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Berkeley delays pain
with budget tricks

Re: “Council’s balanced budget fixes gap” (Page B1, July 2).

The Berkeley City Council’s refusal to make budget cuts is a big mistake. Berkeley’s per capita spending is more than 30% higher than the per capita spending in San Jose. Berkeley’s per capita spending is more than double per capita spending in Albany.

In 2021, unfunded liabilities were $773 million. In February of 2023, unfunded infrastructure needs were $2.23 billion. As of 2025, Berkeley’s unfunded pension liabilities are closer to $1 billion, and the unfunded infrastructure needs have grown. Streets in Berkeley continue to deteriorate.

One-time budget gimmicks do not resolve the serious structural budget issues in Berkeley. Skipping payments to the pension trust fund only increases debt. Berkeley needs serious budget cuts to pay down debt and avoid municipal bankruptcy. Berkeley can’t afford to keep spending more money than it receives in revenues. Berkeley must make cuts to the budget to avoid bankruptcy.

David Lerman
Berkeley

Mencken’ prediction
comes true in Trump

In the wake of Donald Trump’s disastrous vanity birthday parade, it would be good to revisit the words of cantankerous essayist, journalist, scholar H.L. Mencken, particularly those in his July 26, 1920, article in The Evening Sun (Baltimore), “Bayard vs Lionheart,” a scathing indictment of the intelligence of the voting public. It concludes:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. … On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Jayne Thomas
Berkeley

Voters must oppose
ICE enforcement

Donald Trump is engaged in a campaign of terror focused on incarcerating and deporting immigrants, particularly people of color from Mexico and Central and South America. He is militarizing the enforcement of these actions by targeting those protesting them.

The vast majority of people he is pursuing are ordinary people striving to make a living. They should be considered worthy, not just because of the work that they do or the citizenship papers that they possess, but because they are people of equal value to all other people. When their safety, livelihood and very being are under threat, as they are now, we must act.

For this reason, I urge readers to advocate for immigrants facing insecurity and risk here and in their home countries by learning about and upholding their rights; documenting their treatment by ICE agents; contacting and engaging with elected officials; and peacefully participating in vigils and demonstrations.

Lucinda Pease-Alvarez
Berkeley

How government spends
is ripe for criticism

Re: “Actions speak louder than nagging criticism” (Page A8, June 8).

In Max Ritter’s letter, I wonder at his encouragement to readers to consider how they spend their own money before shaming the country for how it chooses to spend its money.

I suggest he and others remember that the Constitution created the federal government as a democratic republic. The people of the United States and their representatives are the supreme power in government. As such, it’s up to us constituents to tell our representatives how we want them to vote, work to change their minds when they don’t, and thank them when they do.

I also suggest he consider that many “charity” programs, such as Medicaid, food stamps, Head Start, Child Tax Credit and USAID, are also critically needed investments that save future federal, state and local government costs.

Jim Driggers
Concord

There are powers that
top Mother Nature

Re: “Mother Nature will have final say on our climate” (Page A8, June 29).

Doug McKenzie says that “Mother Nature” will have the last word on climate change. But, if so, then what difference does it make what we do?

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However, there are billions of people on the planet who don’t believe that nature is supreme. We believe that there is a creator God who is supreme, including over nature. And we believe that this Creator gave us the responsibility to be caretakers of the planet. If the human race is merely part of nature, then we couldn’t have this responsibility.

Sadly, most people today have been taught to dismiss and mock this theistic perspective. I was, too, until I actually started to think for myself and started seeing the flaws in today’s God-denying worldview, and also how it’s only by viewing us as divinely created beings that we can understand ourselves and our responsibilities.

Christopher Andrus
Dublin