Hoping for a peaceful transition of power
Regarding “Trump gives goahead for transition to Biden to begin” ( Front Page, Nov. 24): Although I wish this frontpage headline had begun with the words “Trump concedes,” it’s not in this president’s egocentric nature to ever admit to defeat.
Nevertheless, the decision by General Services Administrator Emily Murphy, to permit Presidentelect Joe Biden to coordinate with federal agencies ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration, is an essential first step toward a transition of power between the existing and the incoming administrations.
Let’s just hope, despite Trump’s continuing baseless claims of election fraud and his millions of disenchanted supporters, that it can occur peacefully.
Lewis Jacobson, Sunnyvale
Protection of others
Thank you for publishing “Mask up for exercise” ( Letters, Nov. 24): I am tired of unmasked runners and bicyclists flying past me or across my path, sometimes as close as a few feet, leaving behind their potentially fatal aerosols for my inhalation.
While I am always masked when out of my house, we know that the wearing of a mask does not necessarily protect one; it is mostly for the protection of others.
It may be a little more difficult to breathe when expending a lot of energy, but for the sake of us all, please just wear a mask and go a little slower if that is what it takes to get us out of this nightmare.
Suzanne Kirkham, San Francisco
Impaired by masks
Regarding “Mask up for exercise” ( Letters, Nov. 24): First, the state guidelines say that masks should be worn outside when you’re within 6 feet of others. Yes, the distance should be further when exercising due to more forceful exhalation. I use a rule of thumb of at least 12 feet when passing someone while running or biking. Second, let’s use common sense here rather than selfrighteousness. All the science I’ve read says that transmission is very rare outdoors under any circumstances.
The risk is related to duration times proximity times lack of ventilation. Transmission typically occurs between people who are indoors talking together within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes.
There appears to be virtually zero chance of transmission from passing a few feet from someone for less than a second in the breezy outdoors. Masks impair the ability to breathe when exercising and get sweaty and useless. I will continue to exercise maskless when out on the street or in the park, but I carry a mask to put on out of respect when I can’t avoid getting close to others.
Gordon McCarter, Albany
Less of a risk
Regarding “State struggles to diversify electric car market” ( Front Page, Nov. 22): Having just read your article on electric cars, I thought my experience would help encourage anyone considering an electric car to just get it over with and buy one.
I am a professional lawn mower. Over the past 30 years, I have been dependent on gas to fuel my business. That all changed in January 2019. That is when I leased a Nissan Leaf and bought a small trailer to replace my pickup truck. In 2018, I had replaced my gas lawn equipment with batterypowered equipment, so the car was the last step to being gas independent and making my business zeroemission. My income is only $ 34,000 a year. The Nissan Leaf was $ 30,500 and I received about $ 6,000 in rebates from the state of California, San Joaquin County and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. I did not receive the tax credit, since it was a lease. I am saving about $ 2,000 a year using electricity as my fuel instead of gasoline. If I can make the switch from gas to electric, there really is no excuse for anyone else not to make the switch. It’s not nearly as risky as some people want you to believe.
Curtis Carlson, Stockton
A selfish country
Regarding “A critical week for the pandemic” ( Editorial, Nov. 24): With record numbers of Americans either being diagnosed or hospitalized with the coronavirus, it’s very troubling to read about airports getting crowded ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and shoppers who might rush to stores for Black Friday bargains.
Whatever happened to the notion of selfsacrifice for the common good? Sadly, this nation ( especially under President Trump) has morphed into the Disunited States of Selfishness.
Edith Langford, San Rafael
Poorly managed city
Otis R. Taylor Jr’s coverage of the Vallejo Police Department is courageous and invaluable; we would not know of the police problems and their seriousness without him.
Why have these problems continued for years? The root of most evils in Vallejo lie not with the Police Department, but the City Council, which must be reformed.
The council boasts of staying out of departmental affairs to pretend no political interference. The departments are thus poorly supervised, uncoordinated and have no one to answer to, except the city manager, whose main concern is keeping the City Council out of controversy.
Thus, the VPD is not the only unsupervised, poorly managed department in town, as is obvious to everyone: poorly maintained streets and a main boulevard with a trash littered median; a parks and recreation department that ignores citizen concerns and fails to perform promised repairs; a planning department that allowed what could have been a regional shopping center to become an asphalt desert with disconnected shops and stores and an unimproved access road.
The entire structure of city “management” needs to be reviewed, reformed and possibly restaffed, and the politicians’ club removed.
David Mandel, Vallejo
Honor our history
Should Thanksgiving be celebrated this year? Many people love this festive winter holiday, and lots of people observe it with cultural celebrations, but folks are still shaky on whether we should still gather for and commemorate Thanksgiving.
I celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. We invite friends for a party at our house, and serve roasted duck and other traditional Thanksgiving foods. But that wouldn’t work in a Zoom or Google Meet setting.
That’s why I don’t think that we should celebrate Thanksgiving with big gatherings this year. But that doesn’t mean we have to completely give up.
People can play games with their friends and have fun while staying socially distanced, or they can just stay with their family. Some games could honor the history of Thanksgiving, like a play with the pilgrims and the Wampanoag.
Families can also have Thanksgiving parades and marches in their backyards. Thanksgiving can be celebrated many ways without too many people.
Emma Ouyang, San Jose
Thankful for election
There was a time not that long ago when, if leaders of other nations refused to accept election defeat and threw out allegations of electoral fraud with zero evidence, the U. S. would respond with indignation, demanding that the will of the electorate be respected.
Now, the world looks at us, the United States of America, and just shakes its head. This president, with his pathetic and cartoonish efforts to subvert an election, has allowed our nation to be pitied. This Thanksgiving, we should all remember to give thanks to an electorate that in record numbers overwhelmingly rejected this morally deficient, impeached president and finally said, “enough.” Happy Thanksgiving!
Al Comolli, Millbrae