Marin’s public health officer deserves our praise
I have intended to write in praise of our fine Marin County public health officer, Dr. Matt Willis, ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a dedicated public servant who does a remarkable job.
Willis’ leadership during the pandemic surely helped keep Marin residents as informed and as safe as possible. He was alert to inequities in the impact of the pandemic based on race and socioeconomics. He supported the development of community response teams, which can more efficiently identify local health needs and propose strategies to meet them.
Willis has demonstrated a strong commitment to helping the county develop strategies to combat the opioid crisis and contributed to public understanding about the importance of vaccinating children against whooping cough and other childhood diseases.
I am certain there are numerous other health concerns he has shown leadership in addressing. We are so fortunate to have him and his team proactively supporting the public health of Marin County.
— Elise Trumbull, San Rafael
Rent control is right choice for San Anselmo
On April 9, the San Anselmo Town Council voted 3-2 to officially adopt a rent stabilization ordinance (“San Anselmo adopts rent control amid referendum effort,” April 14). It is a desperately needed policy which will help keep renters in their homes.
This makes San Anselmo the third town in Marin to pass some form of rent control. The win comes after more than two years of renters working with the Town Council and town staff to ensure that ordinary working people and seniors in our town will have real housing security for the first time in their lives.
I applaud the council members for being courageous enough to make a small but significant effort in trying to reduce the growing number of homeless people in the county. Any increase of rent beyond 5% could push many of our longtime San Anselmo seniors, families and community members out of their homes and possibly into homelessness.
Sadly, a small group of landlords have already begun collecting signatures on a petition to try and overturn the rent control ordinance. I think the tactics are deceptive. The group could get enough San Anselmo signatures to force a ballot vote in November.
I see it as an attempt to allow landlords to continue to charge some of the highest rents in the entire country, while their tenants struggle to survive.
The new rent control ordinance was a democratic decision by our elected representatives on the town council. If the issue goes to the ballot, I suspect San Anselmo will be opened to a flood of outside corporate campaign donations intended to mislead the public and get them to vote against this popular and common-sense policy.
— Kathrin Smith, San Anselmo
New bill holds CPUC members accountable
There have been several letters published in the IJ about the rampant and exorbitant Pacific Gas and Electric Co. rate increases (I’ve written a few myself). Most of us are left wondering what, if anything, can be done to curb the California Public Utilities Commission’s apparent insatiable appetite for getting their customers to part with more of their money in order to fill the already overflowing PG&E coffers.
That being said, I am both surprised and pleased to learn about the recently proposed Assembly Bill 2054, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer Kahan. It targets members of the PUC, the supposed regulatory agency that routinely rubber stamps almost all requested rate increases from PG&E.
PG&E has had executives convicted of criminal negligence and manslaughter from wildfires and a deadly explosion caused by its faulty equipment. PUC members seem to easily slip into these positions of power and don’t appear to ever get fired — even by the governor, who appoints them to six-year terms to begin with.
This bill would be a step toward introducing some controls over PUC members, which would ultimately ensure that these regulators act solely in the public interest. Although far from perfect, it’s the first step in a positive direction toward overseeing the board that oversees — always a challenge.
Learn more online at bit.ly/4dbbLxk.
— Christine Clayworth, Novato
Supreme Court must provide clarity on Trump
When he brought his indictments against Donald Trump on Aug. 1 of last year, special prosecutor Jack Smith said that the former president conducted an “unprecedented assault on American democracy.” Smith said his report was “fueled by lies (from) the defendant of trying to obstruct a bedrock function of the U.S. government … (during the) collecting, counting and certifying the results of a presidential election.”
Smith brought these charges early enough, he would have thought, for a fair trial to occur well before the next presidential election in November of this year. On Feb. 28, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s claim that he enjoys “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for any official acts during his tenure.” Finally, on April 25, the court heard the arguments.
We do not know how the majority of justices will rule and when this will occur. But given the comments by some of the justices (“We’re writing a rule for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said), it would appear likely that America is in store for a considerable delay. That makes it highly improbable that this case will be heard before the election. That would be a travesty.
It seems to me that the court has gone too far afield in its deliberations. The members simply should have accepted the opinion of the appeals court. As former President Richard Nixon once said, “people need to know if their president is a crook.”
The “immunity” Trump is eligible to get can only be provided by the jury in his trial. A guilty vote should be the answer to his claim.
— Bruce Farrell Rosen, San Francisco
U.S. military production needs to be ramped up
In recent reports regarding U.S. aid to Ukraine, I read that Russian military production, especially of artillery shells, considerably exceeds our capacity. Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, in his opposition to Ukraine aid, also made this point.
I strongly support Ukraine aid, but am shocked that our ability to produce is so deficient. After all, we and the European Union have applied so many sanctions on Russia and its military industries, yet they can still outproduce us. I believe that China could easily produce double or triple what Russia can.
We were “the arsenal of democracy” in two world wars and now can’t even equal the production capacity of Russia, which has a gross domestic product equal to Italy.
This has got to be a self-inflicted wound. It needs to be fixed quickly — not just for Ukraine, but for our own security.
Whomever in government did not see this coming needs to be removed. Whomever in the public (and from some members of the media) who promoted the deceptions that have created such an extreme vulnerability needs to be called out, chastised and never listened to again.
Everyone should remember that most of our fleet in the Pacific Ocean was destroyed at Pearl Harbor, yet in two years we had rebuilt it and exceeded Japanese capacity. There is no chance that we could do that again, vis-a-vis China.
— Chet Seligman, Point Reyes Station
