Reader Reactions

Re: “Later school start times is no solution for teenagers,” Oct. 4, 2019 As a physician specializing in sleep medicine, I am concerned by the misleading statements in the Oct. 4 guest commentary. The commentary ignores the key health issue that schools that start too early for the sleep needs of adolescents are the primary modifiable […]

Re: “With Gov. Newsom’s veto of SB 1, California seems stuck in same old water fight ‘binaries’,” Sept. 29, 2019. It’s easy to get caught up in the heated rhetoric of the moment as did Kim Delfino in her guest commentary. Water users working to finalize the voluntary agreements were faced with a difficult situation. […]

Re: “In going after Trump, California is going too far with environmental legislation,” Sept. 9, 2019: Assemblyman Adam Gray insists on clinging to the past, a past of broken water policy, where Central Valley power brokers dictate policy for the rest of the state.   What Senate Bill 1 aims to do is to provide a […]

Re: “A law intended to create more transparency misleads voters. This bill will fix it,” Sept. 5, 2019: Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblyman Mark Stone claim their bill will increase transparency for local bonds and parcel taxes. But the opposite is true. Their bill would relegate important taxpayer information to being buried deep in the […]

Re: “What happens to Uber and Lyft drivers once AB 5 passes?” Sept. 5, 2019 Unions don’t need collective bargaining to negotiate with employers of independent contractors. They can negotiate agreements that are very much like the ones employers have signed with social justice nonprofits in which employers agree to certain behavior. The agreement establishes […]

Re: “California’s other fiscal crisis,” Dan Walters, July 29. Dan Walters does what he does best and makes a complicated and seemingly sleep-inducing issue insight concern. It seems you can’t spell California state government without federal money these days. Walters reminds us that California’s place as the fifth-largest economy in the world is a fine […]

RE: “Hedge funds’ proposal to ‘rescue’ PG&E is probably too good to be true,” July 5, 2019. Former Assemblyman Mike Gatto made inaccurate and misleading claims about the proposal outlined in a recent court filing made by the Ad Hoc Committee of Pacific Gas and Electric Company Bondholders. Here are the facts: The committee is comprised of a diverse […]

RE: “A million independent voters risk being irrelevant in California’s presidential primary,” June 19, 2019. CALmatters’ Ben Christophe reports that Chad Peace wants a presidential primary ballot that lists all the presidential candidates.   Ironically, California had a presidential primary like that in 2000. There was one presidential primary ballot that listed all the candidates of all six […]

Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, Sacramento California’s public mental health system is unique in that counties serve Medi-Cal, uninsured, and commercially insured individuals. However, we had concerns with how our responsibilities and the availability in certain services was represented in your piece. County mental health plans do […]