Reader: Shut down violent, drunken Cinco de Mayo event

QThis year’s Cinco de Mayo was the worst that

I have ever experienced living in the Roosevelt neighborhood. It was completely out of control, while San

Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia declared it a success. This event is only an excuse for partying and drinking at the cost of the neighborhoods around Santa Clara Street and the Story RoadKing Road area.

I expect a lot more from police and our representatives. If they can’t enforce the law, the next option should be to shut this event down. I can’t think of any other event in San Jose that allows this type of violence, with broken storefronts and total violation of the laws. Individuals were running red lights like they didn’t exist and doing donuts at intersections while closing down streets for their own pleasure. This is unacceptable.

— Carlos DaSilva,

San Jose A No disagreement here. Some of the problems this year may be due to drunken folks blowing off steam after two months of shelterin-place orders. Cinco de

Mayo celebrations need to be tamped down. Police and city officials need plans to clamp down on the hooligans next year.

Q

Maybe you can answer this question. The DMV robot answers are of no help at all. My birthday is June 10, and I must renew my driver’s license in person because I’m old. My appointment at the Los Gatos DMV is June 4. I made it months ago, and it was the soonest one available. What is the status of renewals for people who must appear in person?

— Betty Murphy A California drivers with expired permits and licenses may continue to drive and can request a free temporary paper extension online. Q So Caltrans is taking advantage of light traffic to perform work along Interstate 580. Now, let me guess, they’re still not fixing the bottleneck on Interstate 280 from El Monte to Magdalena?

— Steven B.

A

Not anytime soon. This widening is on the 20-year plan. Q Would you use your influence to increase trash pickup on our highways? The 880/17 shoulders are a mess.

And in turn, could you increase the education of our drivers to keep trash inside their vehicles, and dispose of it properly when they reach their destination?

I’ve observed trash flying out of the back of small and large pickups and windows of passenger vehicles alike.

It costs money to pick up “after the fact.” It’s less expensive to dispose of properly.

— Cathy Switzer

A

Caltrans spends $50 million a year to pick up highway trash.

With COVID-19, and some speeders going 100 mph plus on lightly traveled freeways, trash pickup has dropped down on the list of priorities for now.