Oakland voters will decide on Measure E, a $192 annual parcel tax that would raise about $34 million annually over the next nine years.
Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle
I have resided in Oakland and owned property for 35 years. In that time, the city has repeatedly imposed new taxes on residents, all the while promising that more money will solve our myriad of problems, but failing to do so.
That is why I oppose Measure E, yet another parcel tax on homeowners.
Measure E is a citizens’ initiative supported by unions that takes advantage of a quirk in the law; it can be approved with a simple majority rather than the two-thirds vote needed had it been proposed by the city.
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If Measure E passes, the tax will likely serve only one purpose: to retain jobs and increase the already generous (as compared to cities of comparable size) union members’ salaries and benefits.
Oakland will continue its decline so long as the cabal of our City Council and unions has its way and keeps throwing money at problems that are never solved. I urge a no vote on Measure E.
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Clear the bar smoke
Regarding “One of the last places people can smoke in S.F. may soon be gone” (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, May 13): The story frames outdoor bar patios as taking away places where people can smoke in San Francisco. Another way to say it is that they are one of the last places where workers, patrons, performers and neighbors can still be forced to breathe secondhand smoke as the price of participating in nightlife.
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I care about San Francisco’s bars, including queer and neighborhood institutions that have survived an incredibly difficult decade. But protecting those spaces should not require preserving a loophole that treats bar workers differently from restaurant workers, office workers or anyone else with a right to a healthy workplace.
This ordinance is not about shaming smokers or attacking nightlife. People can still go out, drink, gather, flirt, dance and build community. They just should not have to do it in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
San Francisco has led on public health before. Smoke-free bar patios are a reasonable next step.
Save the redwoods
Trees imbue us with a sense of well-being; they also remove pollution and clean the air.
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California’s heritage trees, mammoth and ancient giant sequoias, are increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires, which destroy habitat and worsen air quality.
Recent wildfires have killed 20% of California’s giant sequoias. That’s why Congress should act to protect one of our greatest national treasures by promoting proactive forest management.
The bipartisan Save Our Sequoias Act, passed the House and now before the Senate, would give land managers better tools to reduce wildfire risks, improve forest restoration and respond more quickly before fires become devastating.
California Sen. Alex Padilla is a co-sponsor of the legislation; I urge our state’s other senator, Adam Schiff, to join him in supporting and co-sponsoring the bill. California’s senators represent the state with the most redwoods and sequoias, and need to take the lead in this action.
Chip Goldstein, Half Moon Bay
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Grizzlies aren’t cuddly
Regarding “Could California’s vanished grizzly bear return? State bill sets stage for reintroduction” (California, SFChronicle.com, May 6): While the wholesale slaughter of grizzly bears isn’t the most admirable event in California history (not so different from the treatment of Native Americans), the prospect of re-welcoming our furry brothers to our state gives me pause.
Bears are cuddly, at least in children’s books. Goldilocks, for example, had a quite reasonable relationship with three of them. Yet, whether grizzlies and gray wolves should be welcomed as bosom pals, well, let’s think this out more carefully.
Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.
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My family has kept a summer cabin in Feather River Canyon in Plumas County for many years. We hate guns. But if it becomes known that a grizzly roams nearby, you can be sure a lot of people will be packing heat.
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Guns or not, in any face-off, the smart money is on the bear.