustibles needed to spark voter interest. Little of that has occurred.

The campaign has produced lackluster candidates and mumbling debaters, often poorly informed. The choices have sometimes been difficult, but here are ours. District 1 The amphitheater fiasco galvanized voters in this fast-growing northeast district, producing A 4 Dana SummersThe Orlando Sentinel as a sounding board for large ideas. He is a master of coalitions. With his vast knowledge of city issues, a future mayoral race seems assured.

LETTERS Poor management of preserve goes on Outraged at verdict Mr. Adams's token opposition comes from write-in candidate Art Kaufman. five challengers to three-term incumbent Bill Parks. When he says the process worked by reversing the amphitheater decision, he errs. The council's failure to inform residents ahead of time was inexcusable.

In this district, the challengers seem up to speed, Mr. Adams wn0 h0pes t0 capitalize on anti-development bias. Mr. Adams has represented his district admirably and deserves another term. District 6 No council candidate is more committed to neighborhood preservation than Linda Nadol- Mr.

Rimsza Editor: In this day of increasing awareness of child abuse, I am outraged and appalled at the legal verdict for a Kingman couple who starved their 10-week-old daughter to death. According to the Sept. 14 Republic, the Clawsons apparently are mentally handicapped and "meant the baby no harm." There was no mention that the Clawsons were suffering from malnutrition. If they knew enough to feed and care for themselves, how could they not extend this same care to their infant? As far as I am concerned, the legal system gave this couple a "slap on the wrist" in issuing a decision of one year in prison, with three months of that year already served. ELLEN M.

FARR Kayenta with Anton E. "Skip" Rimsza, a real estate man, at the top of the class. He has a clear view on developing vacant parcels in the central city, as opposed to moving ever outward. We recommend him. District 2 With incumbent JJuane Pell retiring, only three challengers are seeking the open seat in ski, seeking a second term from this east Phoenix district.

While standing up for neighborhoods, she has been quick to criticize her colleagues for scrapping land use plans. Yei she is feeling considerable heat for increasing the Camelback Esplanade's Gosnell Development is clearly not the villain in this performance. Nor does the blame fall on talented and dedicated rangers and parks managers. Rather the fault lies with parks administrators at the highest levels who are ignorant in their management of natural areas, and some members of the parks board who lack the requisite knowledge and sensitivity to oversee the preserve. The South Mountain Master Plan called for the establishment of a standing citizens' committee to provide a measure of emphasis, competence and care.

Formation of this committee has been needlessly delayed while parks management ponders how to limit its impact. It is imperative that this committee be formed with dispatch. Its first task should be to throw out the limitations imposed by city bureaucrats and decide upon an agenda for solution of the critical issues of the preserve. The committee's next task should be to find an economical method to manage the preserve apart from our current Parks Department and its director. GRAIG C.

LINDSAY Phoenix Editor: On Sept. 14 a majority of the Phoenix Parks Board and the city staff of the Phoenix Parks, Recreation and Library Department sent a clear message to the City Council and Phoenix voters. That message was that regardless of past efforts and scientific evidence to the contrary, dismal management of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve would continue unabated. This resulted in spite of more than two years of effort by a citizens' committee, the expenditure of more than $315,000 for a master plan and the unanimous support of the South Mountain Master Plan by the Phoenix City Council. A "fire ring" constructed by Gosnell Development Corp.

in South Mountain will remain and be used in spite of its likely detriment to the preserve. The stated justifications range from specious, quasi-legal arguments to self-serving and false statements of public benefit. The truth is that the facility benefits the Pointe resort, and quality management of the preserve still takes a back seat to political intrigue and incompetent parks management. Mrs. Nadolski northwest Phoenix.

Community activist Thelda Williams is our choice over Elaine Lefcvre, who lost a close race in 1987, and Michael Kist, a neophyte. The soft-spoken Mrs. Williams has seen service on the city's Planning Commission, the 1988 Bond Mrs. Williams retail component by 250,000 square feet, certainly not an anti-development stance, though her position is consistent with the urban village concept of high density cores. She is challenged by two retired colonels, Tom Smith and Harry Sparrow.

Mr. Smith is trying to use Mrs. Nadolski's support of ValTrans and' the Graiid Prix as examples of a councilwoman out of touch with her constituents. He has a troubling anti-downtown mentality and is out of Mrs. Nadolski's league on matters of importance to city residents.

Mrs. Nadolski is our choite. District 7 It is no secret that Mary Rose Wilcox's strength lies in her dealings with constituents in Planned Parenthood no friend of the family America is beautiful Editor: Having just returned from three weeks in Russia, I feel a strong compulsion to share my impressions with others. When our plane from Moscow touched down at JFK Airport, a unanimous cheer burst forth from the several hundred people aboard. One or two shouted, "God bless America," and in one section of the plane, the song America the Beautiful rang out.

It was touching, and many had tears in their eyes. With the exception of the few Russians aboard, everyone came back with a renewed appreciation for the many wonderful things we have in this country. These are worth fighting for. R. DUDLEY YOUNG Phoenix Committee, and the district Citizen's Forum.

She understands land use, and her proposal for an ethics-in-government committee has considerable merit. Mrs. Lefevre's' candidacy is dogged by the accusation that she solicited $50,000 in bribes while serving as a member of the Deer Valley Village Planning Committee. She refuses to discuss the charge hardly a confidence builder. District 3 If the City Council were comprised of individuals with the enthusiasm of two-term abortions to their children.

He explains that to allow such parental intrusion upon Planned Parenthood's "fundamental right" to profit from teen-age sexual activity would cripple Planned Parenthood financially. According to Mr. Ruff, Planned Parenthood is in reality not concerned with reducing teen-age sexual activity; it is interested in profiting from it. Blocking the enforcement Qf Arizona's law that requires parental consent before a teen-ager has an abortion is one more sign of Planned Parenthood's anti-family agenda. BILL AND JAY WANTLAND Phoenix Editor: How can Planned Parenthood, which recently sued in federal court to block enforcement of Arizona's new law requiring parental consent for minors' abortions, call itself a "friend of the According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood's research arm, mandatory parental involvement provisions result in a reduction in teen-age caseloads at family-planning clinics from 24 percent to 8 percent.

Banker Robert Ruff, in his book Aborting Planned Parenthood, states that Planned Parenthood simply cannot afford to have parents interfere with its secretive provision of birth control and this heavily Hispanic southwest district. She has expertly reached out to all cultures, pushing for special conservation districts and working on crime, drug and housing problems. Her visibility and popularity plainly have discouraged challeng-, ers from taking her on. District 8 It 1 23 Mrs. Wilcox incumbent Paul Johnson, the city's future would be secure.

Two of his recent successes are worth noting: lobbying the Legislature for oxygenated fuels and spearheading the drive for a design-review board. His hard work and accessibility account in no small mea Degenerate art Editor: The publication of photographic works by Andres Serrano and Robert Mapple-thorpe in the Sept. 9 Perspective section is an affront to those of us who still consider some things sacred. Your overt support of such obnoxious material is incredible. To approve the use of tax funds for the production of that which is so obviously degenerate is even more odious.

PAUL E. EYMANN Phoenix After 18 years on the council, Calvin Goode shows no sign of slowing down. His agenda is full, ranging from downtown development to Stadium would put city's money to good use Mr. Johnson Pi 4 Mm ii. ii sure tor an absence ot challengers on his second time out.

District 4 Perhaps because of his training as an engineer, three-term incumbent John Nelson affordable housing, crime and drugs. His quiet, cautious demeanor sometimes is put down to fence straddling, but that is inaccurate. His opponent, R.L. Day, says that Mr. Goode has been on the City Council too lone.

Backed bv Ahwa- ballpark. It cannot be used for things such as prison construction, crime prevention or the like. Thus the money simply goes away. And if the money goes away, we will be worse off than when we started: We will have lost the chance to get a Major League Baseball team and all of the economic benefits that go with it. And we will still have crime, prison overcrowding and all of the other problems.

Isn't it obvious that we should try to put the money to some good use? S. GREGORY JONES Scottsdale Editor: On Oct. 3 Phoenix voters will decide, among other things, whether to authorize the city to issue $100 million in bonds for the construction of a stadium for Major League Baseball. Many of the letters that have recently appeared in your paper have criticized the proposition on the grounds that the money should be spent on some of the city's other problems, such as prison overcrowding, crime and the like. While these readers' intentions are well-aimed, these people are under a misconception.

Under the law, the bond money cannot be used for anything other than a takes nothing for granted. A quiet councilman, he gets the job without tooting his trumpet. All city residents, not just his westside constituents, are in his debt for getting rid of the annual 1 summer ordeal of chip- LETTERS POLICY Your letters are welcome. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Please keep your letters brief.

All letters are subject to editing. Short letters will be given priority. Mr. Goode tukee residents, he alleges that the area has not received its share of services; he puts a park and a library at the top of his pork list. Longevity should not be a disqualifier.

Mr. Goode deserves another term. Mr. Nelson sealing streets. Wave of popularity may not carry Bush over the shoals of crisis smack on the front burner.

Mr. Bush and his secretary of state had hoped it would remain on the back of the stove, simmering quietly out of public view. The president prefers the play-it-safe strategy. Things like hostage crises might force him, to have to do something. And whenever you do something there is always the chance it could go wrong, that you might make a bum decision, or that someone might disagree, with what you've done.

Yes, it's definitely better never to do anything at anytime. Doing things invariably creates conflict, and that the Bush White House avoids like an insurance salesman at a cocktail party. To dodge trouble, Says Fred Barnes, Mr. Bush is even willing to be humiliated. Manuel Noriega thumbs his nose at the Yanqui president while Mr.

Bush, ducking anything like a direct confrontation with the Panamanian Pancho Villa, pleads with the impotent Organization of American States to remove the general. Call it risk aversion, crisis avoidance, or popularity as measured by opinion polls. The nation is at peace, the economy is strong and percolating on automatic. As Yogi once said, "its deja vu all over again." The '50s have returned with Mr. Bush playing Ike.

But the president is elected to lead, not make us feel good. People may like Mr. Bush, but do they respect him? Will they follow him? A president has to establish his authority. Mr. Bush hasn't done that yet and for a George Bush that is dangerous indeed.

Mr. Bush's popularity in the polls a 70 percent approval rating is impressive. But he hasn't earned it. It's come too easy, he's gotten it on the cheap. It was an inheritance, an accident.

When The Crisis comes, as it surely does for every piesident, his approbation could evaporate like the morning mist. Mr. Bush is riding a popularity high. But will amiability be enough to carry him through troubled times? conflict resolution, fact is that Mr. Bush would rather be safe than audacious, platitudinous than controversial, liked than feared.

He would, rather spend his time micromanaging small skirmishes than fighting the full-blown policy battles that bold leadership inevitably produce. John O'Sullivan of National Review observes that the few successes that Mr. Bush can claim have been the product of inaction rather than action. Even his silly anti-drug initiative was forced on him by the Democrats in Congress. What is behind Mr.

Bush's timidity? His personality, his psychological makeup probably has a lot to do with it. Maybe being a non-confrontational, love-able old gramps who can't catch fish is just his real nature. Also, he likes being liked. He has sacrificed risk-filled leadership for an obsequious middle-management style. Like his actor predecessor, Mr.

Bush pays too much attention to short-term pragmatic. Those are all qualities that endear him to the salon set in Washington, where a chilly bloodlessness in conservatives (though not in liberals) is viewed as a sign of "maturity." Mr. Bush, as Fred Barnes of The New Republic notes, avoids trouble at all cost. True, all politicians try to stay out of harm's way, but with Mr. Bush steering around the shoals is a fetish, an obsession.

The president's reaction during the latest hostage crisis is instructive on this point. When the Israelis snatched Sheik Obeid, the Jim Bakker of Beirut, out of Lebanon, Mr. Bush, though it is an image hard to conjure, was hopping mad. But not because Israel had failed to consult with its prime benefactor before launching the operation. Or because the kidnapping might have violated international law or the U.N.

Charter, or because it might have risked American lives. No, Mr. Bush was steamed because the Israeli action put the hostage situation Bold is not an adjective normally associated with George Bush. Cautious, yes. Careful, absolutely.

Steady, pragmatic, unflappable, bloodless, tepid, likable, all these describe George Bush, too. But bold? Not hardly. George Bush was at his best in the middle rounds of last year's campaign bout, when Mike Dukakis had him set up for a knock-out. Mr. Bush fought back off the ropes and decked the Brookline Bomber with a powerful Right.

At no time before in his political career had he shown anything like the fire that drove candidate Bush. As president, Mr. Bush, retired pugilist, is managing, not leading. It's as though he was elected to chair a big corporation rather than to lead the nation. He's tinkering with the presidency, fiddling at the margins.

He's polite, well-behaved, affable, nonpartisan and pragmatic, oh so very RICHARD LESSNER Deputy Editor of the Editorial Pages The Arizona Republic.