18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 10-16, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com CRISIS MODE Thanks so much for your article regarding Measure Z (“State Supreme Court sides with lower courts on Measure Z, limiting local jurisdictions in regulating oil and gas development,” posted Aug. 3). I think it will help people in our region understand what was at stake and the challenges ahead. It is really now time for the people in this region and around the nation and world to demand much more action by those who represent them. I think that those representing this region in the State Legislature should be called upon to restore local power over these issues by passing new legislation that replaces the archaic outdated understanding of the need to regulate oil production from the early 1960s. Andy Hsia-Coron | Aromas Note: Hsia-Coron serves on the board of Protect Monterey County, which authored Measure Z. Very sad news. I share your views on our climate situation, but well reported. Concise while retaining the big picture. Thank you for the article, I did not know this was going on. Berj Amir | Seaside SHOWING UP I wanted to thank you for your article and for encouraging the community to get involved (“Monterey hosts an open house to gather public input on the city’s housing plan,” posted Aug. 7). I got off my chair and got to the meeting. Talked to a few folks and really appreciated getting out and becoming more involved. This is an issue that I care deeply about. I’m a landscaper and I have guys that can’t afford to live anywhere near here. It’s gotten so out of control, and it’s just got to get fixed. Crystal Digman | via email COST OF DOING BUSINESS While the problem presented in this article is an obvious lack of transparency between government costs and the taxpayer, that is only the beginning (“Carmel refuses to release a report detailing its former police chief’s short tenure,” Aug. 3-9). Private sector job salaries cannot keep pace with the high cost of public employee salary, health and pension costs. The disparity is too wide. Monterey County is the number-one employer. Every single dollar spent comes from the taxpayer in some form or another. The public employee unions are no help! No one sits at the bargaining table, representing the taxpayer. This needs to change. Kelsey Sayer | Monterey ROUND AND ROUNDABOUT I think roundabouts are a great idea (“A project to improve Highway 68 traffic flow is moving along,” July 27-Aug. 2). As a regular traveler of this roadway, it seems to me the lights are the major holdup, and roundabouts should let traffic continue to move while letting side traffic enter as needed, but I’ll look forward to seeing what the experts come up with. Derek Dean | Monterey It would be good to know why widening the highway to four lanes has been shelved. It seems it wouldn’t take much to do so, since they will already be widening it at intersections. The idea that this radically changes the highway’s impact on the environment seems overblown. I can’t imagine options that are worse for the environment than miles-long lines of cars sitting motionless with their engines running. John Thomas | Salinas I think something that would be worse would be miles-long lines of cars sitting motionless with their engines running in four lanes rather than two. Better infrastructure leads to more development, which leads to more traffic. James Salare | Seaside The idea of doing nothing and keeping it a traffic mess so we keep more people from moving into Monterey County has been the prevailing reason given for doing nothing. It is a bad idea. Why not go back to Highway 1 as a two-lane highway through Monterey like it used to be, when I was a kid; that would really snarl traffic to make Monterey Peninsula undesirable. The solution is to make it four lanes and install automatic toll readers for single-occupancy vehicles during peak-travel times to reduce overall traffic. Overall, we should also plan to put in a light-rail from Salinas to Monterey, and get people out of their cars and into public transit if they are commuting to jobs, like many cities do. Walter Wagner | via web VOICES FROM THE PAST Your synopsis and Robert Louis Stevenson’s writing should be a mustread for everyone who lives in or visits the Monterey area (“The Monterey Peninsula in 1879 was a region in transition—Californio culture, and land, was giving way to American culture and land sharks,” Aug. 3-9). R.J. Roland | Monterey POLICE POWERS I empathize with our sheriff and Board of Supervisors as they try to balance the budget during uncertain economic times and with a nearly $1 million-per-year compliance order at the jail. They are also considering civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s Department and jail with little case law to guide them ( “The public weighs in to support the creation of a sheriff’s oversight committee,” posted July 28). But instituting a civilian oversight commission and an inspector general could nip problems in the bud before they turn into expensive mega-problems, thus saving money in the long run. Such oversight facilitates communication and trust between law enforcement and the community. For example, we have heard there may have been between one and six deaths at the county jail this year, leaving us to wonder about the real number, and if they were suicides, people on hospice, the consequences of neglect, or crimes. An oversight commission and inspector general would be able to track and report this kind of data so we can understand the nuances and support protocols that are crafted to address such matters, based on clear, valid information. A win-win for all. Sharon Miller | Pacific Grove 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.
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