16 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 30-MAY 6, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com MIC DROP What a shame! A couple hours of clean honest fun for all has to be ruined (“Hacienda in Carmel Valley suspends events upon an administrative citation from the County,” posted April 20). Terry Elaine Carter | via social media Get the right permit, problem solved! Michael Vindhurst | via social media Ugh, our county! Go to a place like Paso Robles, where they actually work with businesses and it looks great and is so much fun. What could possibly be wrong with what they’ve done out there? It’s such a cool spot, family-friendly, very “Carmel Valley” and a nice addition to our area. I’m sorry, County, but your priorities are a bit out of whacky. Erin Fagundes Sollecito | Monterey OMG—shipping containers! On a rural property that’s (sort of) in the middle of nowhere? Egad!! Jeff Rothal | via social media It does no good to shut places down. No revenue for the County and no revenue for the owner. Cut the red tape so use permits can be more easily obtained, if that’s the issue. Valentina Rosendeau | via social media OVER SIGHT Kudos to the editor, Sara Rubin, for saying what many residents are thinking (“Politics and reality in Trump’s xenophobic America collide locally,” April 16-22). Sheriff Tina Nieto campaigned on transparency and promised a civilian oversight committee. Voters didn’t imagine that pledge—it was front and center. Oversight isn’t a luxury add-on like heated seats. It’s basic governance. When a single department commands that much of our public funding, independent review isn’t radical—it’s responsible. If transparency was good enough for campaign season, it should be good enough now. Voters deserve follow-through, not fine print. Sheriff Nieto made a promise. It’s time to keep it. Maggie Power | Salinas RAINBOW FLAG WTF? Our roads are a mess and our electricity goes out regularly. I think there’s other things they should be concerned about (“Monterey Planning Commission moves to strike transphobic language from its community development plan,” posted April 16). Victoria Gonzales-Bergquist | Monterey The Monterey County Weekly has become a progressive propaganda rag. Wendy Darling | via social media Unless you actually have sat down and talked to someone trans, any opinion you have is misinformed. Jason Wayne Hough | Salinas BUILD OUT A lot of us just don’t understand why Marina leadership didn’t make construction of a new fire station and police station part of their agreement with the developers who are or will be making huge dollars for more and more houses in Marina (“The public is invited to witness Marina’s crumbling public facilities firsthand,” posted April 24). Not only have these projects negatively impacted current long-time residents with ground prep (you haven’t lived until you get the full effect of groundmovers starting at 7am), now Marina leadership wants to charge us for improvements to infrastructure? The freeways are choked up and getting worse by the day. But let’s keep building those houses. And let’s charge current residents to support all the new houses with fire and police improvements. Do they need improvements? Oh yes. But why don’t they add a tax to sales of the new houses to support it? Cori Mazik | Marina SUNNY SIDE UP This is amazing! Talk about making a positive impact (“Sun Street Centers plans to build adolescent residential treatment center in Seaside,” April 16-22). James Kendall | via social media Fantastic news! Katie Guerrero | via social media BUDGET BLUES We have no money, are running a deficit, and yet we are about to spend well in excess of $100,000 to “hire a consultant” to tell us what we already know…we’re broke! Rinse and repeat (“Mounting budget shortfalls and uncertain funding challenge efforts to manage County spending,” April 16-22). Thomas Gray | Salinas CASH FLOW I am writing in response to this tragic issue (“Disappearing federal cash means two women’s shelters are facing future deficits,” April 16-22). I am a resident of Monterey County, surrounded by agricultural fields and best-selling artichokes, 25 minutes away from Carmel and Del Rey Oaks. It saddens me to know that Carmel and Del Rey Oaks are experiencing monetary hardships in funding women shelters. Particularly Carmel, a renowned luxury destination. This is a matter of calling for action. This is about the women and families who are being left without support and resources. It is frustrating to see that city councils are not providing funding and strengthening their partnerships. The community of Monterey County must work as a collective and advocate for change. Brysma Ramirez | Castroville SCREEN TIME It’s going to take a lot to rebuild community trust after the last six months cut the heart and soul from this theater (“Lighthouse Cinema in Pacific Grove finally showing movies after a months-long intermission,” posted April 15). Let’s hope it can happen, both functionally and ethically. Kent Leatham | via social media CLARIFICATION A story (“As enrollment declines, local schools are slashing budgets and laying off staff,” April 23-29) included a table showing projected deficits for Salinas Union High and Alisal Union school districts of $29.8 million and $40.5 million, respectively. Those figures are recorded on paper for 202526, but do not reflect revenue rolled over from previous years. Taking into account actual cash flow, SUHSD projects ending the year with a balance of $64.8 million and AUSD of $59.2 million. 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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