Reader Reactions

Californians on the left, center and right kvetch about initiatives, but they also value their state constitutional right to make law directly.

There is no evidence supporting the claim that the San Joaquin Valley’s water supply challenges are linked to California’s food security or the rise of produce imports.

Re: “Legislature should declare a moratorium on new housing bills,” April 13, 2020 For NIMBY groups wanting to stop legislation that would address California’s housing supply and affordability crisis, COVID-19 is sadly being used as a justification to preserve the status quo. NIMBYs offer no solutions to California’s extreme housing shortage which has not suddenly […]

Re “California faces massive costs related to climate change. Oil industry must pay its fair share,” Sen. Scott Wiener, Feb. 26, 2020. Sen. Scott Wiener has the principle right in his commentary. Change the headline and Sen. Wiener might be writing about housing: California faces massive costs related to housing. Corporations must pay their fair […]

Re: “Gov. Newsom: California must get past differences on water. Voluntary agreements are the path forward,” Gov. Gavin Newsom, Feb. 4, 2020. Our water status quo isn’t working. We’ve accepted a false choice that pits our environment against our farmers – and ultimately, it’s a false choice that serves to flood our courts with lawsuits […]

Re: “Why desalination can help quench California’s water needs,” By Wendy Ridderbusch, Jan. 29, 2020. Wendy Ridderbusch shouldn’t confuse diversifying one’s portfolio, a good thing, with making bad investments. Those are not the same thing. Investing hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in the most expensive, climate impacting and environmentally destructive local water […]

Re “Gov. Newsom: California must get past differences on water. Voluntary agreements are the path forward” Feb. 4, 2020. We applaud Gov. Gavin Newsom for his effort. While many details remain to be worked out, the governor hits at the heart of the matter and the reason the voluntary agreements are so worth the effort: […]

Re “California’s high-tech debacle,” Dan Walters, Dec. 19, 2019. I was surprised your publication repeated Adam Andrzejewski’s erroneous and misleading opinion piece without checking the facts.  As a strong advocate for transparency, I publish government employee payroll data as well as revenues and expenditures for hundreds of public agencies large and small. My team responds […]

Re “California is a wondrous place. I’m leaving,” Dec. 15, 2019: California’s history is full of people like Andrew Malcolm. They come expecting California to live up to some Hollywood ideal; they leave disappointed.  California is a real place. We have real wonders and real ugliness. Accepting any place as your life home requires a […]

Re “‘Tax exhaustion’ may be on the horizon,” Dan Walters, Dec. 9, 2019. Conflating Marin and Los Angeles parcel tax defeats misses the billion-dollar elephant in the room.    In the four highest cost counties in California—Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara—well over half a billion dollars of property tax, collected for and allocated […]