Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 18

ALL EDITIONS A18 Saturday, March 2, 1991 The Arizona Republic Founded in 1890 Published since 1946 by: Phoenix Newspapers, Inc, 120 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, Ariz. 85004 EUGENE C. PULLIAM 1889 1975 Publisher, 1946-1975 EUGENE S. PULLIAM President WILLIAM P.

CHESHIRE Editor of the Editorial Pages JOHN F. OPPEDAHL Managing Editor 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 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Signs of cooperation A lot of good things can be said about this week's decision by BankAmerica Corp. to purchase the MeraBank Center from the federal government. Although it is unknown precisely to what use the facility will be put the belief is that it will house credit-card and data-processing operations the importance of this additional payroll in the Valley cannot be over- LETTERS Need for oil led to Pearl Harbor 3 i Some criticism has surfaced over the range of salaries that BankAmerica plans to pay its work force $16,000 to $26,000 a year. For a good many people, this would greatly improve earnings, especially in south Phoenix, where the median income is a discouraging $5,600.

Moreover, the jobs to be created by BankAmerica are to include full employee benefits, so that any concern about overloading health and welfare systems appears to be unwarranted. For Phoenix to beat out other cities is particularly sweet in light of the restructuring of local economic development efforts. With the demise of the public-private Phoenix Economic Growth the city, guided by Mayor Paul Johnson, picked up the pieces and gave a deputy city manager responsibility for handling prospective recruits. Although it ruffled a few feathers at the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, this was a significant move. The chamber felt that it not only had the necessary expertise, but also that corporate executives might balk at making initial contacts with the city bureaucracy.

Recruiting BankAmerica can only be viewed as an unqualified success and a sign that the public and private sectors can work as a team. Further evidence of this can be seen in this week's launching of a jointly sponsored "Phoenix Means Business" campaign to compile data on what businesses need to remain and prosper in Phoenix. Mayor Johnson says he is confident that whatever differences may have existed are beginning to disappear. "I think the relationship with the chamber is very strong," he says. To be sure, the objective of stimulating the local economy is as important to the private sector as it is to government.

If events of this week are an omen, Phoenix can look ahead to an evolving partnership that ought to give the city the comparative advantage it needs. 4 wished to dominate the world market by adding Kuwait's to its own. Roger Morris, who served in both the Johnson and Nixon administrations, should know better than to contend that Congress "compelled an end to U.S. involvement (in Vietnam) and to the fighting itself." This seems an incredible statement from a former National Security Council member, as it demonstrates only the most tenuous grasp of reality. The fact is, the fighting continued more than two years after the signing of the Paris "peace accords" and the subsequent U.S.

withdrawal from South Vietnam. The fighting ended only when the North Vietnamese army conquered Saigon after Congress had cut off financial aid and the South Vietnamese ran out of ammunition and motivation. Please, gentlemen, how about some learned perspective from your columnists? BARRETT TILLMAN Mesa Editor: I wish to correct the record regarding two of your columnists in the Feb. 17 Perspective section. The literary essay by James Hill compares the origins of World War II with the gulf war and concludes incorrectly that perceived similarities do not apply.

He stated that "we will have to add some footnotes to account for conditions that weren't all that applicable to the outbreak of WW I and II (oil comes particularly to mind)." Having written six volumes of history concerned largely with the Pacific war, I know beyond doubt that the primary reason for Japan's aggression was nearly identical to Iraq's a half-century later: oil. In order to secure its conquest of the petroleum-rich Dutch East Indies, imperial Japan first had to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Therefore, it is beyond dispute that Pearl Harbor was driven by Japan's need for oil. The difference is that Iraq already had oil, but merely Mr.

Johnson Paychecks will go to at least 800 and perhaps as many as 1,200 people by 1996. With an estimated annual payroll of $25 million, the state and local economies can look ahead to an infusion of substantial tax revenues. These are particularly needed during these difficult times. To lure BankAmerica to the Valley it was necessary to dangle a carrot of considerable size. The incentive package of $16 million is about twice the value of the deal that Tempe recently put together to induce Chase Manhattan Corp.

to move its credit-card processing operations to Arizona. BankAmerica is to receive a combination of federal and state tax credits, some wage reimbursements, free job training from the Maricopa Community College District and reduced utility rates. There is nothing out of the ordinary in any of this. Such incentives are not only commonplace, but also essential if Arizona communities are to remain competitive. Phoenix went to the bargaining table and acquitted itself admirably in renegotiating a lease for the facility.

Phoenix dropped the amount of the former MeraBank lease by $1 million, hardly a significant sum considering that the lease is for 65 years. Create Indian center Editor: I would like to suggest a different use for the Indian School property. How about an Indian culture center similar to the Polynesian Culture Center in Hawaii? Representatives from the different tribes in Arizona could construct individual villages that represent their lifestyles. They could have demonstrations of their arts and crafts, with items offered for sale, and performances of their unique dances and ceremonies. Admission could be charged that would raise revenues for the city.

It's close enough to downtown hotels and the Civic Center Plaza that transportation could be provided in the form of horse and buggies or stagecoaches, open-air trams or trollies (anything but buses). It would be a great tourist attraction and something unique to our part of the country. We must cultivate what is special in our local culture, and not become just another big city with no personality. Let's do something wonderful with that land for the Indians and for ourselves. LEEANN RICHARDS Scottsdaie Modern communications bring war close to home TAXES FOR POLLUTERS The 'greening' of America Americans may not know the full extent of the war, but the satellite communications bring parts of it into our homes.

Although the facts are painful, I am thankful to be able to relate to my brother's surroundings. Thoughtful consideration is the least we owe our troops. When the technology is available to bring the public closer to the events in the Persian Gulf, then there should be no question; all the events should be viewed by the public with the exception of material that would damage allied military strategy. Sparing the public from reality is un-American. DENISE HOLDMAN Apache Junction Editor: The phone rang the other morning at 4:45 a.m., and before I answered it I knew it was my brother calling from Saudi Arabia.

He had called once before and told me about the missiles he watched fly overhead. Hearing his voice so clearly made it seem as though he were next door. Modern communications make this war closer to home. Watching the live coverage of the bombing in Tel Aviv was an awesome experience. Anyone in the United States viewing this must have felt fear almost as if the bombs were being dropped outside their house.

War is no longer Hollywood; war is reality. God and war Editor: The record shows that during all wars all parties claimed that God was with them. How happy it must make God to know that He was on the side of Hitler, Mussolini, Khomeini and all the other butchers of history and that he is now on the side of Saddam Hussein, the Arabs, Israel, the allied forces and that He is also held responsible for all wars, poverty, sickness, disease, fires, floods, quakes and all other horrible disasters. CHARLES J. SULLIVAN Phoenix Legislators must take the consequences capabilities that go well beyond current standards.

In the field of commerce, it would be economic folly to saddle U.S. companies with a burden not shared by their international competitors. Worldwatch suggests several ways around these obstacles. Green-tax proponents say they are not proposing an increase in the overall tax load. Nosiree.

New costs borne by consumers such things as higher prices for home heating oil could be offset by lowering income tax rates, they say. All of which would require a major overhaul of the nation's tax system. Virtually every time Congress starts tinkering with that machinery, it costs taxpayers dearly. One impetus for a green tax could be the concern about the dubious phenomenon of global warming. Some European governments, swept off their feet by extrapolations of recent heat waves, are said to favor a common tax on carbon dioxide emissions, which are created by the burning of such fossil fuels as coal and oil.

Pollution is a blight on society, no mistake about that, and reasonable efforts to curb it ought to be pursued. Equating pollution with sin, however, and trying to tax it out of existence is unlikely to work. Booze and butts, both of which are heavily taxed, have scarcely dried up and blown away. CALL it a sin and color it green as in greenbacks. That's an environmental group's solution to the problem of global pollution.

In its annual "State of the World" report on environmental trends, Worldwatch Institute argues for the imposition of "green" taxes as a rrleans of curbing pollution. These would resemble the ubiquitous "sin" levies on such consumer items as whiskey-and cigarettes. "Taxing products and activities that or otherwise degrade natural systems," it is argued by the Washington-based think tank, "is a way of ensuring that environmental costs are taken into account in private decisions whether to commute by car or bicycle, for example, or to generate electricity from coal or sunlight." The problem-solving proposal is not without problems of its own. As The Washington Post points out, there are formidable obstacles to implementing any such plan. A new tax, for instance, is unlikely to be embraced with enthusiasm by the American public.

A careful reading of politicians' hps will detect a quiver at the mere mention of the word. Furthermore, congressional tax experts point out that taxing smokestack emissions, for example, would require precise monitoring Just a little honesty? Editor: There have been two letters to the editor recently that suggested our legislators would be more honest if they were paid a higher stipend. This is a specious contention. There is no such thing as a little bit of honesty. PAUL B.

JARRETT Phoenix stand accused and I'm guilty as charged. I never did ask one candidate running for office if he or she was dishonest or morally reprehensible. Nor did I ask the most important question of all: "Would he or she take a bribe?" And I'm asking forgiveness for my dereliction of duty. You see, there are some things I take for granted. I don't get on a bus and ask the bus driver if he knows anything about anatomy.

Nor do I approach a political candidate seeking a position of trust asking if he can be trusted. There are just some things that are a given. So place the blame where it belongs: squarely on the accused legislators. We must insist that they accept the consequences of their actions, nothing more and nothing less. Isn't that what we teach our kids in order to build character? KATHLEEN MORTON Glendale Editor: The "Capitol sting" column by Bill Jamieson in the Feb.

24 Perspective section was indeed revealing. He asserts that all Arizonans are to blame for the dilemma we find our state in and that we should not be placing the blame on our legislators. He says we shirk our responsibility as responsible citizens because we are interested only in "single-issue voting." He went on to postulate that single-issue voting may very well be the reason that we wound up with dishonest lawmakers. After all, he said: "Dishonest and morally reprehensible people cannot hold public office unless we elect them. Quick fixes and bumper-sticker solutions are what grabs our attention.

If we had asked the right questions, we wouldn't be in the fix we find ourselves in right now." I must agree with Mr. Jamieson. I 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. Symington has his plan; now comes the really tough part if 1 JOEL N1LSS0N Editorial Writer The Arizona Republic held out the possibility of deferral instead of elimination with respect to ENSCO. In the months ahead Mr. Symington's "Plan for Arizona" will become a handy reference.

Will he push for a housing authority to aid the homeless, with some state funds going as subsidies to private builders? Or how about expansion of prenatal care for those who can't afford it? Or a tripling of the state tourism budget? Or committing state-financed preschool education to disadvantaged kids? Or mandatory prison sentences for polluters of groundwater? All seem worthy. But very quickly Mr. Symington is going to understand that there's a world of difference between campaigning and governing. A divided Legislature and the very political redisricting process just ahead likely will further aggravate a hoped for tranquility in state government. Relatively speaking, Mr.

Symington has acquitted himself well in staking out positions. Now comes the tough part. in all state operating and administrative budgets, except K-12, for the remainder of the fiscal year" and those cuts will stay in force for the 1992 budget. This week, at his first news conference, Mr. Symington was asked if we could expect a 6 percent cut.

He wanted to defer comment on that. Fair enough. The man hasn't even taken the oath of office yet. But in time he shouldn't be surprised if the question crops up again and again. How did he plan to resolve the impasse over the ENSCO hazardous waste plant now that talks have broken down? His "plan" refers to the ENSCO plant as a "monster (that) grew out of control," yet it doesn't take a definitive stand on the incineration or importation of hazardous wastes.

During the campaign he refined his positions, suggesting bans on both. Yet this week he conceded there are problems in imposing an importation ban. As to incineration, he said the practice still causes him "great concern," but he There's economic development, fiscal planning, the environment, drugs, children and families and health care. And then he says what all of us who are tired of tax increases (how many of you have done your state income tax returns?) want to hear. "Many of these changes and innovations can be accomplished without any increase in state spending.

Others will be financed by a creative reallocation of existing resources." Space doesn't permit a full regurgitation of specifics of Mr. Symington's plan, not unlike a party platform, which is to say it's not meant to be scrutinized once the election is over. Politicians are notorious for abandoning campaign promises. With the war in the Persian Gulf over, George "No New Taxes" Bush won't miss a step. Mr.

Symington's plan, which was his campaign's focal point until the runoff election turned unbelievably muddy, promises "an immediate cut of 6 percent from Mr. Symington. Full sentences were highlighted with yellow ink. Obviously, at some point in time, I had set out to read what Mr. Symington had to say in his treatise, which carries the imposing title of "The Symington Plan for Arizona." I flipped through the booklet all 46 pages and discovered only one other phrase that had been highlighted.

It was on Page 1. In case you didn't get one, or if you've misplaced yours, let me tell you the way Mr. Symington broached "the plan" with would-be voters. "For too long, Arizona has needed strong, competent leadership," Mr. Symington says in his introduction probably underscoring his theme of "real leadership." He talks of Arizona as a state in aimless drift and about tackling "the major problems of our day." Not unexpectedly, it's a laundry list of topics guaranteed to push a button or two among everyone.

Now that Arizona finally has a new governor I thought the time was right to filter through the stacks of campaign literature in my office. This wasn't any idle sorting out of files, mind you. I had a target. I was after a bound document with a glossy red, white and blue cover (what It was given to me sometime last year by an aide to Fife Symington. Or perhaps it came in the mail.

Whether it was before the September primary election or the November general election doesn't matter either. I finally unearthed it. It would be wrong to say that I blew dust off of the cover because it had been buried in a stack of press releases. And needless to say, the edges exhibited no evidence of constant referral, as does my dictionary. You could draw the conclusion that it had never been cracked.

But that wouldn't be true. On the introductory page were four paragraphs.