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Loren Taylor is bestqualified for mayor
I am writing to urge my fellow residents of Oakland to vote for Loren Taylor in the upcoming election. Loren has the professional experience, qualifications and, most crucially, familiarity with our city and its strengths and weaknesses, making him the best-qualified candidate.
Barbara Lee has served her constituents well, and I have always voted for her. However, the experience of serving in Washington is not the experience that prepares a candidate for the rigors of running Oakland. The office of Oakland’s mayor demands an intimate knowledge of day-to-day issues, problems, people and potholes — Loren Taylor has that knowledge; Barbara Lee does not.
We cannot treat the office of mayor as a final reward to Barbara Lee, however grateful we are for her long years of service — our challenges are too serious. We will be in the right hands with Loren Taylor as mayor.
Kate FreelandOakland
Lee will prioritizeOakland public safety
As an Oakland parent and resident, one of the most important things to me is knowing that my family and community are safe.
Crime and public safety have been major concerns in the East Bay, and my family was deeply affected last year — my mother-in-law was the victim of a hit-and-run. Many dear friends have also experienced violence, including assaults. We all deserve to feel safe in our town.
I believe Barbara Lee will work diligently to address our police staffing crisis while also tackling the root causes of crime. She has made it clear that public safety is her top priority, and her balanced approach — combining effective policing with violence prevention — is exactly what our community needs.
Barbara Lee still speaks for me, and I’m proud to vote for her for mayor of Oakland.
Bobbi LopezOakland
Wealthy should donateto strapped schools
Re: “Silicon Valley inequality gap is growing twice as fast as the rest of the U.S.” (Page A1, March 9).
In a Sunday front-page article, it was noted that nine Silicon Valley billionaires hold 15 times more liquid wealth than the bottom half of all households in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Each of the nine has a minimum of $16 billion.
On that same page was the article “Bay Area schools in cash crunch.” So I call on Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, Eric Schmidt, George Roberts, Jan Koum, Robert Pera and Laurene Powell Jobs to each donate $1 million to the poorest school districts in the Bay Area.
It is a drop in the bucket to each of you but a significant boost for schools. Do your part.
Rhoda OlkinWalnut Creek
Ill-informed legislatorsdon’t help the homeless
Re: “Critics allege violent police attack on man is due to new policies” (Page A1, March 14).
Shame on Assemblymember Alex Lee for his comments on the actions taken by San Jose on the homeless. Homelessness is a complex issue and is left to the cities to deal with. The economic gap is increasing and pushing the unfortunate onto our streets. We need a new way of thinking about mitigating this serious social issue.
We need mass shelters in our cities combined with plans to help these poor families transition back to being on their own feet. This may include addressing major issues related to job training, drug addiction and mental health. These issues are not going away just because we pretend that we are solving the problem.
Elected city officials like the mayors of Fremont and San Jose are compassionate and problem solvers. They need our support. Elected officials like Assemblymember Lee and state Sen. Aisha Wahab should do more work and talk less.
Subru BhatUnion City
Business failure Trumpnow failing at politics
Donald Trump has never succeeded in a business but the one based on the myth that he’s a great businessman: selling his name to others to place on their businesses. All his other businesses — his casinos, his university, his social media company — were failures.
It’s easy to see why. He doesn’t know how to run a large company. His management style is chaotic. He alienates everyone around him and then tries to bully other businesses into submission without allies. Now, as president, he’s causing a wholly unnecessary economic crisis because his economic theory — tariffs — was proven disastrous a hundred years ago.
In 2024, the economy and the stock market were booming, although inflation had become a problem. Now we still have inflation, and we have lost 10% or more off our retirement accounts. Thank you, Donald, for making America — now friendless and feckless — great again.
Jay ChafetzWalnut Creek
Administration’s policieskeep nation divided
I was born a White man, not by choice, but in the minds of some people, I should have the right of supremacy over people of color.
I was born a male, and in the view of these same people, my gender entitles me to dominate and control females.
Also, I was born heterosexual, which has sheltered me from the heinous aggravations and assaults that plague those who do not conform to hetero-patriarchal expectations.
Beyond all facets of identity, we must embrace each other’s mutual humanity with care and respect.
Diversity, equity and inclusion offered a remedy for patent social injustice. It sought to abolish the “us versus them” binary that pervades American politics and strive instead for communal liberation as an enshrined right. But the current powers that be — among other fateful decisions — have opted to discard DEI, a mistake deeply injurious to our social fabric.
Glauco RomeoFremont