Letters: More input | History’s demands | Disastrous future | Ban guns | Policies’ real victims | Castilleja controversy

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

---

Statue removal meritstask force input

I whole-heartedly support the ideas presented in the op-ed (“Create task force to openly discuss S.J.’s Fallon statue,” Page A6, April 1 ) that the Fallon Statue should not be removed without further serious consideration of all the historical facts related to the statue.

This art piece is important to me and many other South Bay residents. It commemorates a local historical event and is a handsome piece of art. This is an opportunity to explore all details peacefully and resolve to understand and learn from each other’s viewpoints.

Gayle FrankSan Jose

History demands furtherstudy of statue removal

I was heartened to see the recent opinion piece written by April Halberstadt (“Create task force to openly discuss S.J.’s Fallon statue,” Page A6, April 1 ). I am past president of the California Pioneers, an organization established in 1875 to preserve the history of our valley. I have been truly disappointed by the recent actions of our mayor and City Council regarding the controversy over the Fallon statue in downtown San Jose.

This ongoing saga was supposed to have been resolved decades ago when the council elected to dedicate other works of diverse art around the city and move the Fallon statue to a less prominent position than originally designated, Plaza de Caesar Chavez.

As was stated in Halberstadt’s piece, the statue was commissioned not simply to recognize Fallon, but to commemorate California’s entry into statehood. Destroying that statue, without any input from the historical community, is simply a shortsighted and politically expedient response to criticism from those who wish to rewrite history.

Ken MachadoSan Jose

Don’t let disastrous firesbecome the new normal

Regarding “California to add nearly 1,400 firefighters amid fears of another devastating wildfire season,” March 31 :

It’s disturbing to read such a matter-of-fact article about California hiring 1,400 additional firefighters to prepare for wildfire season. When did devastating wildfires become so normalized? No Californian should have to live in fear of their home going up in flames.

California is becoming hotter, drier, and more susceptible to wildfires each year, and adding more firefighters is a superficial solution to a serious problem. Now is not the time for passivity. We must be proactive about wildfire prevention, starting by banning clearcutting. Clearcutting results in same-aged forests that burn hotter and faster than the natural, biodiverse forests they replace. Prohibiting clearcutting would lower wildfire danger, preventing yet another disastrous round of wildfires.

Caroline HarrisMenlo Park

Only a ban willreduce gun violence

Re. “Antioch man charged with illegally possessing four guns, including two with no serial number,” April 1:

I am disappointed that anyone can have a gun in our country and that it’s so easy to obtain one.

I appreciate that the police were able to find the culprit in a timely and efficient manner, but one person shouldn’t be able to have so many guns. With that many firearms, the situation could have been worse than robbing a hotel; a bunch of innocent people could have died.

Gun regulation has always been a problem in the United States. We need to face the fact that guns need to be banned. It’s too easy to obtain a gun and they offer more harm than protection. People working at a hotel shouldn’t be worrying about their lives but instead just trying to get through the day.

Gabriel BrowneSan Leandro

Biden policies will fallheavily on working poor

President Biden boasts that he is helping hardworking families by only raising taxes on those making $400K or more.

What he doesn’t share is that his policies to raise the corporate tax rate, raise the hourly minimum wage to $15, strangle the oil industry and explode the national debt beyond comprehension are all inflationary policies. Inflation is a regressive tax that crushes the low-income sector of the economy.

His voters enabled this cruel bed of deception and now it’s time for them to sleep in it.

Joel GreeniaSanta Clara

School expansionbad fit for community

Re. “School expansion plan could still see major changes,” Page B1, March 31:

Castilleja changed its plans to save houses and trees because the EIR identified “significant and unavoidable impacts” and required these changes, not to please the neighbors, who have been asking for a reduced project for nearly five years. Castilleja has avoided reducing their enrollment down to its Conditional Use Permit maximum for eight years and remains over-enrolled.

Many neighbors are busy with work and public school kids at home and rely on the “few voices” that the school disparages to speak up for them. PNQL, a neighborhood group, isn’t against the school rebuilding and modernizing, in compliance with code and compatible with the neighborhood.

Castilleja is a fine private institution, but it is proposing a large, modern building and underground garage in a small older neighborhood; a hugely dense project on six acres in an R-1 district.

Andie ReedPNQLnow.orgPalo Alto