LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

There’s no excuse to let our infrastructure fail

Re “500,000 gallons of raw sewage fouls San Diego Bay after broken sensor shuts down pumps” (Jan. 18): When will we learn that infrastructure is our lifeline? The way that a body works is dependent on interconnected systems. A city, a county, a megalopolis, a state, a country, a planet are all the same.

The 500,000 gallons of sewer contamination reached right onto our doorstep. Our toes are now soaking in it. Our backs are feeling the rush of river water that spills into the flood plain that it’s craving. Come on, San Diego.

Get those pipes, pumps and pathways working. Our lifelines depend on it. Regina Morin Ocean Beach

Building ADUS won’t ease homelessness

Re “San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s housing reform and push for a new City Hall raise questions” (Jan. 12): Mayor Gloria must be dreaming if he believes easing permitting and increasing the allowable units of “backyard granny flats” will make a dent in our housing and homeless crisis. For as long as this economic disaster has been going on — at least four decades now — San Diegans have been stepping up to the plate, donating time and money, volunteering, supporting nonprofits, etc. But now we are being asked to go into the apartment construction business in our backyards?

Let’s be real. Those who will really benefit are the profit-driven investors who are gobbling up singlefamily houses and will convert them into hodgepodge multi-unit housing — no guarantee that they will be affordable to those who most desperately need shelter. City and county leaders need to give us answers. Why do we no longer have a real public housing program? Why is Section 8 — a public/private effort to replace public housing — a huge failure? Rosalind Hirst Normal Heights

Where will we get the water for new homes?

Where is the water for all the new housing projects coming from? For example, Harvest Hills, in the planning stages in Escondido, north of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and east of the golf course? More than 1,000 acres?

Vista, as I write, is busy building and has built vast tracts of mini mansions off of Bobier Drive and Oceanside Boulevard. (A former burrowing owl habitat, I might add.) The story is the same all over San Diego County. Where is the water for these developments? Is there a secret, magic plan to conjure up water for everyone? Maybe we should face reality — there aren’t enough resources to support a growing population here. Fix that problem first, then build the houses. Barbara Shoemaker Vista

Why can’t state build water storage we need?

Why have no new dams been built since the passage of Proposition 1 in 2014?

Since the $7.12 billion water project bond was passed in 2014, seven projects have not been built nor approved. How long does it take to make a decision to build the water projects they promised to build? It is obvious. Those in charge cannot get the job done. Daryl Smith Point Loma

Football isn’t the game it was designed to be

Re “Has the Damar Hamlin incident changed people’s views on football?” (Jan. 13): I waited for the immediate commentaries regarding football to subside because I didn’t want to be redundant. Mine is not redundant.

We have outgrown the game. We’re too big, too strong, too athletic, too mobile, too fast, too quick and too smart to play the game as it was designed 100 years ago, and played when I played five decades ago. Jim Otto can’t walk, Darryl Stingley was paralyzed, countless players are neurologically impaired — not because the game is too rough, but because the players have outgrown their bodies’ capacities to play as the game was designed.

But we’ll continue to play the game because we love slow-motion replays that snap bodies in ways for which they’re not designed to cope. Leif Fearn Hillcrest

Goldstone should offer to volunteer his time

Re “Public not served by hiring of Goldstone” (Jan. 13): I concur with the observations of the letter writer about Jay Goldstone. If indeed Goldstone is a conscientious, civic minded retiree, he can do what many comfortable retirees have done: accept a $1-ayear compensation plus reimbursement for expenses.

As a retiree myself, I find his being paid a handsome salary for his current municipal duties abusive and the mayor’s willingness to squander our city’s scarce resources hypocritical. And there are in our community experienced, talented retirees from private businesses other than Goldstone, available to become “kitchen cabinet” advisers to the mayor, who would not expect compensation or reimbursement, if they were asked. Richard J. Castro Bay Ho

California drivers must fend for themselves

Re “California should put some teeth behind distracted driving laws” (Jan. 14): California leads the country in many ways, but unfortunately it leads in people who are selective in what rules they follow. Freeway speed may be limited to 65 miles per hour, but we drive 76-plus. Some are busy on phones or computers while driving, and turn signals are not given. The term is the “California stop” because most drivers stop only if another car is in the intersection. Finally we litter everywhere. The only thing we can do is drive defensively, behave as we should, and arrive home safely. Dan Pursell Oceanside

Biden better on border while Harris is AWOL

Re “An unpopular path” (Jan. 13): This commentary was well written and spot on regarding President Joe Biden and his middle-ofthe-road approach to immigration. He has always been somewhat of a centrist, but was pulled hard left in the beginning by the radical faction of his party.

The reality of the border crisis has brought him back to a more sensible solution to the crisis. But what happened to Vice President Kamala Harris? Biden sent her down to the border early on to find some resolution and all she did was take a few photo ops in a benign area. She has not been heard from since. She has to be the worst vice president in the history of our country. Arnold Botts Chula Vista

Biden, GOP focusing on very different things

Re “Kevin Mccarthy wins House speakership on 15th vote” (Jan. 6): Does anyone else find it ironic that on Jan. 6, Joe Biden was leading a ceremony to honor the law enforcement personnel who protected Congress (and America), while the House of Representatives was once again being held hostage by some of the same people who were complicit in the insurrection that resulted in the deaths of some of those same law enforcement personnel? Paul Schofield Oceanside