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No more empty
promises on treatment

Re: “Prop. 36 struggling to meet its pledge of mass treatment” (Page A1, Aug. 17).

California has been here before. Decades ago, leaders from both political parties shut down the state’s mental hospitals. They solemnly promised community-based programs to provide care for the mentally ill. It never happened. The ugly result is visible everywhere: thousands of mentally ill people living — and dying — on our streets.

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Today we hear new vows to solve homelessness and drug addiction with “comprehensive community treatment.” However, without real, sustained investment, this too risks becoming another hollow pledge. Treatment programs will never succeed if they are underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed.

Let us not echo the past mistake of promising care but delivering profound neglect. California’s unhoused cannot afford more broken promises. Ethical behavior requires us to stop neglecting those who are suffering in our midst. They need our political will and our resources to finally build the community system we were told to expect generations ago.

Tom Debley
Walnut Creek

DA is doing right by
punishing criminals

Re: “Harsher tactics of DA decried” (Page A1, Aug. 14).

Thank you, DA Ursula Jones Dickson, for protecting the public and holding criminals accountable.

The soft-on-crime public defenders, who are on the side of criminals, should be ignored. Pamela Price was recalled for a reason.

Those who victimize the public with violent crime should receive the harshest possible punishment.

Doug Musick
Walnut Creek

Mapping gambit proves
Newsom’s lust for power

Re: “Newsom reveals mapping gambit” (Page A1, Aug. 15).

In a show of true leadership and representation of all California citizens, Gavin Newsom’s response to Texas disenfranchising Democrats in congressional redistricting is to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of California Republicans by gerrymandering California’s congressional districts.

This proves to me that for Newsom, people don’t matter when it comes to retaining political power. I have never voted for Newsom. I find him to be a hypocrite and a person of low moral quality. He does not represent all people of California; we are just pawns for his own political ambitions. I don’t agree with what Texas is doing. Still, the way Newsom is responding by punishing and smiting California Republicans only shows me what a lowly, morally bankrupt person he is.

If the Democratic voters of California approve this, it shows me they are willing to cause harm to their neighbors for something over which they had no part or control.

Ray Winther
Livermore

Bill would throttle
political speech

I encourage the East Bay Times editorial board to weigh in on AB 715. This is a destructive bill supported by Democrats Scott Wiener, Rick Chavez Zbur and Jesse Gabriel.

On its surface, the bill is about antisemitism (which is laudable). But, as a recent editorial in the New York Times describes it, the bill “goes far beyond identifying antisemitic tropes or hate crimes. It includes political speech critical of Israel — such as calling it an apartheid state or advocating Palestinian rights — as potential examples of antisemitism, too.”

The bill attacks free speech. I called the office of my state Assembly member, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, and discovered that she supported the bill in committee. I encourage all voters to call the offices of their state representatives to oppose this bill. One can be supportive and loving to Jews without supporting the murderous Israeli government. Our representatives need to understand the distinction.

Jim Boots
Danville

Moraga Canyon plan
threatens safety

My husband and I, as well as our neighbors on Harbord Drive, are very concerned about the safety ramifications of the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan, mainly:

• Moraga Avenue is a principal evacuation route. We can’t imagine 900 additional daily trips on top of the existing 11,000. An outside consultant said that the bike lane would be used as an emergency third lane. That’s very dangerous for escapers on foot or bike.

• Will fire insurance rates increase or be denied as a result of packing in 197 units in a fire zone?

• Parking for 197 units on the Blair side of Moraga? A diagram shows 130 units.

• An alternative site would be to consolidate the three elementary schools into two.  Enrollment decreases every year, and recruiting Oakland students causes Oakland to lose state funding.  The headcount per school site is very low compared to cities of comparable size.

Jane Holland
Oakland

DeSaulnier’s stand
against cuts admirable

With the passing of the budget reconciliation bill by Congress, which is projected to make major cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, I cringe at the thought of my late mother not having the level of Medicaid benefits that she had.

This bill’s proposals will cause more than 22 million people to have their SNAP benefits reduced or eliminated. The bill includes the largest cut to Medicaid in history, which would affect the more than 70 million people — including 50 percent of the children — enrolled in the program. The biggest disgrace is that the cuts are to fund tax breaks for the ultrawealthy and large corporations.

I am grateful for Rep. Mark DeSaulnier’s efforts to prevent these cuts. Last May, he supported a discharge petition procedure in the House to prevent these cuts. On the House floor, he spoke in opposition to Medicaid cuts and voted in opposition to the budget bill. Thank you, congressman.

Ricardo Narvaez
Concord