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SJ City Council should
hold special election
As a member of the Almaden Valley Community Association Board I helped arrange public meetings with the six applicants to fill the City Council vacancy in District 10.
Speaking only for myself, as they responded to questions it became clear to me they do not have the intimate knowledge of District 10 that we have come to expect from our representatives.
Each applicant has a compelling argument to make that they deserve to join the City Council. But to really understand the needs of the district and to build support among residents, they need to sell their vision: knocking on doors, holding teas with local residents, building a campaign organization, and sitting down with neighborhood groups.
To be fair to District 10 residents and the candidates, the City Council should appoint an interim person to the council and set a date for a special election.
Gary Hector
District 10 resident, San Jose
Lawmakers should
rein in Ticketmaster
A 49ers Divisional Playoff game ticket, section 104, is $251, and any section in the 400s s $151 face value for one seat, which is $50 more than a season ticket. Yet, Ticketmasterwas selling tickets up to six times face value due to dynamic pricing.
Knowing the actual face value of a ticket is helpful to all, as we know how much we are paying over face value. Like airplane tickets, California and Congress should act on behalf of all American citizens on businesses like Ticketmaster who should show the face value of a ticket and the marked-up price.
They should also abolish dynamic pricing. I have no objection to paying a bit over face value, but six times more is extortion.
Michael McWalters
Alviso
CEQA has become
a nuisance law
I must respectfully disagree with Rick Longinotti’s take on CEQA (“CEQA isn’t holding up affordable housing,” Page A12, Jan. 15). Whether it’s development to enhance our energy infrastructure, mitigate fires or increase affordable housing, they all have one thing in common: They usually annoy someone who lives nearby.
And thanks to CEQA, any irritated neighbor with a lawyer can tie up a project by filing suit and arguing that the government should have provided more discussions of alleged impacts or recirculated the environmental review document for additional public comment. Even if the complaints are frivolous, the lawsuit may be enough to kill or at least delay a project for years.
This has occurred thousands of times since the inception of CEQA in 1970. Recently, the First District of the California Court of Appeal expressed its frustration that CEQA had devolved into a ”formidable tool of obstruction, particularly against projects that increase housing density.”
Gregory Carlsted
San Jose
COPA proposal is
too costly for SJ
San Jose’s Housing Department’s third public outreach meeting on Jan. 18 discussed Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, COPA. The fourth follows on Jan. 25, then soon, on to the council.
COPA grants Qualified Nonprofits, QNP, the right to make an unopposed offer to purchase a duplex to fourplex residential rental property. The owner has refusal rights but must wait 47 days before they can list their property on the open market. If the QNP made the offer on the 47th day, even though refused, the QNP can match an accepted offer; again the seller can accept or refuse. With the owner’s acceptance, the escrow period is 120 days. That’s 167 days, 5.5 months. QNP, the landlord, rents to low-income tenants at 30% of income. QNPs pay no property tax and rely on the city for permanent subsidies.
Creating nonprofit bureaucracies is expensive; we should give tenants the difference from 30% to market rents.
David Eisbach
San Jose
Climate legislation
needed but unlikely
Rob Hogue is right to say “Voluntary acts won’t stop climate change” (Page A6, Jan. 20) while proposing a couple of imaginative mitigation ideas.
Here’s a couple more:
1. Make every express lane a diamond lane to force ride-sharing while leaving city streets for local pickups.
2. Lighten up on blacktopped roads for more reflection.
I second Hogue’s opinion that California legislators are more interested in revenue than in mitigating global warming so no useful initiatives will be forthcoming.
Fred Gutmann
Cupertino
Warriors set example
on dealing with liars
Re: “Warriors forgot to respect the office,” Page A6, Jan. 20:
Sad to say, but if the one who lives there does not respect the office or faithfully defend the Constitution they swore to uphold, lie incessantly, etc., what is one to do?
I, and I hope many, many others, would have done as the Warriors did and declined to show any support for someone like that.
Respect is earned not bequeathed to an office holder or address.
Michael Lechner
San Jose
Warriors show they
are wonderful patriots
Fan Jiao’s letter on Jan. 20 (“Warriors forgot to respect the office,” Page A6) states The Warriors’ failure to visit the White House during Trump’s tenure showed a lack of respect for the presidency. Jiao’s letter was followed by a letter from Donna Munic that perfectly illustrates that the Warriors are wonderfully patriotic leaders.
Faced with the 30,573 lies during the Trump term and the current Santos lies, Dub Nation, bless their hearts, is leading us down a path to demand honest politicians … and celebrate this in the Biden White House.
Go Warriors. Go Biden.
Lura Halbert
Los Gatos
Source: www.mercurynews.com