Letters to the Editor 06.22.17

Cracking Down

If there was no market in our area, there would be less of this type of crime (“County prosecutors get their first conviction for sex trafficking of minors,” June 15-21). Koly McBride | via Facebook

Thank goodness for Planned Parenthood and mandated reporters doing their job. Jennifer Dentici | via Facebook

Follow the Money111

AB 406’s author, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, was clear about the bill’s intent (“Squid watches for-profit charter schools get funky in politics,” posted June 12). I was in Sacramento when it was heard in the Assembly Education Committee. This bill is solely about prohibiting for-profit corporations from operating public charter schools in California: nothing else. The argument [Assemblymember Anna Caballero, D-Salinas] made is the same weak one used by for-profit charter interests that spoke against the bill when it was heard in committee on May 10. Assemblymember Tony Thurmond said it best on May 10: “I find it unconscionable that anyone could profit off of the the public school system in California!” This bill does allow public charters to contract for supplemental/ancillary services, as do non-charter public schools. This is a pretty weak argument in voting against a bill that happens to match what the folks who spent $1.3 million in support of [Caballero’s] campaign also believe.

Coincidence? Dubious. In the end, [Caballero’s] vote didn’t matter: or did it? Steve McDougall | Spreckels

Editor’s note: McDougall is northern vice president of the California Federation of Teachers’ Early Childhood – 12th Grade Council, and president-elect of the Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers.

Hear the Buzz

So what are we the people going to do about advanced security interfering in personal lives? (“A Silicon Valley company enters Fort Ord, troubleshooting the future in our midst,” June 15-21.) When do we stop being OK with the increased surveillance, an increasingly militarized police force and ICE raids stealing families from their beds? The local government has zero accountability. Our towns and community areas are being sold off to the highest bidders bit by bit.Shannen Patrick | via Facebook

Seriously, how conspiracy theory-driven do you have to be to not even trust a small department of local government? Joseph W. Borawski | via Facebook

There needs to be affordable housing. It has been dormant and ugly for too long. Liz Heller

Plan A

The story missed the context of work being done locally to keep Planned Parenthood health centers open, and it gave a distorted impression of the immediate risk to health centers in Monterey County (“How the two local Planned Parenthood centers will fare,” June 8-14).

While it is true that Medicaid spending cuts in the pending Congressional bill – to repeal Obamacare and “defund” Planned Parenthood – would pose a greater risk to health centers, such as the one in Salinas that provides mostly family planning services and not surgical abortion, we do not yet know whether some local health centers would have to close if the bill is passed.

The threat is real, but we are working tirelessly, through fundraising and advocacy, to ensure that we will not lose these services. Planned Parenthood needs to be here for all the families who have relied on us throughout their lives, and we plan on doing everything we can to protect and continue to meet the needs of the communities we serve. Guadalupe Rodriguez | San Jose

Editor’s note: Rodriguez is director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.

Pop Up

A truly magical time! (“What was your favorite performance at the Monterey Pop Festival?” posted on Facebook.) Maury Jones | via Facebook

Leon Bridges. Karen Young | via Facebook

Listening to Eric Burden sing “We’ve gotta get out of this place.” Chris Caffrey | via Facebook

Too many to pick one! Jeff White | via Facebook

Editor’s note: White is general manager of KRML 102.1FM.

A Rising Tide

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s, D-Carmel Valley, membership in House Committees on Agriculture and Natural Resources and his continued focus on immigration and veterans are great signs that he is paying attention to Central Coast issues. Another area of encouragement is his awareness of the challenge that climate change and sea level rise will present to our economy (“As Trump steps backward on climate, Panetta looks forward,” posted June 1).

As a sign of his commitment, Panetta has joined the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group formed in February 2016 by two Florida representatives, a Republican and a Democrat. A member who wishes to join must bring a member of the opposite party with them. Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Virginia, joined him.

Partisan politics has been poisoning the well for years, with each side retreating into their ideological trenches out of fear and dislike for one another. I believe Panetta understands this divide as well as anyone and will fight to get us past it. His example by joining the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus is reassuring because climate change is a human, not a partisan, issue. Will Gibson | Pacific Grove

Editor’s note: Gibson serves on the steering committee of the Monterey chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

There is no planet B. Jody Hutchinson | via Facebook