'Change this hate'

REFER:

Not all Washington visitors are welcome/Editorial, A4

COEUR d’ALENE — A Washington resident said she was harassed while recently in Coeur d’Alene — because she was from Washington.

And she worries there is a growing hostility toward visitors in this lakeside, resort community.

“This 'hate' that is going on with CDA residents towards WA residents should be put to a stop ASAP before it starts to become the norm!” the woman wrote in a letter to Mayor Steve Widmyer. “The hypocrisy of all of it is that 'they' hate us when we come to CDA (and help support the economy) but when a loved one is in need of medical care (being scared and desperate feeling) 'we' are ok. Please please try to start changing this 'hate culture' towards WA residents.”

In her note, the woman, who did not give her name, said she has been visiting Coeur d’Alene for more than 20 years and has enjoyed it. But two “disturbing incidents” are giving her a new outlook about the area.

A few weeks ago, stuck in Coeur d'Alene traffic, she heard several people sitting on a porch yelling at her to “Go home.” 

“Then some female added some very horrible language to it,” she wrote, adding that she feared for her safety and locked her doors.

“Something like this has NEVER happened with my wonderful visits to CDA!” she wrote. “I thought maybe this was an isolated incident but I was wrong.”

On July 4, she brought her 4-year-old granddaughter to City Beach. As she was driving through a parking lot a woman walking with her family started yelling at her to “go home.”

“I was horrified that this had happened again!” the woman wrote. “I am not sure what is going on in the CDA but I am hoping that as a leader in this beautiful community you would help to change this hate that is going on for WA residents.”

Widmyer said he has received three emails in the last week from Washington visitors who said they were verbally berated because of their license plates.

“On the flip side I have witnessed rude behavior by visitors. The past 14 months have caused stress on everyone,” Widmyer said.

The mayor’s message is that “we all get back to treating each other with kindness and respect. For everyone. This is a reminder for how we treat our visitors and how our visitors treat our residents. It really comes down to common decency.”

Derrell Hartwick, president and CEO of The Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber of Commerce, said he was sad to hear of the incidents.

“I know our Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber business community welcomes all visitors, which has shown over the past three weekends,” he said in an email. “Also, our first responders have done a fantastic job of keeping our community safe during. I hope this individual does come back, seeing that she has been coming for over 20 years and doesn’t let one person define our great Coeur d’Alene community.”

The Washington woman added that what makes this more disturbing is that she is a registered nurse who works in Spokane and cares for many residents of Coeur d’Alene. 

“I have so enjoyed my times in CDA and want to continue to do so, but when I believe my safety is in question I will have to find another place to go and I wouldn't hesitate to believe that I would not be the only one to think like this,” she wrote, “especially when our Kids/Grandkids are part of our visits.”