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Better data on bills
would help save water
Re. “Bay Area water use rules are tightening,” Page B1, April 22:
Some of us are really trying: fewer showers, less flushing and irrigation etc. But exactly how is the consumer to know whether we are saving 15%?
Water bills should be mandated to show: 1) what the anchor year usage was; 2) current year usage; 3) the percentage we are individually up or down. And if we are not meeting the goal, the bill should include examples of ways to save the required additional percentage. We have no idea. Few of us will do the online research and math that would be required. Water company computers can easily calculate and share the data with us and stop beating us up when we have no convenient data to work with.
Mandate accessibility to reliable data for the consumer so we can do our part.
Cindy Castillo
Sunnyvale
Nagaye’s courage
worthy of a new sheriff
How refreshing, and surprising, to read Sgt. Christine Nagaye’s op-ed (“Why police accountability is critical to our nation’s future,” Page A6, April 22). I think an officer brave enough to publicly question the “warrior cop” ethos sets herself apart from other candidates for county sheriff.
A young friend of ours is about to become a police officer in the Bay Area. I want him to survive his service.
Sue Luttner
Palo Alto
Code violations must
be dealt with seriously
Re. “DA: Man set Home Depot fire as diversion for tool theft,” Page A1, April 20:
I am infuriated about the possible negligence of Home Depot and how they endangered the surrounding businesses and homes.
As a result of their repeated code violations, similar negligence may have caused their entire store to burn to the ground and would have spread if it weren’t for the incredible effort by local firefighters. According to the article, some witnesses at the scene said alarms didn’t sound until everyone was out of the store and the sprinklers never activated.
We need to make sure that these large corporations are following standard safety procedures and are not able to brush them aside. The citizens of San Jose will be satisfied when there are disciplinary measures against businesses that continue to ignore violations, and no politicians coddling big businesses. Upon doing this we will see safer stores that have working sprinklers and fire alarms.
Logan Meline
San Jose
Mental health help
must precede tragedy
Re. “His neighbors tried to save him. But the system was too broken,” Page A1, April 17:
Seeing a loved one go through depression and mental issues is very difficult especially when you can’t do anything to help them. The obstacles to go through when getting someone mental health care are unbelievable.
The law requires a mentally unstable person to make a coherent decision for themselves, though they often can’t think for themselves. Families aren’t able to get help for their loved ones without their consent, and for the loved one to agree about their mental issues. Unfortunately, mentally ill people often aren’t aware of being ill, which makes it harder for them to give consent. The only option for them to get involuntary mental health care is when they have already committed a crime or are attempting to hurt themselves or other people.
The law should be designed to prevent people from getting hurt, not applied after the law has been broken.
Alma Santos
San Jose
City needs more
shelters with services
Over the last several years, the number of homeless people in San Jose has risen dramatically. According to ABC 7News, the 2019 PIT count “showed a countywide spike in homelessness of 31% and an increase of 42% in San Jose, up from 2017 data.”
Santa Clara County’s lack of affordable homes and exorbitant cost of living have become concerns. With the unavailability of homeless shelters, more people who are vulnerable and suffering are left with no help. This has become a violation of human rights, and individuals who are homeless are unfortunately at a higher risk of developing serious illnesses that might lead death if not treated professionally.
To help this problem, we need to build more homeless shelters that not only provide basic human needs but also provide services such as résumé-building and mock interviews to help people get a job and begin a new life.
Leslie Garcia
San Jose
Population outstrips
state’s homes, resources
Re. “More houses, not more laws, will solve crisis,” Letters to the Editor, Page A12, April 24:
According to the many letters and articles published herein, we now have two crises: a water shortage as well as inadequate housing for our current population.
Setting aside the fact that population trends in California are shown to be mitigating, the aforementioned crises offer obvious solutions: municipalities must issue fewer, not more building permits until California’s population is within the sustainable capacity of our available resources. If we care about the ecological sustainability of our state, this is obvious.
Raising the cost of hookups to a higher rate would eventually diminish population to a sustainable level thus reducing the need for more water.
Controlling new construction would have little economic impact on the current, fully employed population. It would, however, decrease the windfall of new tax collection for municipalities.
We must face the realization that California cannot have more housing while we maintain the current level of agricultural water usage.
Neil Hickman
Santa Cruz
Source: www.mercurynews.com