Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.
Khamis less than solid
on open-space issues
Your endorsement of Johnny Khamis for county supervisor claims he has a solid record on open-space issues. That is false.
Khamis refused to endorse Measure Q, the source of funding for the purchase of acreage in the Santa Teresa foothills and hundreds of acres in Coyote Valley. Measure Q was approved by more than two-thirds of the voters because we all understood the benefit of preserving open space in the Santa Clara Valley.
If it were up to Khamis, Measure Q would have never made it to the ballot. That is not a solid record of support.
Kathy Sutherland
Open Space Authority Citizens Advisory Committee
San Jose
Chancellor’s sales pitch
glosses over issues
Chancellor Bradley Davis’ salesmanship for the California Community College system is persuasive (“A guaranteed way to keep students’ UC dreams alive,” Page A6, April 14).
But like a used car salesman, he “guarantees” students being in the driver’s seat for admission to the UC system. He doesn’t mention the hard work, discipline and countless hours in the library, labs or even coffee shops required for an associate degree.
Furthermore, he states that most community college classes are taught by full-time faculty members; he should know better. Part-time (a.k.a. “adjunct” instructors) carry the teaching load at a fraction of the better paid full-time faculty.
Having said that, I’m preregistered with West Valley College for the fall. Go Vikings.
Jerry Sheahan
San Jose
Enough words; time to
act on water shortage
Year after year we hear the same story: drought and water shortage. And we hear the solution: cut down urban water usage and severe financial penalties for higher usage.
Meanwhile, we see a rising population and massive housing schemes aided by legislation, both of which abet the water shortage. The governor as usual puts out proclamations without any teeth at the beginning and closes the book on that. Each district in the state puts out different mandates, some at cross purposes.
There have been many suggestions from your readers to look seriously at desalination, given that we have one of the longest coastlines. But alas, no one from officialdom, including the governor, has said nary a word about it.
It’s high time the governor addresses this serious crisis with a solution and does not continue to suggest tightening the belt.
Rama Chandramouli
Saratoga
Kapler making fans
though his character
Re. “Giants’ Richardson, Padres Shildt resolve misunderstanding with a hug,” Page C1, April 14:
I’ll never ever, ever be a Giants fan, but I am becoming a fan of Giants manager Gabe Kapler.
His attitude and handling of issues going on in the world outside of baseball have made me take notice of this former big-league ballplayer turned manager.
His response supporting his black coach, Antoan Richardson, in the aftermath of an unfortunate exchange with a Padres coach, is the latest in a series of issues that Kapler has dealt with publicly in a sensitive manner that demonstrates a character that we can all be proud of.
Kudos to Gabe Kapler. Along with Steve Kerr, the Bay Area has two truly humanitarian coaches/managers leading the young people under their care.
Bruce Halen
San Jose
Our polarized politics
are halting progress
I definitely agree with Patrick Mahoney’s statement, “How sad for our nation that there is no compromise on anything,” (“Progress Impossible with McConnell in charge,” Letters to the Editor, Page A6, April 13) or hardly anything. And I, too, am disappointed that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was not confirmed by a wider margin.
As for Sen. Mitch McConnell being the roadblock – I didn’t see Sen. Chuck Schumer being the model of compromise when he was minority leader. Nor Sen. Harry Reid – even when majority leader.
It is not individuals – but rather highly polar partisan politics.
And it truly is sad that our government representatives are incapable or unwilling to do the job that they were elected to do – govern effectively – which entails an ability to compromise for the good of the country.
While I have no objection to ridding ourselves of the filibuster, I consider the requirement for a two-thirds majority vote inviolate – which necessarily demands compromise.
Gary Miller
Saratoga
Media should promote
good economic news
This newspaper, like most other media outlets, frequently runs lead stories about the rising rate of inflation. This practice of highlighting negative news gives readers the impression that the economy is in poor condition, which has negative psychological, political and economic ramifications.
Although I read a lot of news, I was surprised to read in this paper’s sister paper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, that the national unemployment rate “is now just 3.6%, barely above the lowest point in 50 years. And there is a record proportion of 1.7 job openings for every unemployed American.”
If media outlets ran front-page headlines about this extraordinarily positive job market, readers might well change their perception of the economy, with positive ramifications all around.
Peter Gelblum
Boulder Creek
Source: www.mercurynews.com