An eastbound BART train departs from the Rockridge BART station in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, June 26, 2023. Bay Area drivers could soon be on the hook to help bail out BART and other regional transit agencies struggling to recover from the pandemic under a bill state lawmakers announced Monday that would hike tolls over most bridges $1.50. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
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BART is lacking
in accountability
Re: “BART’s desire for money fuels bridge toll hike” (Page A6, June 28).
I totally agree with the editorial that BART’s plea for more money amidst plummeting ridership has transformed it from a transit system into an employment agency. It is unconscionable.
There is little accountability with government workers thanks to powerful worker unions that compensate and fire workers on the basis of seniority rather than performance. Rather than do more with less, it’s just easier to ask for more taxpayer money. It certainly doesn’t hurt to also have politically powerful friends in the Legislature.
Maybe it’s time to rethink ways to achieve more accountability in our public agencies.
Jerry Mungai
San Jose
Nextdoor undercuts
licensed contractors
The website Nextdoor.com changed its rules allowing businesses to directly submit advertising posts in the general platform.
Many companies that advertise, promote and are recommended by neighbors that do residential construction work are unlicensed.
State laws require any construction company that performs a project costing over $500 including materials and labor have a valid state contractors license. The laws require any business to list their license number in any advertising and listings. Those companies that don’t have a license are required to state that fact.
Nextdoor provides a free and open forum for unlicensed companies. They punish neighbors asking companies if they are licensed, what their license number is, or warning the public that a license is required for the work they are proposing to do.
Nextdoor has a bias against the construction industry as you are allowed to ask other industries about their qualifications.
Timothy Gordon
San Carlos
Nation’s greatness rests
on more than Christianity
Re: “Removal denies cultural significance of the cross” (Page A6, June 30).
I was shocked by G. J. Hugger’s comments in the June 30 Letters to the Editor:
“There would likely be no such thing as freedom and national, state or city government as we know it without the cross and Christ.”
Our belief in democracy and personal freedom came from the Enlightenment, which was a reaction against the religious wars in Europe. It was a time that made healthy religious skepticism acceptable and brought divine rights into question.
To say Christianity and its symbols are necessary for democracy is wrong. We have become a multicultural nation. We love freedom and democracy, and we learn and borrow from each other.
Alex Havasy
Sunnyvale
U.S. must do more
to feed out children
Re: “Silicon Valley school sites serve as convenient places to help feed families” (June 30).
Although I am happy that schools are helping families in the Bay Area, I can’t avoid thinking about how food insecurity is a solvable problem being ignored by our legislators.
Just last month, House leaders released a trio of tax bills giving tax cuts to the wealthy while ignoring people in the lowest income brackets. Under this plan, the wealthiest 1% would receive an average cut of $16,560. Americans in the bottom 20% would receive $40. This is unconscionable and worst of all, we have a tested tax credit proven to reduce child poverty in California and the United States. The expanded child tax credit helped 3.9 million Californian families stay out of poverty. This credit gave my family and many others a chance to buy food and not have to rely on food pantries.
Congress needs to act now and feed the children of this country.
Sarah Izabel
Stanford
Readers deserve more
healthy meals coverage
I am disappointed that week after week, there are few if any plant-based, low-sugar, low-fat foods and restaurants shared in the Eat Drink Play section, even after admonishing readers to eat this way back in January.
I am a plant-based, whole-food eater, and I eat what I prepare for myself. I would love to learn about restaurants serving these foods and want easy recipes for these foods.
Enough of the bakeries, pizza and burger places, and high-sugar, beef and cream-laden meals. Yes, we all love these and want them on special occasions, but you are not helping our population to be healthy.
Ellen Petrill
Los Altos
Change to bankruptcy
laws could help students
Re: “Student loan debt relief rejected” (Page A1, July 1).
A quick way to “fix” the student loan debt issue is to simply change the bankruptcy laws. Several types of bankruptcy cannot be discharged. Those include debt obtained by fraud and student loans.
Remove those restrictions and students who could not legitimately pay back their debt could discharge it through bankruptcy. Those earning high salaries could not.
As a VISTA volunteer, I worked with bankruptcy courts multiple times. I believe removing these restrictions would solve a large percentage of student debt issues.
James Thurber
Half Moon Bay