Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for April 17, 2024

Fairfax group makes pitch for cease-fire resolution

I would like to express my thanks to all who spoke up at the recent Fairfax Town Council meeting. We requested that the council discuss adopting a resolution calling for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza as Israel continues to respond to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack by bombing the city despite killing many civilians.

While many may question the point of local government bodies passing resolutions on regional, national or global issues, I see this as an opportunity to make our voices heard in a way that hopefully will result in meaningful action. It starts with individuals expressing their values, gathering consensus as a group, then appealing to larger, more influential bodies, until a critical mass of support or dissent reaches those with the actual power to affect change.

If similar positions were taken by multiple Marin County government entities, this might get noticed by our county Board of Supervisors, which in turn could get the attention of our state and national representatives (Rep. Jared Huffman, for example) and other officials who are actually in a position to vote on critical policies.

These sorts of local actions definitely can make a difference. In fact, this is exactly how our representative democracy is supposed to function. As the saying goes, silence is complicity. We should all refuse to be complicit.

— Tom McAfee, Fairfax

Marin wildfire preparation sets good example for all

Marin is a pioneer in adapting to wildfires. Government agencies and officials around the state, the country and the world look to Marin County officials for ideas, encouragement, education, inspiration and role models. Few places even begin to address wildfires as comprehensively and competently as our county. Now, as Marin residents, we must do our part of adapting to inevitable wildfires.

We have the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, Fire Safe Marin and a local ecologically sound practices partnership. Marin is second in the country with the most Firewise communities.

We also have the Fire Foundry, a collaboration with College of Marin and the University of California, Berkeley. It is focused on underserved communities and training future firefighters, emergency medical technicians and wildfire mitigation specialists.

Some of the best experts in wildfire prevention live here in Marin. We have multiple environmental organizations keeping watch on activities that might damage the flora and fauna in the county.

When the MWPA was starting four years ago, people were not clear how vegetation management and firebreaks were different from forest management and clear-cutting. The MWPA and the members environmental partnership have done a superb job of demonstrating the distinction. They have thoroughly identified and applied ecological best practices, which provide a model for other wildfire prevention agencies throughout the world.

Fire Safe Marin’s website — with its videos, educational material, checklists and more — is used by people and agencies from all over. All owe gratitude to those who accomplish so much for us.

Still, as good as Marin organizations are, residents must learn and do more to protect ourselves and our families; to harden our homes, to clear combustibles, to plan and practice evacuations; and to help and get our neighbors to do the same.

— Stephen Keese, Fairfax

Library’s anti-racism plan seems over the top

As a librarian and Marin resident, I was dismayed to read about the recommendations in the new five-year $100,000 plan (“Marin library system rolls out anti-racism plan,” April 11). It appears to be based on the premise that, “early public libraries in the United States excluded various groups.”

I doubt there is documentation of this type of exclusion in Marin County, yet the plan recommends the dubious remedies of hiring a public relations representative and “altering qualifications for hiring library personnel to facilitate the hiring of more people of color.” I do not agree that Marin should stop requiring applicants to be credentialed librarians just because it is expensive to acquire a master’s degree.

The money earmarked for a public relations representative could be better spent on furthering the library system’s existing mission, which is to provide a place and opportunities for children, adults, families and caregivers to connect, learn and grow.

Existing library programs, including English as a second language programs, provide much more tangible help than any library public relations representative.

— Jan Gross, San Rafael

PG&E’s income-based proposal is misleading

I am writing in response to CalMatters columnist Dan Walters. In his recent commentary (“Misused budget process led to income-based charge saga,” April 7), Walters wrote that the California Public Utilities Commission’s recent electricity rate proposal promises “lower overall bills for most ratepayers.” But it is not going to turn out that way.

The proposal institutes a fixed monthly charge of $24 for all who are not designed at “low income,” along with a rate decrease of 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt-hour used. This only benefits those who consume large amounts of electricity.

A data table in the proposal shows that the overwhelming majority of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers will have higher monthly bills under this proposal. For example, the average user in the coastal zone will pay $9.11 more per month; customers in the zone that includes Oakland, San Jose and Santa Rosa will pay $3.40 more per month. And anyone who uses less than the average amount of electricity will have an even larger increase in their bill.

Even in a hot inland zone, the average user’s bill will decline by only $1.47 per month. In short, this proposal favors those who consume large amounts of electricity. It punishes those who conserve. It goes against everything we are trying to do to fight global warming, and it benefits the utility companies, not the average customer.

Surely, the CPUC can do better than this.

— Todd Silverstein, San Rafael

US should require all to commit to service

When I was in college, John F. Kennedy’s signature quote guided a lot of my generation: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Most families had members who were drafted into the military. Today, military service is optional. It seems to me that the youth of our country have “no skin in the game.” They have little understanding of how important government is to the running of our country.

There seems to be a mindset among our youth of “take what you can,” while letting other people deal with our problems. Democracy is a fleeting concept. It must constantly be reinforced or it will disappear.

Requiring mandatory public service, which could be military service or other governmental service, would give everyone an appreciation for what we have and a responsibility for maintaining the world’s best democracy. This is a subject that our politicians should be discussing and implementing rather than the nonsense that engulfs our news today.

— Jim Libien, San Rafael

Expensive homeless plans have had limited results

I am writing in response to the Bay Area News Group article in the IJ on April 10 with the headline, “California lax on tracking homeless plans.” From my perspective, this article makes it look like California taxpayers spent $24 billion to tackle the homeless problem with little results.

Since it has been estimated that 171,000 people are homeless in our state, if my math is correct, more than $140,000 was spent on each of them. Well, I think that it is fair to ask where all that money went and who, in the end, benefitted from it. I am afraid that the bucks ended up supporting all of the agencies, consultants, lawyers and politicians who were apparently unable to solve the problem.

It feels like we are living in Bizarro World.

— Arnaldo Dallera, Tiburon