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Vote for Green
to safeguard water
I am proud to support Zone 7 Water Agency incumbent Laurene Green for a couple of reasons:
• She is an expert in water resources with a strong academic background (bachelor of science in geology and master of science in civil engineering from Stanford) coupled with decades of experience in the field both in the United States and abroad. For example, she worked on the world’s largest CO2 sequestration project and she spent seven years working on the groundwater investigations and cleanup at Lawrence Livermore Labs.
• As an incumbent on Zone 7, Laurene has a proven track record in making tough decisions that help to keep our drinking water safe.
We are lucky to have someone with Laurene’s technical expertise, leadership and passion choosing to run for her second term on Zone 7. I know we are in good hands dealing with complex issues while keeping our drinking water safe.
Nancy Allen
Pleasanton
Replace Oakland’s
city government
The people of Oakland need to recall the mayor and City Council, who, by their actions and inactions, have allowed the city to deteriorate into a crime-ridden place of fear. Residents, workers and tourists alike are being beaten, robbed and carjacked. Businesses are failing due to burglary and damage. Insurance companies are refusing to insure businesses and car owners due to the out-of-control crime.
Unless the mayor admits her mistakes and becomes a bigger person and brings back Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong, and stops her shackling of the police, life in Oakland will become untenable. The entire City Council has been silent and ineffective. They all need to resign or be recalled so the citizens can elect leaders who really care about the safety of their public and not use Oakland as a testing ground for their social and political dogmas.
Greg Thomas
Oakland
Urge Congress
to pass transit bill
Recently, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, introduced legislation in Congress that would transform public transit and help people get around Contra Costa and Alameda counties better by making County Connection, AC Transit, WestCAT and BART more frequent, reliable and expansive.
Congress failed to pass Johnson’s Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act last year and transit agencies in the East Bay and beyond have suffered for it. Public transit service is underfunded, leaving people behind and holding our economy back.
Everyone in the East Bay, especially those of us in Central and East Contra Costa, deserve high-quality transit. We need federal funding for transit.
It’s time for Congress to pass the Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act and ensure public transit continues to be a driver of economic growth and sustainability.
Michael Cluster
Pleasant Hill
Trump poses threat
to Medicare system
There’s a major threat to Medicare buried in the laundry list of far-right policies that Donald Trump is using as his playbook if he’s reelected. If Trump wins in November, he’s planning to severely undermine traditional Medicare by making private Medicare Advantage plans the default program for everyone who is newly eligible.
These plans have great profit outcomes for the insurance companies, but terrible health outcomes for the patients. Medicare Advantage plans regularly deny coverage for essential treatments and services, forcing patients to forgo the care they need.
Our tax dollars should not be used to pad the pockets of insurance CEOs at the expense of seniors and people with disabilities. But Trump has always prioritized profits over people.
Over 65 million Americans rely on Medicare for their health care, and over 400,000 people become newly eligible each year. Their health and lives are at stake in the November election.
Janet Saevitz
Oakland
Not trying is the
only real failure
Re: “Super Bowl LVIII a heavyweight fight” (Page A1, Feb. 12).
If sports is the model for society, then we may have so far to go that it could be described politely as daunting. Some might say frightening.
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Writing about the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss on Sunday, Dieter Kurtenbach describes it as a “failure.”
While that appears to be an obvious truth, it is a deep and abiding misunderstanding, with deep and abiding negative consequences. A loss is a failure only if we don’t understand the meaning of “failure.” A failure is not when you attempt something and it doesn’t work.
The only true failure is when you want to attempt something or compete, but don’t because you are afraid you won’t succeed or that you will lose, or look like — a failure. An unsuccessful attempt is the opposite of a failure; it is a process called learning.
Philip Rapier
Oakland
