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Oakland needs new,
competent leadership
I love Oakland. I was born and raised here and returned after retiring as the San Joaquin County superintendent of schools. I am profoundly disappointed in our current city government, including the mayor, city administrator and City Council.
Our city government is dysfunctional, unable to administer the basic needs of our beautiful city. Although voters have approved Measures U and KK, our streets continue to be pothole-ridden and our unhoused population continues to grow. Our 911 system has one of the worst response times in the state, exacerbated by a hiring backlog. We have been without a police chief for over a year. The city failed to apply for a grant to fight retail theft.
The standard reply to why these issues are occurring has been to point fingers rather than acknowledge shortcomings and work to improve them. Let’s elect competent city leaders and help improve our city.
James Mousalimas
Oakland
Navigating VA hard
enough without new bill
States should be able to pass laws that impact their citizens while Congress remains in constant gridlock.
However, one urgent matter that needs more attention pertains to how some states, now including California, are meddling in the federal system over veterans’ disability benefits. In a well-intentioned move advertised to thwart scammers, some legislators in Sacramento are trying to impose criminal penalties on thousands of legitimate businesses that help veterans obtain benefits.
There are many problems with the VA, particularly the extensive backlog of disability claims, which many veterans rely on.
California’s Senate Bill 1124 undermines the service of veterans like me and will hurt us more than it helps. Our representatives in Sacramento should reject or amend this misguided legislation to make sure we maintain our right to choose how we navigate the complex VA system.
Manuel Rosales
San Francisco
Address full horror
of Mideast conflict
Re: “Schumer urges new leadership in Israel, calling Netanyahu an obstacle to peace” (Page A4, March 15).
I recall hearing in U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech about the catastrophe in Israel and Gaza that there are five obstacles to peace: Hamas, Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Yet all reporting that I have seen, including your piece from the New York Times, mention only one: Netanyahu.
Schumer spoke at length and movingly about each of these obstacles and their histories for those who do not know them or who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge them. This is not a one-sided problem. There have been bad actors on both sides. As Schumer also said, it is past time to try to proclaim who is worse. To me, they are all shameful.
It is time to address the fullness of the horror, hold all the bad actors to account, knowing there are those ready to undermine progress yet again.
Pamela Dernham
Oakland