Letters: Income inequality | Protect kids | Kumar unqualified | Mahan for mayor | Energy reliability | Catalytic converters

19/10/2022 01:00

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Teslas, homeless show state’s income inequity Teslas and the homeless are ubiquitous in the Bay Area. They share all the same freeways but with one key difference. Teslas are zipping along at 70 mph while the homeless are going nowhere. Income inequity is a major problem in the Bay Area. The evidence is evident by the many tarp-covered encampments that line the highways and byways throughout the Bay Area. The homeless population increased by about 15 percent statewide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tesla sales also increased. Two groups are growing in the Bay Area yet only one is prospering. Ralph Nichols San Jose Protect school kids during heat waves Re. “Another sizzler,” Page A1, Sept. 7: This story infuriated me. How can that school allow those kids to continue even though it reached temperatures that high? Kids can get sick in different ways with extreme heat. Dehydration, heat strokes and heat cramps can happen which is a medical emergency. We live in times where technology has evolved, and schools can switch to an online format so these kids can stay inside a cool temperature room and still get their education. The temperatures reached 109 in the article, which is far from safe for young kids. Adults are more likely to handle temperatures like this, but it isn’t easy, so sending kids out for eight hours of school in this heat is very unsafe for them. It should be changed to online the next time this arises. The safety of the kids should always be a priority. Brandon Huchim San Jose Kumar flier disqualifies him for Congress For years, Rep. Anna Eshoo has been my representative in Congress. I greatly appreciate her dedicated service and effective collaboration within Congress focused on improving her constituents’ quality of life in many ways – especially in an era when too many members of Congress pursue the interests of themselves and the privileged few rather than the public good. So, I was appalled to receive a mail flier from her congressional opponent, Rishi Kumar, claiming that Eshoo has failed to deliver for her constituents, and has promoted Medicare privatization, among other false statements. When the time comes for the torch to be passed to a successor, my hope is that new candidates will emerge with strong potential to continue Eshoo’s tradition of effective collaboration based on a positive approach and personal integrity. By his negative approach to campaigning, Kumar has convinced me that he is not such a candidate. Ed DeMeo Palo Alto Independent Mahan best pick for SJ mayor I’m a lifelong resident of San Jose and submitting this letter in support of Matt Mahan for Mayor. First, unlike Cindy Chavez, Matt Mahan is not beholden to the unions or the 49ers or any special interest groups. Second, the Chavez campaign has falsely claimed that Matt supports the NRA and is anti-abortion. Neither of those two false allegations is true. The fact that the Chavez campaign is spreading disinformation about Matt Mahan in order to have her elected the next mayor of San Jose, tells us all we need to know about Cindy Chavez. The best choice for San Jose’s next mayor is Matt Mahan. Jaime Leaños San Jose Energy reliability a joke with PG&E Re. “Consultant: PG&E’s state wildfire safety efforts falling short,” Page A8, Oct. 13: I’m appalled that the recent article about PG&E describes the “fast-trigger” circuit breakers as a success. I’ve lived up here for over 30 years, and have never seen such abysmal unreliability in our electric service, due to their inept implementation of those triggers. Previously, we had decent continuity. Nowadays, we can rely on the power dropping out at least twice a month, sometimes twice a week, at random, without warning (and it was worse before public outcry forced PG&E to back off). Given that we never had trouble with fires before, I sincerely doubt that any of these “incidents” has actually prevented any. Does PG&E have a shred of proof to the contrary? If so, we have not seen it. Because their greatest talent is keeping everyone in the dark. One wonders what their plan is for making our electricity reliable again or if they even have one. Miles Zarathustra Boulder Creek Make catalytic converter protection mandatory Re. “California is a hotspot for catalytic converter theft. Will new laws make a difference?” Oct. 10: I find it absolutely insane that in 2021 we jumped to over 50,000 catalytic converters stolen in the United States, especially when in 2018 there were just over 1,000 stolen. One wonders what happened, and how we can prevent this. Related Articles Letters to the Editor | Letters: Support development | No on Measure O | Silencing KGO | Playing games | Musk violation | Dishonoring democracy Letters to the Editor | Letters: Fuel cell cars | Reelect Eshoo | Bring back KGO | Targeting nonprofits | Prop. 1 | Jones’ lies Letters to the Editor | Letters: Pleasanton council | Senior center | PG&E failure | Religious freedom | Divisive left Letters to the Editor | Letters: Jonsen for sheriff | Palo Alto council | CUHSD slate Letters to the Editor | Letters: Contra Costa clerk | Yes on Y We need protective plates to come stock on vehicles to protect catalytic converters. We wouldn’t have to deal with making new laws and angry residents if cars had protective plates. I just think that catalytic converter theft is such a big deal, and it’s a law to have a catalytic converter on your car in California. Since that’s the case, California needs to make the protective plates stock on every vehicle or help the people who have had their catalytic converters stolen. Matthew Kozacek San Jose