Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

Measure C doesn’t ‘check out’ for El Cerrito

Re: “El Cerrito needs a new library; Measure C can put it in motion” (Page A6, March 26).

I support libraries, but I oppose Measure C. It is too costly and creates a “forever tax” on El Cerrito residents. This measure places an ongoing financial burden on homeowners at a time when affordability is already strained.

More importantly, this measure does not deliver the library our community truly needs, now or in the future. We should invest in a library focused on lifelong learning, digital inclusion and social connection.

I do not oppose building a new library. I oppose this measure. El Cerrito deserves a thoughtful and transparent plan, not one rushed forward to take advantage of potentially changing California law.

Let’s pursue a library plan that aligns a permanent tax with both today’s needs and the evolving needs of our community, with clear guardrails to ensure accountability and lasting value.

Vote no on Measure C.

Denise Sangster
El Cerrito

Driving billionaires from state is bad policy

Re: “5% tax would leave billionaires with plenty” (Page A6, March 25).

A letter to the editor stated that those who opposed the wealth tax (5%) were mean-spirited and greedy. Well, I am not a billionaire, but I oppose this proposition. Taking money from people every chance the state has, however, might be considered mean-spirited. I just think we are getting to the point of the redistribution of wealth; i.e., socialism.

Let’s not start targeting people for special taxes, especially when it could well be counterproductive. While the writer says good riddance, the loss of income tax could be substantial, particularly if they took their businesses with them (Tesla, In and Out), not to mention the loss of jobs. Has greed overtaken common sense?

Douglas Abbott
Union City

War with Iran is a calculated move

Re: “President’s ego is the main driver of the war in Iran” (Page A8, March 29).

President Trump has been arguing for decades that the United States needed to act aggressively toward Iran. He was president for more than five years before he took this action against Iran. His ego didn’t suddenly drive him into a war in Iran. He made a calculated decision to take the action he thought necessary to protect his nation, his allies and the world. Everyone realized that the problem has been getting worse and is now becoming critical.

The writer provides the usual smorgasbord of reasons why Donald Trump’s incursion into Iran was a bad move. What he fails to address is what the future would have probably held if he had done nothing, and what other path Trump might have followed.

Daniel Mauthe
Livermore

Despite Congress, TSA continues to work

Re: “House GOP reject DHS bill” (Page A1, March 28).

Watching our TSA people work without pay while members of Congress draw a paycheck and spend Easter with their families, it seems to me that if you don’t want to work for a living, then being a member of Congress is as good a job as any.

Of course, every one of the 435 will spend the next two weeks campaigning and blaming the other team for their failures and their lack of courage and competence to do their jobs in finding a solution to the mess they and only they have created. And yet, most will get to keep their jobs in November and maybe go on another vacation to celebrate, while TSA members continue to show up every day to do their jobs, all while trying to recover from the mess Congress created.

Bill Behan
Brentwood

Bancroft deserves its immersion program

The highest-ranking two-way dual immersion (TWDI) Spanish program in Mt. Diablo Unified School Districtis being shut down, and the school board has yet to intervene.

Bancroft Elementary’s TWDI program was set to begin its 12th year of success when Superintendent Adam Clark abruptly pulled the plug. Less than two weeks prior to kindergarten registration, TWDI at Bancroft was no longer an option for incoming students. They euphemistically told us it was being “phased out” and simply “moved to Woodside.” If only it were that simple. Now with children at both Bancroft and Woodside, I’m forced to choose between having them at the same school or having Spanish immersion for my youngest.

Aside from this being an impossible puzzle to solve, this announcement has been destabilizing, sending shockwaves through the community of Bancroft families. In today’s climate of racial hostility, I would expect much better of MDUSD.

Sarah Henley
Concord

Nation should erase reminders of Trump

Truth. Justice. The American way. These are words by which we’ve been taught to live. “The American way” under Donald Trump’s governance has become “awry.”

Wise up, fellow Americans. Trump’s followers who think they become disenfranchised by the American way have been led astray by the “system,” have been led astray by the self-aggrandized, sociopathic, egomaniacal, self-entitled individual who will stop at nothing to take money out of your pocket to enrich his own.

To mock him, “Lock him up” should be our chant of the day. Erase his name from any and all buildings, monuments and awards he has self-proclaimed.

J.E. Easton
Clayton