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Concord made wrong
pick for naval station
Re. “City Council OKs developer for ex-naval station,” Page A1, Oct. 28:
With the former Naval Weapons Station, Concord city mothers and fathers had a chance to create an innovative world-class development that would elevate the stature of a ho-hum city to a jewel of the Bay Area.
Instead, they chose an ethically-challenged developer with a reputation for ignoring critical environmental issues and building mediocre housing. Congrats, Concord.
David Ogden
Walnut Creek
County right to punish
recalcitrant eatery
Re. “Rescind In-N-Out COVID-19 penalties,” Page A6, Oct. 29:
I completely agree with the county’s health department requiring vaccination checks for indoor dining. The county health officials are just doing their job to get us over COVID, in the midst of a health emergency prolonged indefinitely by anti-vaxxers.
As for me, I really enjoy eating inside a restaurant without having to worry about a customer near me being unvaccinated and possibly poisoning my air. And the cost? About five seconds of a server’s time. That’s a good deal.
I have never heard of any constitutional right to pick any restaurant, especially if the restaurant is a health hazard. And these restrictions might even convince someone to get vaccinated.
Robert Zanker
Concord
Keyless entry system
poses privacy risks
The Exchange at Bayfront now requires residents to use a keyless door system that requires the use of one’s personal cellphone to access not only the building and its amenities but also one’s own unit. The concern is from a privacy perspective where they are leveraging our personal cellphones, have the ability to collect personal data, see our comings and goings, etc. For those of us who are already under lease, there is no lease clause giving the owner or its agents such rights.
Yesterday we were informed that by Nov. 5 the entire community will be on Latch, and if we don’t adapt we cannot enter the building or any of its amenities including the parking garage. See “America’s Favorite Door-Locking App Has a Data Privacy Problem, Great for landlords. Not so great for you.” article about the NYC situation and subsequent lawsuit.
Kim Marchand
Hercules
Column fails to call out
threats, harassment
I won’t bother to refute the spin in Marc A. Thiessen’s incendiary column about how our administration is addressing the threats towards school board members (“Biden’s school board disaster is self-inflicted,” Page A7, Oct. 28). I find it ghastly that he never addresses the actual threats themselves.
Here are some of those threats which originated from, as Theissen calls them, parents’ “legitimate concerns”:
“We are going to make you beg for mercy.”
The NSBA letter states, “These heinous actions could be equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism.” Attorney General Merrick Garland’s letter states there is a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence.” It’s pretty obvious to me that it’s true. Thiessen is the one pouring gas on the fire.
Lisa Rigge
Pleasanton
Expect further glitches
in global supply chain
The Business section of the Oct. 25 edition of the East Bay Times had an interesting article about backup generator company Generac (“Generac cashes in as climate change calls for backup power,” Page C9). The article is another reminder that climate change is already affecting our lives and costing us more every year. People are losing their electric power due to more powerful hurricanes, unexpected deep freezes and wildfires due to heat, drought and high winds. No wonder so many property owners feel the need to invest in backup power generators.
Climate change will continue to cost us even more every year. The problem is not just important. It’s urgent. We’re already overdue for starting aggressive action to fight climate change so that we can limit these growing costs. Call or write your legislators and ask them for a climate change policy that includes carbon pricing.
Rob Hogue
Menlo Park
Press reps to pass family
leave and climate policy
As a deeply concerned and actively engaged constituent, I strongly urge Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Alex Padilla to ensure that paid family leave be passed into law.
Even more urgently, I call on our senators to do all that they can to fight Sen. Joe Manchin’s stranglehold that’s preventing real and critically important progress against climate change. The millions of dollars he’s earned off of fossil fuels should not in any true democracy be able to have that kind of power. Catastrophic and irreversible climate change will occur if other Democrats don’t stand up to him and to big oil to stop all fossil fuel production.
Nicole Raeburn
Richmond
Source: www.mercurynews.com