California outdated and mismanaged

Editor: California is a nation-state. California is the world's fifth largest economy. The hype sounds great but California in reality is the gold standard for incompetency and ineptitude at the state level.

Despite paying the highest taxes in the nation we are plagued by poor management and performance. We are the home of Silicon Valley and world leader in technology yet EDD is using 30-year-old computers and a 60-yearold operating system that is so antiquated that over 1.1 million unemployment claims are unpaid going back to March, leaving filers with no income to pay housing expense or put food on their tables.

The state has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the EDD computer system over the last few years, and this is the result. If you need assistance with your claim, you have a better chance of winning the lottery than speaking with a live person. If you do get through after waiting countless hours on hold, the call is often dropped.

The good news is that the EDD stated that they should have 239,000 of the cases resolved by the end of September. The bad news is that there is no estimate of when the remaining 900,000 cases will be resolved.

The COVID computerized reporting system now has a glitch and we are unable to obtain accurate data. No worries, the data is just the basis for all COVID response including reopening the economy.

The train to nowhere is years behind schedule and nearly triple the original budgeted cost. We are ranked 37th out of 50 states in Pre-K-12 education. The DMV is a notorious mess. Our legislators keep coming back to us for more and more money, yet we have these problems and things keep getting worse under our single party rule.

We are not getting what we are paying for and it is time to hold our elected representatives accountable. The incompetency and ineptitude is inexcusable. Mark Ghaly, Director of Health and Human Services stated that we deserve better. He is absolutely right, we do deserve better, a lot better.

DOUG RADER

Lodi

Take care of the unemployed

Editor: The House passed a comprehensive stimulus package back in May, but the U.S. Senate under the illustrious leadership of Mitch McConnell would not even consider it until they decided "if it was really necessary."

Now that they have decided it was they are trying to negotiate something that will get them re-elected in November. The main sticking point seems to be whether or not they should make a supplemental payment of $600 per week to the unemployed.

Don't they know that there are 30 million people unemployed in this country? Don't they know that millions of jobs may never return? Don't they know that unless we get these millions of people back to work that we will never have a strong economy again? This isn't rocket science. We need a strong stimulus package immediately.

One woman interviewed on TV said that without the $600 supplemental payment her regular unemployment payment would be a whopping $139 per week! And she is a single mother with two kids to feed. Do you think any U.S. senator has ever tried to live on $139 a week? If Mitch McConnell's annual income was paid on an hourly basis, he wouldn't be making $600 per week, but probably $600 per hour! Yet he thinks millions of unemployed can get by without a $600 supplement. I don't think wages are exorbitantly high in Kentucky, so I hope the voters there will have sense enough to throw Mitch out of office in November. They would be doing the entire country a huge favor.

KARL WELSBACHER Lodi

President politicizing the Postal Service

Editor: Is “traitor” too strong a word to describe Donald Trump? That word exactly describes many actions taken by the lunatic in the Oval Office, but his latest attempt to stop the American people from voting in the Nov. 3 election is too serious to ignore.

Trump openly stated this week that he would not sign any bill that includes 25 billion in funding for the Post Office and another 3.5 billion to help the Post Office handle the volume created by election ballots. He straight-up stated in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business News: “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting. Because they’re not equipped.”

Trump took his first step to cripple the Post Office by appointing his longtime donor and fundraiser, Louis DeJoy, as Post Master General of the U.S. He is the first person in two decades to attain that position with no prior experience with the Post Office. In fact, DeJoy and his wife are estimated to have a 30 to 70 million dollar investment in UPS.

DeJoy’s first step to cripple the Post Office was to eliminate overtime and stated that any mail not sorted for delivery by the end of the work day will “remain on the floor” to be handled the next day. I, personally, have had serious delays receiving important mail — especially medicine for myself and my husband.

I have been voting by mail for at least 10 years. Ballots will be mailed on Oct. 3, according to the county Registrar of Voters. Keep an eye out for yours, vote, and return it immediately. This year I will be dropping off my ballot in person. There is a drop box at the Lodi City Clerk’s office. Make sure your vote is counted! JOANNE DELSOLAR

Lodi