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Ator will work for district, not special interests

Re: “Five vie for open S.J. seat” (Page A1, May 10).

Follow the money. This article gives the most attention to Scott Hughes, who has lived in Campbell and only recently moved to San Jose’s District 9. He is Councilmember Pam Foley’s chief of staff. She endorses him, and he will carry on her legacy of favoring special interests and not the residents of District 9. He wants the Cambrian Plaza high-rise nightmare to be constructed, as does Genny Altwer, no matter the absolute opposition of District 9 residents. Altwer has raised $70,000 and is endorsed by special interests like the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.

Rick Ator is a small-dollar, self-financed candidate who has lived in District 9’s Valley View /Reed neighborhood for 18 years. His record of fighting for what his neighbors want is well-documented on NextDoor. The residents of District 9 who want their voices heard in decisions made by the city should vote for Rick Ator.

Patricia Blevins
San Jose

Electric appliances are safer and affordable

Re: “Gas ban lines PG&E’s pockets” (Page A6, May 10).

I am writing to respond to the strong criticisms of heat pumps in the above letter by sharing my own contrasting experience. I rent an older home with a 100-amp panel. We got permission to swap our gas water heater for an electric one. The total project cost of $5,000 (no panel upgrade needed) came down to $1,770 after a local community energy rebate plus tax credit. If installation costs are really high, households can be exempted from the new Zero-NOx water heater requirements.

Next time we think about praising the “silent” operation of gas appliances at home, readers should be warned that these stealthy devices (which are quite leak-prone) create invisible air pollution, increase asthma attacks, and raise the risk of heart attacks, stroke and premature death. I personally prefer the gentle hum, greater health and safety, and lower energy bills of a heat pump water heater.

Wendy Chou
San Mateo

Electric appliances will pay off in the long run

Re: “Gas ban lines PG&E’s pockets” and “Let homeowners replace gas with gas” (Page A6, May 10).

I am responding to two letters published in the May 10 edition regarding the proposed ban on gas water heaters in the Bay Area. Yes, in the short term, there may be some inconvenience and costs moving toward fossil-free, non-polluting sources of energy. But the costs are becoming lower as the volume of sales increases. We will get over the cost hump. Heat pumps are becoming more popular because they are three times more energy-efficient than gas appliances, and they don’t pollute the air with NOx and carbon emissions. In short, gas appliances are grossly out of date.

Today, in the Bay Area and elsewhere, we have a huge installed base of old gas heaters in our homes and buildings. Most of us want to have the advanced appliance technologies available today at a reasonable cost. Sunsetting the sale of gas appliances is the best way to move forward with these new technologies.

Rob Hogue
Menlo Park

Letter’s criticism of AI is off the mark

Re: “Biggest threat not AI, but its wealthy makers” (Page A6, May 6).

Elizabeth Shackelford is wrong about AI and billionaires.

She claims that AI is controlled by “a small cohort of ungovernable men” in Silicon Valley. This ignores the fact that AI is increasingly moving toward open-source models. For example, DeepSeek and Llama (Meta’s model) are open-source. In addition, while major models like ChatGPT might be better generalists, a fine-tuned open-source model like Mimo-V2.5-Pro often outperforms ChatGPT at specific tasks like legal analysis.

In addition, the idea that the wealthy pay “next to nothing” in taxes is a complete myth that is not supported by IRS data. Shackelford is confusing wealth growth in assets as unrealized gains, which cannot be taxed, and taxes on income. Once those gains are realized, they will be taxed like everything else.

Aaron Lin
Saratoga

Independent California built on record of failure

Re: “An independent Golden State is already a reality” (Page A6, May 12).

In his opinion piece, Joe Mathews sees California as he would like it to be. Where he claims success, there is only failure across climate, energy, housing, education and governance.

Energy policies increase dependence on renewable power, but high electricity costs and occasional blackouts raise concerns about grid reliability and affordability.

Residents face high taxes, rising living costs, and shrinking opportunities for the middle class.

Affordable housing is among the state’s most serious failures.

Restrictive zoning laws and environmental regulatory barriers drive housing prices beyond affordability.
Despite massive expenditures, public schools struggle, and test scores decline.

Immigration brings cultural benefits but puts pressure on schools, housing and public services.

Companies and workers relocate to states with lower costs and fewer regulations.

An independent California republic would be framed on failure, not success.

Fred Gutmann
Cupertino

Trump’s endorsement ends Hilton’s chances

Re: “Donald Trump endorses Republican Steve Hilton for California governor” (April 6).

Donald Trump endorsed Steve Hilton, which automatically, in my opinion, disqualifies him from being governor.

We see what Trump is doing to our economy, the environment and relationships around the world, not to mention the level of corruption in his administration. Is this what we want for California?

Hilton makes all kinds of promises, but so did Trump. With Trump, we should have known, “He was a snake when we let him in.” Let’s not make the same mistake again.

Sharon Jackson
San Jose