14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MAY 22-28, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com PERSONAL PROPERTY One interesting feature of the open months of discussion is that owners of houses in Salinas now cannot sell a house if the tenant does not want to leave and the seller cannot find a buyer who wants a tenant (“Salinas City Council votes to repeal rent stabilization and tenant protection ordinances,” posted May 14). This now seriously limits the seller’s rights and first-time new home ownership as that home gets sold to an investor (instead of potentially to a first-time home buyer). As laws, rules, ordinances and regulations become more egregious/ expensive, fewer small business/family property owners will remain in the market. Housing will become more and more corporate owned. The multi-unit (duplex or above) rental registration fees are exceptionally high at $170 per rented unit per year. In practice this means with the annual rent control limit of 2.75 percent, it would likely take three months of an average rent increase of approximately $55/ month just to clear this new annual fee. Potential landlords have already indicated they do not see Salinas as a good or even viable investment for them which again will bode well for corporate ownership. Michael Bolinger | Salinas For over two years, a coalition of organizations listened to stories of families. Most stories had the same throughline—it is getting more expensive to live in Salinas and the main reason is the increasing cost of rent. The previous Salinas City Council approved the rent stabilization ordinance in 2024 with the hope that it would make life for working families a little easier. Now, the new city council, backed by some serious money, is looking to overturn the ordinance. I still have hope, however, that three of those councilmembers who ran will look at their past work and side with working families: Aurelio Salazar, whose uncle Jesse Sanchez fought to make Salinas a district-based election system, paving the way for Chicanos to have a greater voice; Gloria De La Rosa, who was a champion of working people in her previous time on council; and Jose Luis Barajas who has met with residents and whose day job is to help small businesses. To these three council members, we still believe in you. Jesús Valenzuela | Salinas Note: Valenzuela is a former councilmember who recused himself from voting on the 2024 ordinance. FAMILY TREE That’s ridiculous. He left the money to better the community and not for a man that could be his son (“The story of Edward Dowd, and how a DNA test threatened his burgeoning foundation,” May 15-21). Shiho Fukushima | via social media INTO THE WOODS A holistic, ecosystems-based approach is the right way to mitigate high-intensity fire risk in Los Padres National Forest, but this approach should not rely too heavily on “reducing combustible vegetation” as a strategy (“U.S. Forest Service proposes a wildfire risk reduction project in Los Padres, including Big Sur,” May 8-14). Monterey County residents are right to question the USFS’ treatment of 90,796 acres and their unease speaks to real concerns about California forest management. Rather than expecting forest thinning treatments like chipping, hand thinning and mastication (which result in sparse, dry and flammable forest) to bolster communities against wildfire, Monterey County and USFS should focus their efforts on forest management techniques that invest more in ecosystem-based and environmentally aware approaches. USFS should prioritize wet, healthy and biodiverse old-growth, which better protects communities (and forests). Natalie Lake Owen | Claremont WATER WAR Another interpretation is that even when the judges gave the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District/Monterey One Water/Marina Coast Water District conglomerate full credit for their questionable take on the supply side, it still fell short of the needs of the community (“CPUC judges issue proposed decision that may help Cal Am’s desal ambitions, but questions remain,” posted May 13). The same M1W that overbilled our County Water Resource Agency at least $1.4 million. The same MPWMD that overcharged ratepayers millions of dollars and now has to return it to us. The same Marina Coast Water District and City of Marina that have spent millions of dollars on lawsuits they keep losing. Once you leave the Peninsula, the positions of MPWMD/M1W/ MCWD carry no weight. The trend of Sacramento and the courts dismissing their views and correcting their actions is alarming and makes me grateful oversight exists. Enough is enough. Let’s solve our water problem so we can have the housing needed by our workforce and stop wasting money on dysfunctional governance. John Tilley | Pacific Grove POWER PLAYERS It seems to me that [Chris Lopez’s] focus is on having more low-income housing within the Coastal Commission area (“Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez is appointed to the California Coastal Commission,” posted May 16). I would have hoped his focus would have been to include a commitment “to protecting and enhancing California’s coast and ocean for present and future generations,” as its mission states. “It does so through careful planning and regulation of environmentally sustainable development, rigorous use of science, strong public participation, education and effective intergovernmental coordination.” I hope the other board members are in favor of upholding their mission as Lopez seems to have his own agenda. Edward Nowak | Salinas HIGH HONORS Congratulations for your well-deserved awards (“The Weekly team takes a moment to celebrate at the California Journalism Awards,” posted May 19). You are my go-to newspaper for local and national news. (Local news is national news at a closer level.) Thank you for your dedication to keeping it real. Carol Moreali | Seaside 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.
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