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Ranked choice leaves
votes on the table
Re: “Ranked choice could shake up state elections” (Page A6, July 17).
Any polling that shows strong support for ranked choice voting must be a poll of political insiders who know how to use the system to their advantage.
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Every person I have spoken with hates ranked choice voting because they find it confusing and worry that their vote won’t be counted if they make a mistake. In fact, ranked choice voting does cause many votes to go uncounted.
Dennis Mockel
Oakland
Immigration crackdown
shatters a family
My granddaughter, Sarah, just graduated from high school. She’s a good student, raised by two “mothers” who have given her a bright future. When Sarah was a toddler, her mother worked in a local school. “Maria” was hired as a nanny-caretaker. She became Sarah’s second mother. After Sarah started school, Maria continued visiting weekly, as a job, to houseclean for my daughter. She also visited on holidays, not as a job, but as a family member.
Today, Maria stays in her apartment, afraid to drive to housecleaning work. She’s afraid to walk to local markets, because ICE agents are posted on the corner. After living here for over 20 years, she’s returning to Mexico. Her departure breaks our hearts; we’re losing part of our family.
Grandchildren grow up and often move away. Now it’s Nanny’s turn, but not her choice. Trump’s cruel deportations dismember our family and disintegrate our community.
That just ain’t right.
Bruce Joffe
Piedmont
Democrats should
focus on redistricting
Re: “Newsom mulling special election to redraw state congressional districts” (Page A3, July 17).
California Democrats’ biggest priority should be supporting redistricting. If it were up to me, California would have gerrymandered the map in 2020.
Republicans only value power. The only way to remove gerrymandering is if it becomes bad for Republicans, in which case, they could agree to eliminate it nationally.
People are sick and tired of privileged politicians, who don’t get hurt by what Republicans do, claiming the moral high ground to look good when their voters’ lives get ruined without a fight.
Roberto Garuti
Walnut Creek
As Trump pulls funding,
U.S. lags in transit
Re: “Trump administration pulls $4 billion from California’s high-speed rail” (July 17).
That the Trump administration has pulled funding for this project is infuriating. Donald Trump and his administration are leading this country to ruin.
They seem more concerned with petty fights and punishing domestic political rivals than with the success of the United States. California and the U.S. need this train. As anyone who has traveled overseas knows, the United States is too far behind much of the world with projects like this.
This train will advance California’s economy and spur economic benefits throughout the country.
Melyssa Guerry
Pleasanton
East Bay teens need
pro-social outlets
Re: “5 teenagers arrested after hundreds swarm mall during meet-up” (Page B7, July 13).
The article regarding the descent of a large group of youth on Streets Of Brentwood Center points to social issues that are festering in this and other communities.
There is a shared boredom among the young that emerges in their internet use. Where are there pro-social outlets for their energies and need for community?
James Erickson
Brentwood
Trump’s spending law
takes clean-energy toll
Re: “In a big bill that hurts clean energy, residential solar likely to get hit fast” (July 2).
On July 2, Michael Phillis accurately predicted that the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that President Trump signed into law on July 4 would end clean energy tax credits. It turns out consumers have until Dec. 31 to qualify for adding solar to their homes.
This is a loss for the environment and our efforts to mitigate the climate crisis, the most important moral issue of our day. All the injustice issues we face in our society are multiplied by climate change.
The new deadline is a disservice to all of us. While I don’t see a clear pathway to restoring clean energy tax credits, we must not give up. I hope all your readers will join me and my colleagues in the East Bay Climate Hope Affiliate in continuing to pressure the federal government to adopt an intelligent, effective set of climate policies.
Jeffrey Spencer
Fremont