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County, city bear guilt
for substandard housing
Re. “Deplorable,” Page A1, Jan. 29:
Bravo, San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller for noting the “deplorable” conditions in the farmworkers’ camps in his county.
I guess San Mateo County and Half Moon Bay don’t have ordinances, code or building inspectors to ensure these conditions won’t exist. I hope he can accomplish something with that.
Michael Brookman
San Martin
If you need a bigger
garbage can, just ask
Re. “Why San Jose needs bigger garbage bins,” Page A6, Jan. 27:
Unless San Jose’s trash hauler is vastly different from Fremont’s, they offer multiple-sized cans for each category: trash, recycle and green waste. You can get 20, 32, 64 and 96-gallon cans. Of course, each larger size comes with an increased cost for collection.
All Dan Davis has to do is call to have a larger size delivered. You’re welcome, Dan.
Bruce Onken
Fremont
Milpitas says no
to greenwashing
Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, a local climate group, agrees with Cheryl Weiden’s op-ed about greenwashing (“How mining facility at Juristac would harm environment,” Page A8, Jan. 22).
The company that wants to build a quarry at Juristac isn’t the only one to claim it’s doing something “sustainable.” Local company Bloom Energy, which sells gas-powered fuel cells (essentially mini power plants that run on fossil fuels), has also used misleading claims of being “green” to gain exemptions from climate-friendly building codes in San Jose and Sunnyvale. Bloom tried again just this month in Milpitas, but luckily the Milpitas City Council wasn’t fooled and voted to require new buildings to be all-electric, with no exemptions for fuel cells.
Kudos to Milpitas for recognizing greenwashing for what it is. We hope the new San Jose City Council will follow their lead and sunset a loophole allowing gas-powered fuel cells in new facilities. There’s no room for greenwashing in a climate-smart city.
Jenny Green
San Jose
Instead of conclusions,
column states obvious
Dan Walters’ column of Jan. 29 is headlined “California’s economy surged last year, but the future remains cloudy.” (Page A9)
Memo to Dan Walters: The future is always cloudy. That’s why it’s the future. Don’t tell us the obvious, please.
Jose Martinez
Sunnyvale
Guns in the home
are no safety panacea
The writer of “Keep gun deaths in perspective” (Page A6, Jan.27) states that there were 19,000 gun-related homicides in 2020 but neglects to mention that the total number of deaths by firearms that year was actually 45,222. Twenty-four thousand people died by suicide and 533 more were killed in fatal accidents.
Having a gun in the house does not make you safer.
Don Coolman
Santa Cruz
Training won’t root out
all of the bad officers
I do not believe that any amount or kind of police training can overcome the interior culture of cruelty that was expressed in the beating of Tyre Nichols. That culture grew in much earlier development of those five Memphis police officers.
Rosemary Everett
Campbell
Let’s ban access to
semi-automatic weapons
Just 27 words ratified 230 years ago by founders who didn’t want a standing army basically determine our weapons use today. Surprisingly, those same 27 words promising militia security, now serve for some as permission to own and use whatever guns they want.
Unfortunately, it’s too easy for people today to arm themselves, even those who should not have weapons. But how can we stop the inevitable violence of mass shootings raging cross-country?
Because we cannot read minds nor plan ahead for the actions of mentally disturbed or angry shooters, why not eliminate the guns and ban access to semi-automatic weaponry? Such weapons should be available only to active military personnel.
And, we could easily start by reinstating the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, along with a proposed 2013 ban, to establish one permanent standard. Banning military assault weapons and providing buy-back programs would surely lower gun violence in America.
Patricia Faust
Menlo Park
Source: www.mercurynews.com