12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY february 15-21, 2024 www.montereycountyweekly.com Back to the Ballot I just opened my mailbox to find my ballot for the upcoming March 5 election (“Candidates and measures on the March 5 primary ballot offer their vision to chart the future,” Feb. 8-14). I’ve been looking forward to it even more than usual because this will be the first time I can vote for Kate Daniels to represent me as District 5 County Supervisor. I endorse Kate wholeheartedly. I’ve known Kate and her family for many years. More recently I have worked closely with her on a wide variety of issues in her role as Chief of Staff to Supervisor Adams, as policy advisor to Senator Laird and as a valued colleague on the Monterey County Planning Commission. She has been thoughtful, sensible, persistent, hardworking and cheerful, even when the going gets tough. She really does her homework. She listens. She sees the big picture as well as the details. She is honest and caring, and—most importantly—she actually gets things done. I am carefully filling in the circle by her name on my ballot with my black pen right now. It feels great. Please join me and vote for Kate. You will be glad you did. Martha Diehl | Big Sur Note: Diehl serves on the Monterey County Planning Commission, along with Kate Daniels. You’re endorsing Kate Daniels for supervisor because she is running on a platform of relationships? My experience with Daniels was when we lived in Big Sur. I called her (when she was Mary Adams’ assistant) to ask if a very misleading sign on Highway 1 could be changed to make it clear that camping in turnouts is prohibited. It was very difficult to get the idea across to her. She was quite annoyed when I continued to call back every couple of weeks or so. Kate Daniels’ demeanor could make a freight train take a dirt road. Relationships indeed! Marilyn Ross | Carmel I always look forward to your annual voter guide recommendations. I must confess that just like George Costanza, I will do the opposite! Vince Tuminello | Pacific Grove Most of us wish that all public officials were smart, honest, ethical and demonstrated leadership abilities. Alan Haffa, who is running for Monterey County Supervisor in District 5, is just that kind of politician. He offers practical and realistic solutions to problems after actually listening to the groups affected, including groups often not listened to. Alan is honest, ethical, smart, compassionate, kind and direct. He doesn’t speak in platitudes but makes his positions on issues clear. He has 12 years’ experience as a Monterey City Council member, where he demonstrated that he studies issues carefully and crafts reasonable, practical proposals for solutions. His negotiating skills helped bring about consensus on a number of thorny problems. He shows great respect to people whether they are high in the power structure or students he teaches; average residents of the community or city staff. He is the kind of person who would do the right thing even if there wasn’t a law or regulation requiring it. In short, I trust him to do the job of county supervisor in a way that will effectively get things done and he will do it while working collaboratively with his colleagues. For all these reasons, I support Alan Haffa for Monterey County Supervisor. Renee Franken | via email At a Premium Someone’s getting filthy rich off of this (“The state’s fire insurance crisis means Skyline Forest homeowners face steep rate increases,” Feb. 8-14). Where is the Department of Insurance on this in keeping price increases reasonable? Time for new legislation, it appears. Alternatively, the homeowners could band together and form their own insurance company. Monterey Fire Insurance, Inc. perhaps? There should be rules that limit the increase in annual premium to a reasonable amount, say 10 percent maximum. Additionally, private insurance companies are supposed to keep the price reasonable, as an argument against State insurance. Perhaps that argument is no longer sound? The state Department of Insurance needs to step up to the plate on this. Walter Wagner | via web Pass Interference One clip of that Hail Mary play is taken from a high angle and makes it difficult to tell how Drew and Nate got tangled up (“Monterey High graduate Nate Wright played in three Super Bowls, but it was a different era,” Feb. 8-14). But there’s a ground-level clip that clearly shows what happened: Nate has Drew covered very well, but the pass is somewhat under-thrown. As Drew slows up to catch the ball, Nate’s leg hits Drew’s leg causing Nate to lose balance and fall. Both of them have their eyes on the ball and there doesn’t appear to be any attempt by Drew to interfere with Nate. I feel bad for Nate, but I don’t think either of them is to blame for the collision. Joe Snyder | Monterey Good Night I agree (“Good sleep—in both quantity and quality—is the holy grail for a healthy mind and body,” Jan. 25-31). Sleep is absolutely essential. It’s tricky, in old age, the metabolic rate decreases, and sleep becomes defective. A key to repair sleep is to repair metabolism. A trick for good sleep can be a bit of salt (as salt keeps adrenaline at bay) and some sort of saturated fat—milk, for example. Good article! Joseph Bridau | via web Correction A story (“The state’s fire insurance crisis means Skyline Forest homeowners face steep rate increases,” Feb. 8-14) incorrectly stated that the old deductible for Mountain Shadows Townhomes, before increasing to $100,000, was $25,000; it was actually $2,500. The story also stated that Mountain Shadows received insurance through California FAIR Plan; however it acquired its policy elsewhere, and is awaiting a quote from the FAIR Plan. 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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