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Mahan’s proposal
good for accountability
Re: “Mahan’s plan would politicize San Jose City Council salaries” (Page A6, May 22).
A primary argument against implementing new methods of holding elected officials accountable is that voters can do that through the ballot box. For San Jose’s council members, that means once every four years. Mayor Mahan proposes using a mere 5% of their salary to do so annually.
The authors of a recent opinion piece decrying the many dangers of the mayor’s proposal exhibit a distinct lack of experience with business performance review systems. The complexities they cite are also found in any business of significant size, especially the incentives to game the system and focus on short-term wins.
What is certain is that you get what you measure. About the only thing measured today is San Jose’s General Fund budget, and a balanced budget seems to be about the only thing we get consistently. It’s time for that to change, and Mayor Mahan’s proposal seems a reasonable first step.
Pat Waite
San Jose
Is PG&E official trying
to sway S.J. council?
Recent revelations that Teresa Alvarado, vice president at PG&E, managed campaign operations for San Jose City Council candidate Gabby Chavez-Lopez are deeply troubling. Emails obtained by San José Spotlight indicate that Alvarado led strategy meetings and coordinated campaign activities multiple times a week, despite her public denials of involvement.
This is alarming because PG&E is currently negotiating a cooperation agreement with the city of San Jose to determine whether PG&E continues to provide services or if the city establishes its own utility.
Involvement of a high-ranking PG&E executive in a local political campaign during critical negotiations suggests an attempt by Alvarado to sway the composition of the City Council in PG&E’s favor. This undermines public trust and raises ethical questions about Alvarado’s role and PG&E’s commitment to transparent dealings.
After bankruptcy, PG&E pledged to rebuild its reputation and regain customer trust. This erodes any remaining trust.
Nancy Rodriguez
San Jose
Wage hike will cost
fast food workers’ jobs
Re: “Menu prices getting harder to swallow” (Page A1, May 21).
The 25% hike in California’s minimum wage for fast food workers in April 2024 was an important contributor to escalating menu prices. But the bigger cost may be in lost jobs.
When labor costs are artificially inflated, restaurants adapt — by replacing workers with kiosks and other automation. Sadly, the California Legislature seems blind to the reality that for many, the new minimum wage won’t be $20 — it will be zero. It’s the unhired who will bear the true burden of this policy.
Brian Suckow
Palo Alto
Republican Party will
scheme to keep power
Gradually, our citizens are coming to see the dangers of the current administration. For example, the economic devastation that the proposed Republican budget will wreak on millions, or the mass deportations of a law-abiding population.
The full reality of this may not have hit yet but it will, and when It does the only hope Republicans will have of retaining power is by corrupting our electoral process, our democracy. Republicans are thinking of ways to disenfranchise American citizens, writing laws and setting in motion those steps that will allow them to claim victory at the polls.
In its desire to win, the Republican Party is now necessarily and unavoidably committed to destruction of democracy.
Don Barnby
Menlo Park
Trump is merely paying
lip service to health care
Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and their lackey Karoline Leavitt have been touting how their Make America Healthy Again movement will combat the health crisis affecting Americans, most specifically, American children. At the same time, they push the Republican Congress to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which will cut funding for health care and food assistance.
I guess it costs less money to put out a report that is nothing more than lip service than to actually fund access to programs that will benefit people.
What is it going to take for people to realize what a heartless scam Trump is?
Woody DeMayo
Los Altos