Follow the money

Regarding “Audit says billions in housing bonds lost” ( Front Page, Nov. 20): As someone who was a state Senate legislative staffer in Sacramento for several years during the 1970s, I am gobsmacked that $ 2.7 billion in state bond capacity has been lost that could have been used to build affordable housing. As you report, State Auditor Elaine Howle has recently found that bond allocations were mismanaged in part because California doesn’t have a clear plan on how to best use available funding for housing projects. And as your article notes, from 2015 to 2017 when John Chiang was state treasurer, the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee under the Treasurer’s Office failed to direct $ 2.7 billion in available bonds to affordable housing. Current state Treasurer Fiona Ma said that she discovered the problem after taking office in 2019.

In any case, Ma, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the chairs of the state Assembly and Senate housing committees, Assemblymember David Chiu and state Sen. Scott Wiener, respectively, should help develop a comprehensive funding plan for California’s most critical housing needs. And the people deserve to know more about how the Treasurer’s Office wasted $ 2.7 billion in available bonds. Accountability matters.

Bob Ryan, San Francisco

Reverse psychology

As the clever song goes, the kids put beans in their ears because the adults said no. Perhaps an effective way to encourage mask wearing and vaccinations among contrarians and conspiracy believers would be to announce that, henceforth, masks and vaccines will be available only for liberal elites. What might follow are flagwaving, guntoting rallies demanding masks and vaccines. Adding to the circuslike response, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson would have to contort like a pretzel to realign with his base. It seems like a winwin strategy. gyms, to remain open. Again, this is nonsensical. Throughout this pandemic, San Franciscans have made countless sacrifices to fight the virus, even as Mayor London Breed and Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed themselves to be hypocrites. For them to now demand the cessation of essential yet minimalrisk activities is galling.

Inspiring columnist

Otis R. Taylor Jr.’ s columns have been revealing, compassionate, inspirational, distressing and hopeful all at the same time. He has given voice and identity to the disadvantaged who live on the fringes of society and who would remain unnoticed if not for his commitment and focus. His departure is our loss and Georgia’s gain but we are grateful for his time with us.

A nose for fraud

Maybe I’m not giving Republicans enough credit. They continue to scream “fraud” in describing the recent election. When you think about it, having pathetically supported President Trump for the past few years, they should know what fraud looks like when they see it.

BAD WEEK

The popular destination is shut down to visitors just as the all- critical holiday season arrives amid concerns over the pandemic surge. Defiant ski resorts are staying open.

New federal and state antitrust lawsuits seeking to break up Facebook portray its CEO as a ruthless villain in buying would- be competitors to maintain its monopoly.

State Supreme Court rules that the franchise must pay nearly $ 50 million in remaining debt from the 1996 renovations to the arena in Oakland.