Letters: Historic result | Dig deeper | Fighting TB | Constitutional authority | Ahistorical reports | Defense nominee

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Pleasant Hill election’s
historic council result

Pleasant Hill is set to make history following its first City Council race under district elections. While the final votes are yet to be confirmed, preliminary results point to groundbreaking milestones.

This election marks a step forward, with women projected to win all the open City Council seats. Belle La and Amanda Szakats will bring a majority female City Council for the first time in Pleasant Hill’s history.

Also significant is the projected election of Belle La, the city’s first person of color to the council, a reflection of our evolving demographics and a broader cultural shift toward a more diverse and representative government.

Residents noted this year’s candidates visited voter homes and listened to their concerns. The personal connection fostered a sense of empowerment and optimism for the future.

2024 feels like a turning point. Here’s hoping district elections continue to set the tone for a diverse and community-focused city.

Michelle Simone
Pleasant Hill

Housing-leader article
should have dug deeper

Re: “New housing leader wants to open doors” (Page E1, Nov. 17).

While it was good to hear from Erik Solivan, I was disappointed in the superficial article with vague responses and a lack of hard-hitting questions.

• Why doesn’t Solivan mention the high fees on building new housing?

• Where is the publicly available business plan for spending the tens of millions of taxpayer funds on housing? If it exists, please have a discussion about it in this paper.

• If a plan does not exist, this operation should be shut down immediately before it wastes more money as it is destined to be another expensive failure.

• Why were no ideas mentioned for reducing the cost of labor, materials, land, fees, administration, etc.?

This is just a start and should be obvious if we are serious about reducing our housing problems.

Chris Wood
Pleasanton

Urge Congress to
pass bill to fight TB

Re: “First known U.S. case of new type of mpox found” (Page A4, Nov. 17).

Once again Americans are traveling the world, and, like COVID, tuberculosis is easy to bring home, and is an unwanted guest. Even more alarming than mpox, which was recently reported in San Mateo, tuberculosis is the most infectious disease behind COVID, and killed 1.25 million people last year.

The rate of TB infections has increased in the United States for three years in a row, and it is very expensive to cure. However, TB can be eradicated. The way to fight TB is to eliminate it worldwide.

Please write to your representatives in Congress, and ask them to pass the End TB Now Act (HR 1776), and save future generations from this terrible disease.

Bill Nicholson
Martinez

Congress must retain
constitutional authority

Will Congress stand up to President-elect Donald Trump’s unreasonable request to make recess appointments? That certainly is the test for the Senate at the moment. The outcome will likely help determine whether we can continue to be a government with three co-equal branches or not.

In a way, the fact that the Republicans control all three branches puts more pressure on them to demonstrate that they truly believe they have any influence on the results.

If they give up the right to investigate and ratify appointments, then there doesn’t seem to be any reason for them to be there at all, and that failure will not be easily reversed. Why not just reduce the government size by disbanding the Congress?

Harry Fish
Moraga

Media reports give
ahistorical story of war

Every time I read an AP article on how Israel has added to its genocidal mass murder, starvation and terrorist attacks on Palestinians (and now Lebanon), I notice the pat phase, “The war between Israel and Hamas began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7.”

This is ahistorical. This war against the Palestinian people (not just Hamas) started in 1947 when Israel forcefully and through brutal military power and terrorism, removed Palestinians from their homes and thereafter illegally occupied their land and imprisoned those people in Gaza in what became known as the world’s largest outdoor prison.

Israel has brought shame on Jews like myself who were brought up learning our most common bond as Jews was standing up for the oppressed, not for being the oppressors.

David Weintraub
Oakland

DEI opposition should
rule out Trump nominee

The nominated secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, is adamantly opposed to DEI. I see it differently. In America’s armed services, there is a command used at parades,”Officers-Center March.” Officers march out to affirm their allegiance to their commanding officer.

The enlisted members of the units in the parade remain at attention. They are typical American service members, all colors, young men and women, different heritages, etc. They watch their officers as they march forward. They all deserve the right to see officers who look like them.

This ceremony dates back to clans and tribes preparing for battle and affirming their loyalty to their commander.

In civilian terms, this is a “team building” exercise, a traditional ceremony, honoring an obligation to defend their country with their lives, if needed. This was the oath spoken when they enlisted.

Hegseth does not deserve to be the secretary of defense.

Robert Douglass
Fremont