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Valley Water’s plan for
dam is out of date

As a Santa Clara County resident and taxpayer, I am alarmed by Valley Water’s continued push to build the Pacheco Dam — an outdated, destructive and costly project.

At last month’s California Water Commission meeting, commissioners criticized Valley Water for the lack of transparency, rising costs and insufficient justification for state fund expenditure. These concerns echo what many in our community already know: This project does not align with common sense or Prop.1’s goals.

Residents here are relying on Valley Water to pursue sustainable, multi-benefit water solutions, not massive new dams that threaten ecosystems and drain public resources. Valley Water should prioritize proven, cheaper alternatives like water recycling, conservation and groundwater recharge, among other more modern options.

I urge Valley Water to drop the Pacheco Dam and call on the state commission to deny further Prop. 1 funding. Our region deserves responsible, climate-smart water solutions — not another billion-dollar mistake.

Alan Giberson
Los Gatos

Runner’s DQ had
nothing to do with race

Re: “Runner’s DQ now a national debate” (Page A1, June 11).

I started officiating the long and triple jumps for track, as I knew the difficulty coaches faced in obtaining someone to man the pits. It was often a thankless task. (Think irresponsible coaches running across a jumper’s path, or competitors returning for warmups in the final round of competition.)

I am positive that had I been at the California Interscholastic Federation championship, I would have made the same call.

Perhaps Clara Adams’ coach and uncle, an ex-firefighter, are in need of a course on the dangers (including asthma, skin and eye irritation) of using a fire extinguisher at an athletic event.

Urla Hill
San Jose

A new city will benefit
from Wu’s contributions

Re: “Leader officially vacates position” (Page B1, June 10).

As a long-time resident of Cupertino, I want to thank Pamela Wu for her contribution as the city manager. Pamela kept the needs and interests of this city in her focus. She made some hard decisions that demonstrated those efforts, even in the face of some misguided adversity.

She will be remembered as someone who did what was necessary to move the city forward in some challenging times and deserves all our thanks. The next city that brings her on will be adding a person who cares for their city and its residents.

Steve Sulgit
Cupertino

There was a time when
U.S. valued immigrants

This was a part of Ronald Reagan’s 1989 speech at the presentation ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom: “Since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it’s fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ‘You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.’”

For so many years, we were proud to say that. Is that true today?

Katie Dent
Sunnyvale

Rule of law under
fire from Trump

Although it is a founding principle of our great democracy, many people do not understand what the absence of “The Rule of Law” really means. Because I lived in Guatemala for several years, it means to me that if your car is stolen, there is zero possibility that you will get it back. It also means that if you own a business, you must pay “renta” (protection) to the local gang.

Our country is descending into chaos due to the lack of respect for our laws. Who is responsible for this? Mostly our current president, who ignores our laws, and his supporters, who, after over 60 lawsuits concurred that Trump lost the 2020 election, continue to believe that the election was rigged.

So, if you believe that the 2020 election was rigged, you are an enemy of our beloved democracy, and I will stand in your way.

Don Eggleston
Aptos

Column dismisses
seriousness of moment

Re: “Trump-Newsom clash over protests feeds their interests” (Page A6, June 11).

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper recalled in his memoir that Donald Trump asked if they could do something about the protesters — why couldn’t they just shoot them in the legs or something? Many of his first-term cabinet members recalled chilling incidents like this, where the president demonstrated a complete lack of empathy for his fellow man.

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When running for election this time, he vowed, “I am your retribution.” In the first day of this term, he issued clemency to the violent Jan. 6 protesters, who beat police officers bloody. He has moved to make the Justice Department and military loyal to him alone.

Against this backdrop, Dan Walters of CalMatters, in his June 11 column, chose to characterize the recent sparring between Trump and Gavin Newsom over the instant militarization of the L.A. protests as a vaudeville act. Many of us think that he’s missing the seriousness of the moment.

Jim Von De Bur
San Jose