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Commission’s vote
threatens Coyote Valley
I am so disappointed that the San Jose Planning Commission voted for warehouses over wildlife Wednesday night. I served on the General Plan Task Force, which voted last year to protect North Coyote Valley from industrial development.
Preservation of Coyote Valley is essential for San Jose to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets and protect us from the worst of the climate crisis. These natural areas can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in soil and vegetation. They also absorb floodwaters along Coyote Creek, preventing the kind of flooding we saw downtown in 2017. This is prime farmland and also serves as a crucial wildlife corridor.
As a Task Force member, I call on San Jose City Council to approve the city staff’s recommendation to protect North Coyote Valley.
Coyote Valley has been protecting us in so many ways; it’s time for us to protect Coyote Valley.
Susan Butler-Graham
San Jose
Tech campus will make
downtown issues worse
It isn’t news that Silicon Valley is the heart of tech just like gentrification isn’t anything people from the Bay Area aren’t already familiar with. The city of San Jose struggles with many issues such as homelessness, cost of living, crime and much more.
Bringing another tech company to downtown San Jose (“Restarting construction for tech campus being eyed by developer,” Page B4, Oct. 31 ) will not only increase the cost of rent for small businesses that are already here but also completely ignores the many other issues that have yet to be solved. The impact COVID has had on San Jose has done a number not only on businesses but also on those who call this city home as they’ve struggled in the past two years.
Bringing a tech campus to downtown San Jose will do more harm than good by forcing natives out of the city they call home creating a greater struggle than COVID has already done.
Jorge Araiza-Verdusco
San Jose
Light rail station has
potential for unhoused
There is a concern locally that the Santa Teresa light rail station will become a place for RV parking for unhoused people. I think this is a good idea. San Jose is one of the wealthiest places, yet the issue of homelessness continues to be unaddressed.
The majority of unhoused people do not choose to be homeless. Oftentimes, it is because of circumstances beyond their control. With the light rail stations being underutilized, I think it’s a good idea for people to stay. This way people can be safe, and hopefully, the city of San Jose will provide some services, like dumpsters and portable bathrooms.
It would be better for people to be in the light rail station parking lots instead of on the sides of the highways.
Elizabeth Tritch
San Jose
Next SJSU leader must
put student safety first
Re. “Amid turmoil, Papazian resigns,” Page A1, Oct. 8:
Former San Jose State President Mary Papazian is definitely to blame for keeping Scott Shaw around too long and not giving students their due justice. For more than 10 years, Shaw was assaulting student-athletes. Papazian was aware of the allegations of these assaults for years and still refused to fire Shaw. There is no way word had not gotten around to her about the dozen of students that were assaulted.
For San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to be biased toward Papazian is outright disrespectful to students. He said she is a “trusted partner” when she kept an abuser safe for years while students suffered in silence for the sake of their degree. Papazian doesn’t protect students; she protects her image for connections. As a student of San Jose State, I hope our next president has the safety of students as a priority.
Hannah Toves
San Jose
Public health should
trump civil liberties
A segment of the news last night covered people standing outside an In-N-Out talking about how getting vaccinated infringes upon their civil liberties. It made my blood boil.
What about the rest of us? What about our civil liberties? How long do we have to continue wearing masks and dealing with all the pandemic-related inconveniences? The answer is in the hands of anti-vaxxers. As long as there are people who refuse to get vaccinated, the rest of us will continue to be held captive by COVID-19.
So to all of you who keep shouting about your civil liberties, grow up. Stop thinking only about yourselves and think about how your selfishness is affecting the rest of us. Get the shot.
Woody DeMayo
Los Altos
Climate crisis crimping
China, supply chain
Various reasons have been floated for product shortages and mild inflation experienced recently. We will continue to see such episodes, and one reason for this is that China is somewhat clumsily trying to meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
Authoritarian societies are prone to economic ‘glitches’. This one is occasioned by hard emissions targets which apparently could only be met by shutting down certain coal power plants, leaving citizens and factories without power for days on end.
We should recognize that this pollution reduction effort by China is essential for everyone’s long-term well-being. China’s greenhouse gas emissions exceed those of the next four biggest polluters combined (the U.S., India, Russia and Japan). It is unrealistic to imagine that China can re-work its energy system without some number of glitches of this type. As long as China’s economy and ours remain as intertwined as they are, we will feel these glitches, too.
Allen Carroll
San Jose
Source: www.mercurynews.com