12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com FLY OVER Fascinating (“Car Week fuels an uptick in air and road travel, with three times more private jets than usual,” Aug. 22-28). Did not know about timeshare jet ownership and the alternative fuel available here— learned something new. Car Week can be a headache for locals, but certainly injects a lot into the economy. Krista Carey | via social media Now I understand why it was so damn noisy all day long. Noise pollution! Robert Jurado | via social media AHEAD OF HER TIME I appreciate Pam Marino’s story (“Julia Platt, Pacific Grove’s first woman mayor, made an indelible mark locally and in the world of science,” Aug. 22-28). A well-written, informative article about the inspiring, influential, scientifically trained woman who helped preserve Pacific Grove’s waterfront. Why doesn’t the City erect a statue of her with plaques informing residents and visitors about her heritage? A statue at the foot of Forest Avenue would be fitting since her home overlooked that location. Jane Haines | Pacific Grove What a tale of bucking the system. She should be an inspiration to all who perceive wrong that needs to be righted. Walter Wagner | Salinas Great piece on Julia Platt. I didn’t know about her science PhD. Fortunately, perceptions have changed. Lee Henderson | via email Thank you for the wonderful profile of Julia Platt. Your writing is very engaging and I love that you are shining light on interesting women who have found ways to contribute their individual gifts to enrich our culture, society and environment,both locally and beyond. Barbara Bullock-Wilson | Pacific Grove RENT TO OWN It is interesting that the Monterey County Weekly has focused rent stabilization on only farmworkers while hundreds of workers employed in the greater Salinas area are also rent-burdened. Why are their voices not being heard? Why are landlords affected by this rent stabilization not being interviewed for their reactions? (“Salinas City Council is set to decide on the county’s first rent stabilization ordinance,” Aug. 15-21). In my opinion, you need to widen the scope of our rental housing crisis, which goes beyond just the plight of farmworkers. As a community, we need to encourage an increase in rental housing. Bringing more voices to the conversations needs to be encouraged without fear of repercussion. Diving deeper into unexpected consequences should be identified and explained. Rent stabilization may help a limited number of rent-burdened residents and should be acknowledged as such, however, the larger number of rent-burdened households will continue to struggle. Piling on more regulation and fees to the landlords of rental properties will not reduce poverty or increase wages. Gloria Moore | Salinas Lame duck Mayor Kimbley Craig skipping the vote on rent stabilization was gutless (“A sign of a power shift in Salinas, City Council agrees to pursue rent stabilization,” posted Aug. 21). If she is afraid to vote on contentious issues, she should just stop wasting our time and quit already [Craig recused herself from the vote]. Congrats to the Salinas City Council for passing laws that materially help Salinas residents despite their absentee mayor. Damien Maldonado | Salinas GETTING AHEAD Great story! Praying for you (“Safe Place Salinas opens, offering a brickand-mortar hub for services for unhoused youth,” Aug. 15-21). Rosemary Maldonado-Barron | Salinas BIG TENT As a Democrat who is tired of reading the invective in print and social media between the parties, please consider no longer publishing the Modern World political cartoon in the Weekly. This cartoon only serves to polarize our community, create more animosity toward the Republican party, and does nothing but foster hatred and stereotypes of people who might read your paper if they weren’t ridiculed every week. When Covid struck, you changed your column Good Week/Bad Week to Good Week/Great Week to send a more positive message (“The Buzz”). Will you please take another step in that direction by removing this mean-spirited cartoon? Emily Nicholl | Monterey Democratic voters are energized with a sugar high following the most packaged and empty convention in my memory. No one knows what [Kamala Harris’] positions are on any major issue other than abortion. Yet millions will enthusiastically vote based not on any data, but on a googly-goo feeling hollow speeches provide. Pathetic. Harris hides from her past positions, Trump trumpets his. Trump received millions of primary votes. Harris received zero. Not one! This is the side protecting “democracy.” Rich. John Greenway | Carmel Valley LIONS’ ROAR Smell is right! (“Massive sea lion haul-out prompts beach closures in Monterey,” posted Aug. 21.) Jim Pavelle | Marina PULL THE PLUG As a retired high school teacher I had to deal with cell phone use and lots of misuse by students during class (“Salinas Union High School District to implement a cellphone-free campus in middle schools,” Aug. 1-7). Despite clear rules and consequences for students who use their phones in class, many still did. It not only detracted greatly from their focus and learning, but from the whole learning atmosphere. There is a time and place for phones. The classroom is not one of them. Teachers need the support of parents and administrators to do their job. Give it to them by banning cell phone use in the classroom, even by the teachers unless in an emergency. Michael Kennedy | Monterey LETTERS • COMMENTSOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.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==