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Lee’s more of the same
won’t fix homelessness

Re: “Homeless issue puts Lee on hot seat” (Page A1, July 9).

Barbara Lee is wrong: Oakland is no different than San Francisco and San Jose.

Lee’s approach to the homelessness problem is to believe that Oakland is exceptional, somehow different from our neighboring cities.

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We are exceptional only in that Lee and the City Council refuse to face the facts, like the Oakland-based 311 reporting system to report dumping and encampments is ignored. Or the fact that homelessness is a pervasive problem for homeowners who are afraid to — or cannot — access public spaces. Routine campfires are set by homeless people in our wildland zones, such as the Oakland hills.

Since Lee is prioritizing homelessness over taxpaying citizens, this means that small businesses, families and seniors are left to fend for their safety.

Both San Jose and San Francisco are addressing homelessness. Oakland is not. It might be time for a center-right candidate to help Oakland be the amazing city it deserves to be.

Julie Kliger
Oakland

Politicians ignore climate
at the expense of voters

Re: “Insurance companies should sue Big Oil for harm to climate” (Page A6, July 9).

John Garamendi and Jerry McNerney are right — “enough is enough.” Enough of the lies, distortions, deceptions and disinformation from politicians like these who have known, as we all have, about fossil fuels’ impacts on climate change.

Shame on them, with their combined seven decades in Big Government, for doing nothing about it. Instead of accepting responsibility for their inaction, they want to blame the oil companies for providing us with the inexpensive fuels that have provided us with the highest standard of living ever achieved. All of us have benefited immensely from fossil fuels, and now we all must take responsibility and pay a little more for those benefits as the consequences of climate change materialize.

And where would the oil companies get the money to pay the lawsuits? It’ll come from us in the form of higher costs of fossil-based products. Let’s vote these two out of office ASAP.

Dick Patterson
El Cerrito

El Cerrito library plan
is too big, too expensive

A petition is circulating in El Cerrito for a ballot measure to fund a library near Plaza BART. Property owners would pay $340 a year on a 2000-square-foot house plus cost-of-living increases for 30 years for a library that would in many ways be worse than the one we have now. It would be in an area that is congested and parking-starved and becoming more so as the city approves buildings to replace parking lots. Nearly all nearby parking would be paid parking. The library would not be centrally located and would be on land not owned by the city.

The county provides library services, paid for by property taxes. We do not need a library three times larger at a time when library use is shifting from in-person visits to online services.

Say no to this attempt to circumvent the two-thirds majority normally required for a new tax.

Betty Buginas
El Cerrito

Newsom’s job here will
turn off national voters

Re: “Newsom’s trip removes doubt of his next step” (Page A6, July 10).

Concerning Dan Walters’ column, I suggest many agree with the statement, “Newsom comes across as slick and glib rather than sincere.”

It is hard to believe that the majority of California taxpayers would support Gavin Newsom for president, given his disingenuous and pathetic financial mismanagement, homelessness, crime and safety record.

Regardless of the other Democratic contenders for president, once the other states are exposed to his multiyear record as a failed governor, it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t come to the same conclusion.

Chris Kniel
Orinda

Trump can’t wriggle
out of Epstein mess

There is video of a younger Donald Trump partying with Jefferey Epstein, a known purveyor of children for sex. There are stories of Trump walking through the dressing room of a Miss Teen America pageant, where young girls were in various stages of dress or undress. There is video of Trump saying it’s okay to grab women by the crotch because they like it.

Trump has a problem with moral behavior. Now, along comes information that Jeffrey Epstein kept a list of his clients. Trump’s attorney general stated the list was on her desk. She then stated there was no list.

Now, I’ve seen all the Star Wars movies, and I can state without hesitation, Trump is no Jedi knight, and there is no mind trick that will cause me to believe there isn’t an Epstein client list, and that Trump’s name isn’t on that list.

Phil Scordelis
Concord

Universal health care
could be Dems’ first step

As the Democrats struggle to find their footing, perhaps it is time for them to push bold policy changes, not merely trying to restore their control or what was lost.

Imagine if you didn’t have to wonder whether you would have health coverage through an employer, have to go to a decimated VA facility, seek care through the workers’ compensation program or fit eligibility guidelines for Medi-Cal, marketplace insurance (Covered California) or Medicare. Universal health care is just one example to reimagine the future of the Democratic Party. There are so many more.

People are hungry for real solutions.

Ruth Atkin
Emeryville