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Reforming oversight board is key to function

Re: “Police oversight powers at risk” (Page A1, May 3).

Your recent article frames proposed changes to Oakland’s Police Commission as “stripping” oversight, suggesting a loss of independence. That framing misses the point. The issue is not strength — it is structure.

Oakland’s oversight system divides responsibility across the commission and its investigative and auditing arms, but accountability is unclear. The City Auditor recently found that these agencies are only in partial compliance with their mandates, citing overlapping roles and gaps in supervision. That is a governance problem, not a political one.

Even your reporting notes “structural issues” in the charter and ongoing conflict in key functions like hiring a police chief. These are signs of fragmentation, not excessive power.

Voters created this system to ensure independence. That goal remains essential. But independence without accountability is not sustainable, especially as Oakland nears the end of federal oversight.

Reform is about making oversight work.

Rajni Mandal
Oakland

Wahab, voters deserve shot in District 14

Re: “Democrats’ plan to quickly fill Swalwell seat collapses” (Page A1, April 25).

Criticism of state Sen. Dr. Aisha Wahab’s decision to run misses a basic principle: Voters, not party insiders, should decide who represents them. Efforts to clear the field around a preferred “caretaker” candidate and discourage others from running limit choice and undermine confidence in an open process.

Framing this as a uniquely “critical” seat to justify that approach doesn’t hold up when multiple seats are currently vacant. If anything, it reflects broader disorganization within party leadership, not a reason to sideline candidates. Maybe party leadership should step aside.

I’ve seen Wahab stay focused on what matters to families here, especially affordability and healthcare. Voters deserve the opportunity to weigh that record themselves and make their own decision — without being told the outcome in advance.

Natalie Valentine
Pleasanton

Traffic solutions are stuck in Bay Area’s past

Re: “Rail line project delays are vexing” (Page A1, May 1).

Driving along Highway 99 in the Central Valley and sighting the trackless California rail segments evokes Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias”: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone … ’Look on my works, ye mighty and despair!’ / Nothing beside remains. … The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

It often seems the influence of the powerful is inversely proportional to their competence. Do vanity and the imagined awe of succeeding generations drive the boondoggle rail to Los Angeles? Hundreds of thousands of working commuters spend what should be their free time stuck in traffic just trying to get around the Bay Area.

In 40 years, no interim common-sense readily available amelioration proposals: commuter buses on 237 from the East and South Bay to Sunnyvale, staggered work hours, finally some work from home and decades-delayed BART to Sunnyvale; pay-only carpool lanes are solely appropriate for 1950s factory hours, not the random hours of Silicon Valley’s high tech.

Jack Knutson
Fremont

Mismanagement costing church its parishioners

Re: “Oakland diocese set to close 13 churches” (Page A1, May 1).

The decision to close Catholic Churches in the East Bay is a travesty.

I suggest investigating missing funds at St. Bede’s Church in Hayward as an example of the bishop’s participation in this church not having an oversight committee and the failure to communicate with parishioners on fundraising activity results. The facility has not been maintained with the proclaimed installation of a new heating/cooling system, installed but never turned on.

I believe that these problems are examples of why the Church is losing parishioners, in addition to the obvious reasons.

Mark Haslam
Fremont

Hernandez is best choice for Swalwell seat

The East Bay needs a member of Congress who is focused on affordability. That candidate is Melissa Hernandez.

Melissa spent her time as Dublin Mayor focused on building housing, growing job opportunities and keeping our community safe. In Congress, Melissa will utilize her knowledge in healthcare and housing to lower costs, increase housing supply and protect District 14 from Republican healthcare cuts. Our district needs a representative who puts us first.

As the Trump administration cuts healthcare funding, District 14 needs an advocate in Congress. That is Melissa Hernandez. As Healthcare Services Director for a county supervisor, Melissa has experience connecting our community with essential healthcare services. Melissa knows the importance of quality healthcare that is affordable and accessible. In Congress, she will be a champion for increased mental health funding, Medicaid funding and funding for our community hospitals.

District 14 needs an expert in Congress.

Philiip Tucker
Dublin

Fossil fuel industry should embrace change

Whale oil was expensive to harvest, process and distribute, and owners of whale oil businesses did very well. There were many jobs associated with their gruesome business.

When petroleum was developed into kerosene in 1859, the decline began in whale oil harvesting. Whale oil businessmen resisted new fossil-fuel products but gradually quit their brutal business. Fossil fuels created new, different jobs and made huge profits for owners and investors.

Now, the obscenely wealthy fossil fuel businesses are resisting the inevitable development of solar, wind and ocean wave energy, which is certain to replace the finite and destructive fossil fuel industry. When the fossil fuel industry gets on board with clean energy, it will invest in innovative methods of processing, storing and distributing clean energy. There will be new jobs, and there will be no need to fight wars over obsolete fossil fuels.

Julie Haselden
El Sobrante