Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for July 31, 2024
New affordable housing must be family-friendly
I want to elaborate on Carla Small’s excellent points in her letter (“Housing mandates could be disaster for Novato,” July 3) regarding new housing proposals in Novato. It’s true for all of Marin: We have a critical shortage of affordable housing. The state Legislature has stepped in to block the “not in my back yard” status quo, which prevented most housing from being built.
Now, I am concerned incentives to builders are resulting in projects that do not meet the needs of families. Building one-bedroom units and studios costs less and has a higher return. However, local governments, while unable to block construction, can still wield needed control over the type of building. They must work hard to ensure that families can be housed. Affordable housing is the most critical need of all families with school-age children.
One-bedrooms and studios do nothing for Marin families, though they may help the workforce for a short time. Still, most married people want children. Statistics show our school teachers, staff and other local employees are moving away to afford the room needed to raise a family.
Additionally, I think social engineering attempts to eliminate cars by eliminating parking are wrong. Families need transportation. As cars shift from gas to electric, fewer environmental hazards will justify this. Marin has woefully inadequate public transportation. Routes are constantly eliminated as they do not meet family transportation needs.
Approving hundreds of units with dozens of parking spaces will not eliminate use of autos, it will just create overcrowded and dangerous street parking. Families are never going to go without personal transportation.
It’s time to use the discretion still available to rectify these two critical impediments to affordable family housing. State-incentivized housing rules are failing to meet community needs.
— Greg Knell, San Rafael
Young environmentalists share Marin City details
The Marin City Climate Resilience Young Environmentalists, a group of high school and college students in a summer academy, shared some shocking and devastating information with a packed audience during a presentation at a recent forum at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.
One young man spoke about being forced to wade through knee-high water in 2021 when he was 14. He had learned that floodwaters in neighborhoods typically included raw sewage, but he and his mother had no choice. He said he was “worried about other people who might not know (about the health risks), like the moms with babies in strollers.”
They discussed issues related to noise and air pollution in Marin City. For example, particulate matter spews from the nearby freeway. The sounds of Highway 101 can certainly keep people awake. Respiratory diseases, reproductive health problems and cancer are big concerns in Marin City. Don’t forget that there is a major decrease in life expectancy in Marin City compared to the rest of the county.
The work of the summer academy is only partially funded. Thankfully, the Marin Community Foundation and others help out. Outside experts from the University of California assist with research and training.
This summer, the academy members will be testing the soil, water and air for toxins. Already, they’ve identified some solutions. They suggested a sound wall, new pipes that can handle storm water without leaking sewage and a swimming pool for exercise. They also spoke about renewing the original tidal marsh to mitigate sea level rise and make pleasant walking paths.
These thoughtful young advocates are learning to speak up for their community. They deserve our support. Email terriegreen@marincityclimateresilience.org. For more about forums at St. Andrew’s go to ctttmarin.org.
— Barbara Rothkrug, Mill Valley
Faster charge times mean fewer chargers needed
I am writing in response to the CalMatters news organization’s article about electric vehicles recently published in the IJ (“California needs a million charging stations — but that looks ‘unrealistic,’” July 21). I don’t think the author is keeping up with the fast pace of charging technology for electric vehicles. Projections for the number of EV chargers needed will change just as fast.
Newer EV models developed by Kia and Hyundai can charge from 10% to 80% in 15 minutes instead of the current 30 to 60 minutes required by older models. In the near future, there will be EVs that charge even faster than that.
These shorter charging times mean EVs will move in and out of charging stations at a much faster rate, allowing another EV to use the same charger in less than half the time. Reliability of EV chargers has also improved because companies are replacing outdated units.
EVs create needed resiliency because their batteries can be used to power homes during outages. EVs can even send stored energy to the grid. There were challenges when we went from the horse and buggy to automobiles, but we still needed to move forward. The future is electric.
— Susannah Saunders, San Anselmo
Bonds deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame
As I see this year’s National Baseball Hall Of Fame and Museum inductees, I am happy for Adrian Beltre. He is a true great, first-ballot Hall of Famer.
However, if the Hall of Fame wants to induct Joe Mauer and Todd Helton, two excellent players with fine careers, but omit Barry Bonds, a generational talent and one of the greatest who ever played, then it has lost all meaning for me.
Do we know for absolute certain that none of the three players inducted ever used a performance enhancer? It is possible, but not proven, that Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs, and this may have turned some long fly balls into home runs. But baseball is about more than just home runs.
Unlike one-dimensional power-hitting peers like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, Bonds excelled at every aspect of the sport for almost two decades. It would have been more if he hadn’t been blackballed by Major League Baseball front offices as he neared the end of his career.
A lifelong baseball fan, I have lost my desire to visit the museum in Cooperstown, New York.
— Mark Silowitz, Novato
Presidential campaigns should focus on positive
Might we possibly have a positive presidential campaign this time? We were headed for a vicious, nasty and accusatory election season. But then Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee for the Democrats and it felt like the whole race got hit on the head by a coconut.
It doesn’t have to be so negative. America doesn’t have to play the game. Instead, we can have a joyous new game of our own. We have a lot to be proud of, an illustrious past, a bright future and way too much of our story has not been told with enough laughter and enthusiasm.
Chris Truax wrote an essay posted on TheHill.com. He said that, with Harris facing off against Donald Trump, “Now you have a true vision election, of fear versus hope. We’re no longer arguing about who will do more damage to the country, we’re discussing whether we prefer dystopian America or optimistic America.”
Like was said in the movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” we are encouraged to “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” That needs to stop. Instead, let’s have a campaign based on what’s right with America, and what our plans are for an even better America.
— Jay Conner, Novato
Don’t forget that we are lucky to live in the US
I am writing in response to the letter by Arthur L. Silberman (“Time to push out last hurrah of founding elite,” July 24).
Instead of picking at America’s old wounds, Silberman might want to focus instead on how lucky we all are to be living in the United States. We may not be perfect, but I suspect many millions of people around the globe see a much different America than Silberman.
— Bill Brennan, Novato