Shame on Wells Fargo
Regarding “Wells CEO’s dubious board defense” (Business, June 28): What a pity your writer (or his editor) could not see his way clear to naming the feckless board who permitted Wells Fargo to perpetrate its grotesque fraud on millions of bank customers.
These names are in the public record and readily available. They are all “important” people with “great” business credentials. Don’t believe? Ask them. A little public shaming might serve to correct them, no?
John Joss, Los Altos
Missing the love at parade
My wife and I visited the city on June 23-26 to attend a wedding. Unknowingly, this was also the Pride Parade weekend. Having attended a Gay Freedom Day Parade in the city many years ago, we were excited to observe and participate in the festivities once again. We were sorely disappointed with all the anger displayed among the parade marchers. As a society, we are exposed to anger, protests and a general lack of civility amongst ourselves constantly. It’s sad to see it in a parade.
The previous parade we attended was full of laughter and general merriment and a good time was had by both the viewing public and the participants. It is ironic that your fair city is celebrating the 50-year anniversary of “The Summer of Love” this summer. It’s too bad the parade didn’t project its love also.
Vic Vaccaro, Florence, Ore.
Hodgepodge infrastructure
Regarding “Keep local oversight of cellular tech” (Open Forum, June 27): Once again, it seems our civil society is considering handing over public structures and right-of-way to private, apparently unregulated, business enterprises.
Private buses in Muni stops, wheeled robots on the sidewalks, drones in the sky, blinding billboards by the freeway, bicycles in the wilderness areas and now cell towers on every utility pole. Just take a look at the hodgepodge infrastructure in some large third world cities for a preview of things to come in our once self-respecting city. Peter Smalley, Berkeley
Reflection of government
Regarding “Summer of Love’s lessons ring true” (Open Forum, June 26): Like most writers, Lawrence J. McQuillan treats government as some sort of foreign entity. No, it is elected by “We, the People.” As such, we are the ones who are ultimately responsible for all the policies, good and bad.
We may not always vote wisely, and nearly half of us don’t even bother, but any problems come from us, not the government. A representative government is a reflection and implementation of our social norms and is, therefore, the best means for tackling social problems.
Bob Plantz, Santa Rosa
Maintain zoning for land
Regarding “Speed building, retain controls” (Open Forum, June 28): Rick Garbarino’s piece on affordable housing misses the most basic problem in California’s housing markets: exclusionary zoning. Many cities and counties do not zone enough land for apartments, and so land costs for these projects are high. This is a common way to exclude lower-income households from large parts of our urban areas.
The State Legislature fiddles around the edges of this problem with infill incentives and impact assessment fast-tracking, but hasn’t taken effective action, due to the veto power of city and county lobbyists. We need a bill to require all cities and counties to maintain zoning for enough land for the development and redevelopment of apartments for 30 years or more of demand.
This will lower land costs. This zoning should be widespread and near job centers. Combined with bus service from apartment areas to job centers, this change will greatly improve the lives of working-class people. It will also reduce segregation in schools and generally. Bob Johnston, Inverness
Uber ex-CEO’s responsibility
Regarding “Mayer defends former Uber CEO Kalanick” (Business, June 28): It’s disappointing to learn that former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer believes Uber founder Travis Kalanick was “unaware of the toxic culture brewing” at his company. Isn’t it the obligation of a CEO to set and communicate corporate values and policies? Perhaps Uber engineer Susan Fowler wouldn’t have had to blog about the rampant sexism at her place of employment if action had been taken when she first contacted Human Resources about the problem. This failure clearly rests on the shoulders of Kalanick.
And given the underrepresentation of women in tech company workforces and executive positions, it’s doubly disappointing to learn that former tech CEO Mayer describes herself as “gender oblivious” and not a “feminist.”
Lisa Wang, Mountain View
Health care bill will pass
I think it is a foregone conclusion that the health care bill will pass the Senate. Sure, it was not able to achieve enough votes to pass this time. But like the House bill, the nation will be distracted by another crisis, and that will be when they will sneak it through the Senate. President Trump may have called the House version mean, but I would bet money he will sign this bill as soon as it makes it to his desk. Unfortunately, the bill does not appear to help the poor, elderly or people with pre-existing conditions, who will either forgo health insurance or exhaust their resources trying to stay alive.
The young will be able to buy health insurance at a reasonable rate, but will they? Those with employer-supplied health insurance might see more of the cost shifted to them, but that should be affordable for a couple more years. I do think “Trumpcare” fits this bill, because it does help people like Trump get their tax cut. And in the end, isn’t that what it is all about — not health care for Americans.
John Denham, Reedley, Fresno County
Eucalyptus tree fire risk
Regarding “Trees decrease East Bay fire risk” (Open Forum, June 22): The writer claims that eucalyptus possess the same fire risk as our adapted redwoods and live oaks.
Anyone who has walked by blue gum eucalyptus plantations in the East Bay hills has seen the long bark strips that hang down the tree. In a fire, the hanging bark strips ignite, go airborne and can land on neighborhoods as far as a mile or more away. Instead of enlarging a fire, oaks and redwoods have evolved a thick bark and other features to resist fire.
Making smart decisions about what flora to promote and what to control on our hillsides needs to be informed by some basic facts. One is that all trees are not the same when it comes to fire risk. Jim Hanson, Richmond