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Concord should find
new NWS developer

Re.”Concord rejects housing developer’s proposal,” Page B1, May 26:

As a Concord resident since 1989, in addition to growing up here, I have been concerned about the Seeno family and their unsavory activities for a number of years.

I wrote to the City Council expressing my concern about their considering them to head the development of the Naval Weapons Station, and continue to feel strongly that the council should look further for a trustworthy and reliable contractor to handle the development.

Maren Stanczak
Concord

State must improve
fire management

More than 100 years of poor fire management has led to too many burned homes and more flammable landscapes. California can’t keep fighting wildfires the same old ways.

We must change how we prevent destructive fires. Almost all wildfires are ignited by people in the urban wildland interface. We’re in denial if we think it’s safe to continue building on fire-prone hillsides if we just add a new fire station or use new building materials. To adapt to climate change and increasing wildfire conditions, we must be smarter about where we put homes and more serious about retrofitting existing homes.

The Washburn Fire, which reached 58% containment this week, offers important lessons about prevention measures. The majestic sequoias survived partly due to prescribed burns and managed wildfire. The necessary practices have been neglected in many of California’s ecosystems for decades and we have a lot of catching up to do.

Tiffany Yap
Oakland

Change begins with
good local government

The Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe proves that our fundamental rights continue to be under attack.

Most of us believe we should have the freedom to decide for ourselves whether and when we have children. That requires accessible abortion care – and a strong democracy.

The same groups and individuals secretively spending in support of the decades-long assault on Roe have poured millions into taking over local and state elected offices, putting up barriers to voting and drawing unfair district maps.

This fall we have an opportunity to build a stronger democracy right here in Oakland. Fair Elections Oakland will increase campaign ad transparency, strengthen contribution limits, limit lobbying and equip every Oaklander with the resources to support community-based candidates. When candidates and elected officials can focus on what our communities need, not what big-money donors and special interests want, that’s when we’ll see real progress on issues that matter most.

Liz Suk
Executive Director, Oakland Rising
Oakland

Don’t investigate;
divest from fossil fuels

I share fellow reader George Fulmore’s sentiment about corporate greed being the driver behind increased fuel costs (“Oil industry’s windfall must be investigated,” Page A6, July 19), but I don’t think an investigation is needed. Energy corporations are simply doing what they’re supposed to do: maximize profits.

Greed isn’t the problem; our government subsidizing and enabling them is. We should instead be divesting away from fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy.

Dan Sulfaro
Berkeley

Congress needs more
independent thinkers

Last week, President Biden’s package of policies to help reduce climate-warming pollution collapsed after one senator withdrew his support. The U.S. Senate has 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats. In this case, they are voting as a block except one Democratic member who is holding it up.

Please, don’t tell me that you think every single Republican believes that this bill is bad and every single Democrat except one believes that it is good. What we see here is blatant politics at its worst. It seems that the priorities of these senators must be their own political futures first, their parties’ political futures second and the future of the American people a distant third.

One wonders when we will vote for independent thinkers who will put the future of the American people first. By the way, the Supreme Court seems to have the same biases.

Robert Mayne
Walnut Creek

Recent rulings show
high court’s ineptitude

The U.S. Supreme Court is a totally inept court.

This can be said in response to their repealing the court’s long-ago ruling that abortion is a right of everyone in America. The court’s attempt to interpret the Second Amendment is even more obviously inept. If their decision that the Second Amendment guarantees that everyone in America has a right to own and keep any weapons they want, we could all buy and keep a machine gun, something that has not been allowed for the past almost 90 years, when the National Firearms Act was passed … and never ruled unconstitutional.

Machine guns are war weapons only, and are not covered by the Second Amendment. War weapons, like AR-15 type guns, can be banned, just as machine guns are banned. No honest, adept court can deny that, but this court does.

Vaughn Hopkins
Brentwood

Source: www.mercurynews.com