Letters to the Editor 03.17.22

Pura Vida

Great article about the incredible success of the VIDA Community Health Worker program. Thank you for the visibility, Celia Jiménez and Monterey County Weekly (“As it heads to the Board of Supervisors to request additional funds, here’s how the VIDA Project has impacted people’s lives,” posted March 7). Wendy Root Askew | Marina

Askew is a county supervisor who voted yes to extend the program; it was extended by a 4-1 vote.

The government always wants to grow and never wants to shrink. Got addicted to those dollars and can’t let them go even as we are ending the pandemic and moving to an endemic. Cliff Pilcher | via social media

Fire Up the Grill

Awesome! I work in downtown Monterey and this is the first I’m hearing of Urban Kitchen. Can’t wait to get some barbecue (“Marvin Green IV is the master of many things, especially the grills at his new barbecue joint;” “In the spacious catacombs of Urban Kitchen, a new venue, The Urban Lounge, is already making noise,” March 10-16). Valentina Rosendeau | via social media

Pendulum Swinging

Leaning too far left or too far right causes instability (“Local school districts are caught in the middle of the culture wars as the right tries to gain control,” March 3-9). The state and school system need to tilt back some to the right for some balance. Mark Borello | Monterey

It seems that any parent that voices any concern or opposition about the school policies that affect the mental, academic, social and medical state of our school kids are being labeled right-wing extremists. Such name calling and overgeneralization by the Weekly and school districts causes division and seems to contradict the inclusion and anti-bullying and democracy these school districts claim to support. Chelle Rittermal | Carmel

It’s not about right or left, it’s about the kids! Gini Auger | Carmel

Salinas High ’89 graduate here. Regarding the June 22, 2021 Salinas Union High School District meeting covered in this article, why was a parent from Pacific Grove speaking during the public comment section?

Has the resident of a town that had to be humiliated into canceling its annual celebration of a Chinese fishing village’s destruction taken a fresh interest in the culture of a genuinely diverse Latino-majority city? Or, in much the same way that white Peninsula residents value Salinas’ residents labor in tourism and services but little else, is she using Salinas as a platform for her conservative politics? Liz Pisares | via social media

Can You Hear Me?

Funny how many move [to Big Sur] to “get away from it all” but they’re actually dependent on “it all” (“Phone and internet for some residents is just returning, six weeks after a wildfire,” March 10-16). Jeff Woods | Monterey

Help Needed

Thank you, Community Foundation for Monterey County and Sara Rubin for suggesting some worthy disaster relief organizations regarding the Ukraine crisis (“Local Spin: How can we help people in need, even when we feel helpless?” March 10-16). Mari Lynch | Salinas

They say history repeats itself, and I believe most already can draw the connections between this invasion and the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. Many ask ourselves: “How would I have reacted? What could I have done to help? Would I have helped?”

You can now answer those questions. There is a plethora of resources established to allow you to give in any way you can. I fear that social media has allowed us to create the illusion of contributing by posting supportive photo edits of Ukrainian flags. Give money or give time, but please volunteer to be of service beyond a signal to your friends and followers. Josh Alameda | via email

Animal Planet

Animals should not be injured or killed for entertainment, and that is what rodeo is (“California Rodeo Salinas asks fans to oppose LA’s ordinance that would ban rodeo gear,” Feb. 17-23). It bears no resemblance to ranching. I grew up on a cattle ranch in North Dakota and spent eight years as a ranch veterinarian there. My ranch clients did not ride bulls, speed rope calves or make their expensive horses buck. Rodeo is not an American “tradition.” Peggy W. Larson | Williston, Vermont

My heartfelt thanks to Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield for proposing a ban on rodeo equipment used in rodeos in his district. I am also grateful to his fellow council members for voting 15-0 to proceed with his proposal.

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s guidelines concerning the welfare of livestock and contestants do next to nothing to protect the animals. If the PRCA was really concerned about animal welfare, they would eliminate this equipment on their own. While rodeo may have originally started out representing work on a ranch, it has evolved into an inhumane form of entertainment with cash prizes and trophies at stake, reasons to push the limits and overlook animal welfare.

Salinas Rodeo volunteer Tim Baldwin claims “the equipment” doesn’t injure the animals. He is incorrect or choosing to turn a blind eye.

The tools of torture in rodeo should be banned throughout California and eventually America, because as Blumenfield says, addressing the inhumane treatment of rodeo animals is long overdue. Minane Jameson | Hayward, Calif.

First the Feast of Lanterns Festival (“The Feast of Lanterns Board votes to end the Pacific Grove tradition forever,” posted Feb. 18). Now the California Rodeo Salinas.

Congratulations. You are now officially part of the Cancel Culture. Margery Kempe | Seaside