14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY February 2-8, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com At an Impasse Well that’s an interesting take on the events, that leaves out some serious details (“Del Rey Oaks City Council is in gridlock, unable to decide on who should fill a vacancy,” posted Jan. 26). As you stated, there were six candidates, all with Planning Commission experience and two with City Council experience. [Mayor] Scott Donaldson wasn’t the only one who ran on uniting the city; [Councilmember] John Uy did as well. The story is also missing the other two candidates, Clarke and Burger, that Uy and [Councilmember] Kim Shirley would not even consider either, and [Councilmember] Jeremy Hallock and Donaldson would. So what is there about [applicants] Kreeger and Ragsdale-Cronin that Uy and Shirley so identify with? And why is not getting their way about those two worth sending the city to a $40,000 special election? Jim Clark | Del Rey Oaks DRO is a city divided…over a bike path. Newly elected Mayor Donaldson used that divide to get elected. But Donaldson appears unable to govern. I witnessed Donaldson trying to badger and blame two of his councilmembers, John Uy and Kim Shirley. It was quite a gaslighting spectacle. He tried shaming both into voting for his choice. For over an hour Donaldson tried to manipulate the vote to get one of his four choices. He failed. Again and again, he asked Uy and Shirley to compromise on one of his hand-picked candidates, but when Shirley finally asked him directly if he was willing to compromise, he refused to answer and changed the subject. Donaldson did not appear to understand the meaning of the word compromise except as it applied to others. I would ask Jim Clark, what is it about Goetzelt, Clarke, Burger and Allion that Donaldson and Hallock so identify with? And why is not getting their way worth sending the city to a special election? Melodie Chrislock | Carmel Another detail not discussed is the role Del Rey Oaks plays in the water battles between Monterey Peninsula residents and Cal Am. Del Rey Oaks has a critical vote on Monterey One Water, which is closely divided between those two factions. Whomever holds that fifth seat will be the swing vote on whether DRO is pro-ratepayer or pro-Cal Am on M1W. Michael Baer | Santa Clara County Bathroom Break I have been waiting for someone to bring this up (“Squid Fry: Doo Don’t,” Jan. 26-Feb. 1). I have found it extremely difficult to find public bathrooms. The bathrooms are there (in gas stations, restaurants, strip malls, dollar stores) but [businesses] will not allow you to use them. Some places require you to buy something before they will let you use the bathroom. There are a lot of people who use medications, or have diseases that require the frequent use of a bathroom. If it costs $6,000 per year to buy toilet paper [for Monterey city tenants providing bathrooms], isn’t that a cost of doing business? A lot of cities have bathrooms. Why won’t our cities have more? Is that not better than having people urinate and defecate on sidewalks? Donna Davis | Salinas Bond Fund MPUSD is once again trying to reach into the pockets of taxpayers to fund their plan to finance teacher housing (“MPUSD revisits a potential bond measure to build staff and teacher housing,” Jan. 26-Feb. 1). Residents within the district are currently paying off a $213 million bond measure with fees attached to our property taxes. We will be paying every year until 2048. MPUSD has not been transparent in how decisions have been made to allocate those funds and many facility needs and repairs still remain unmet, nearly five years later. Why would voters support giving more money to MPUSD, and again increase our property taxes, on MPUSD’s hollow promise that building teacher housing would allow them to attract and retain qualified teachers? In quoting from a 2019 survey, MPUSD conveniently left out the part that shows 76 percent of teachers preferred “that instead of providing below-market teacher-staff rental housing the district should focus on raising employees’ wages so they could purchase housing on their own.” We all know that housing is expensive, and we also know that teachers deserve a raise. Let MPUSD use its own financial resources to increase salaries instead of asking taxpayers to fund real estate improvements. Marta Kraftzeck | Monterey WEED MONEY They need the same federal tax laws every other business has, and access to banking (“County supervisors will vote on another tax break for cannabis growers —who say it’s still not enough,” Jan. 19-15). Jay Donato | Salinas Health Plan Proper diet can reduce many risks, not only cardiology risks (“The cardiologist who saved two men during a half marathon is a plant-based evangelist,” Jan. 26-Feb. 1). I know a doctor who has his patients change their diet, and do mild exercise, and has 95-percent success at getting them off of insulin drugs. Switching to fish, instead of fatty meats, is one quick and easy change. Walter Wagner | via web What’s in a Name? Got my copy of Monterey County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary from my late brother. It’s sitting on the mantel at my cabin (“How did Monterey County’s cities and towns get their names? The answers might surprise you,” Jan. 19-25). As an example, look up Ponciano Ridge and you will find a tale of a murder that could have been found in a John Steinbeck or Jack London novel. One more thing is to find Mt. Carmel in the Ventana Wilderness then zoom out to show Monterey Bay. Then find Mt. Carmel in Israel and you’ll see what the Spaniards instantly recognized, coincidental with the presence of the Carmelite order. You could spend hours in this book. Paul Ingram | Carmel Valley Village Letters • CommentsOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@mcweekly.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==