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Homelessness too big
an issue for one program
The Housing First program is a step in the right direction. It provides a baseline for homeless to pull themselves out of chronic homelessness. But it is also a single policy. California has 161,548 homeless people on any given day as of 2020, and one of the highest per capita populations of the unhoused.
Clearly more drastic changes and aggressive policies are needed. Whether it be by driving down housing prices, tying homeless programs together with health services, or connecting them to the larger safety net debate, there is no one solution. Homelessness differs from person to person, caused by mental illness, drug abuse, poverty, unemployment, and more. We, therefore, need not a single policy such as Housing First but a myriad social programs to cover the wide range of issues homeless people face.
Daniel Truong
San Jose
Holmes guilty verdict
highlights myriad failures
Re. “Holmes found guilty of 4 counts of fraud,” Page A1, Jan. 4 :
The jury’s decision is like saying that on four counts Elizabeth Holmes was a “snake oil salesperson” peddling a worthless remedy.
The decision is also a guilty verdict for the failure of the journalist checks and balances of due diligence, and the seeking second opinions from analysts in the know. Those journalists are guilty of reporting about the emperor’s fine clothing without a second opinion.
The guilty verdict also points to the failure of the checks and balances to be provided by a responsible board of directors. Holmes’ star-studded board was all show (big names), and they were not in the know concerning what they were rubber stamping.
If they do a movie about this, it would be a cross between “Wall Street” (greed is good), and “The Music Man” (take the money and run). I teach leadership, and this is a lesson of how not to be a CEO.
Curtis Panasuk
Santa Cruz
Holmes impressive
even in conviction
Am I the only one disappointed in the Elizabeth Holmes verdict? I never met the woman, and I certainly didn’t invest in her company, but I have to admire her.
This young woman dropped out of college at 19 to start a company based on a notion that seemed, and was later found to be, impossible. In the process, she conned some of the savviest minds in the financial and technology worlds. The term “the big con” hardly does it justice.
Her investors failed to heed some basic truths: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, or how about P.T. Barnum’s “There’s a sucker born every minute.” We can always add, “A fool and his gold are soon parted.”
Prison for Holmes isn’t the right response. Perhaps an award for the biggest wake-up call in a generation would be more appropriate.
Meade Fischer
Soquel
Join fight to take back
local zoning control
If San Jose ends single-family zoning, that is the City Council’s decision (“San Jose policy will encourage SB 9 projects,” Page A1, Dec. 16). However, it is folly to believe that will lead to more affordable housing or help poor people or communities predominantly of color. We have an affordability crisis, not a housing crisis. Government can’t fix that because the Bay Area is one of the most desirable places to live in the world. Poor areas will be the first targeted with SB 9, resulting in accelerated gentrification and dislocation while developers/speculators get richer.
Even more fundamentally, an economic model predicated on perpetual growth is incompatible with sustainable resources, or sustainable anything.
While we can’t build to affordability, we can increase heights and densities, stretch our infrastructure, run out of water and generally erode our quality of life. Communities should be free to make their own decisions. Support OurNeighborhoodVoices.com and restore local control.
Jeffrey Schwartz
Saratoga
State surplus should
go to rainy day fund
Gov. Gavin Newsom should direct the bulk of the estimated $31 billion budget surplus to a rainy day fund to prevent a budget crisis when the economy stalls. It’s the responsible thing to do. California has already learned this lesson.
Justin Welsh
Sunnyvale
Trump’s election gambit
violated oath of office
The incoming president of the United States takes an oath of office. “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” This includes protecting the safety and security of the American people.
On Jan. 6t 2021, thousands of “brave patriots,” acting in Donald Trump’s name, stormed the Capitol. The insurrection lasted for hours. Lives were lost. Democracy was threatened. The presidential oath that Trump had taken demanded that he take action to defend the Constitution of the United States, and protect the safety and security of the people under attack. He did nothing. For hours he watched the events unfold on TV, and though reportedly urged to take action, he did nothing. He did not do his duty.
Dick Hammond
Sunnyvale
Trump aid admitted
coup in interview
Which is more stupid? Peter Navarro admitting to sedition and insurrection on national television) or (listening further to Navarro’s wailing) the realization that Navarro implied that even Donald Trump, the exalted one, was and is stupid, and that only Peter Navarro could fix the details of the Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt.
Specifically, one wonders if Navarro ticked off the boss by usurping him.
George Licina
Campbell
Source: www.mercurynews.com