Reader Reactions

Re “Spending California’s surplus, how lobbying affected one consumer protection bill, and what came of Schwarzenegger’s Million Solar Roof goal,” WhatMatters, Dec. 10. It really upset me to see the reporting on Assemblyman Phil Ting’s proposal to use California’s budget surplus to throw more money at undocumented immigrants. Although a noble and generous gesture, I […]

Editors note: This commentary is in response to: “California needs to take these three actions needed to improve our energy system—and the environment,” Nov. 16, 2019. Kathryn Phillips and Evan Gillespie of the Sierra Club wrote a commentary relative to what steps California should take to address the risk of wildfires. First, having the Sierra […]

Re: “Elbows fly in the Capitol over Steve Ballmer’s plan for a Clippers arena in Inglewood,” WhatMatters, Oct. 17.  The item positions valid environmental and other concerns about the proposed arena as being born from out of concerns surrounding competition. We’d like to clarify our position. The Forum is acting on behalf of thousands of […]

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 […]