Letters: Water supply | S.J. mayor | Parties have issues | Medical residents | Shooter drills

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Before more housing,
solve water supply

Re. “Poll shows resistance to more housing,” Page A1, Oct. 3:

I’m sure you are right that a good deal of resistance to new housing is an uncomfortable mixture of NIMBYism and racism. We indeed have a dark side even in our fairly blue valley.

Another matter of great concern needs to be addressed in addition, however: water. Unless we can come up with a serious and viable combination of, say, recycling wastewater and desalination – neither of which appear to be on the horizon – we can’t continue to add jobs and people to the Valley.

And unless new construction is required to add underground parking, there is not going to be room for the cars.

These matters can be solved – perhaps far more easily than racism and NIMBYism – but we’ll need to come up with some major money and creativity to do so … and soon.

James Bangsund
San Jose

S.J. doesn’t need
mayor owned by 49ers

Re. “49ers shell out more for Cindy Chavez,” Page B1, Oct. 2:

I agree with city of Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gilmor that the enormous sums of money the 49ers have contributed to her city’s election campaigns are obscene. But the Niners are not stopping and are now casting a wider net.

In April they contributed $300,000 to committees favoring mayoral candidate Cindy Chavez. On Sept. 28 the Niners gave those committees another $400,000. You have to wonder what return they expect for that $700,000 investment.

I for one am not waiting to find out. Matt Maham, you have my vote. We must not allow an NFL football team to control San Jose as they currently control the city of Santa Clara.

Tom Darby
San Jose

Major parties have
glaring candidate issues

With each passing day, Republicans’ naked self-interest becomes more glaring.

They decided a football player in Georgia with zero qualifications was fit to serve in the Senate and are now reduced to explaining his ineptitude by saying he’s been concussed too many times. They’re backing an Ohio congressional candidate willing to lie about his military combat experience, something that previously would have been just beyond the pale. Across the country, Republicans are seeking out candidates for positions to supervise elections with the signature qualification of insisting that the election process has been a complete fraud and the answer for this is voter suppression.

Meanwhile, Democrats painted themselves into a corner with a president who has passed his sell-by date and a vice president whose only reason for existence was that she checked enough identity politics boxes.

The choice is between well-meaning decrepitude and shameless debasement.

Eugene Ely
San Jose

Medical residents need
mental health care

I would like to bring attention to the poor mental health of medical students in residency and bring awareness to this issue in hopes of creating a more welcoming environment for medical students in the future.

The years of residency after medical school usually involve working conditions with low pay and long hours. Along with this, students are exposed to the trauma and grief involved with working in the health care field. This significantly affects mental health, leading to stress and even depression. We’ve seen repeated cases of residency students ending their lives due to the pressure, but there is little effort to bring change.

Health care workers play a large part in sustaining the health of our community, yet their health is sacrificed. It makes me wonder, where the laws or policies that address this issue are. Health care workers should receive the same amount of benefits as people working in tech.

Kaylee Nguyen
San Jose

Shooter drills needed
to make schools safe

Re. “Stop traumatizing children with active shooter drills,” Page A6, Oct. 4:

Schools need to continue active shooter drills at all levels of school. Why? Because our students and staff must be prepared because no one, unfortunately, has yet come up with a foolproof solution regarding how to ensure that we do not have active shooters on campus.

Staff must carefully explain to students why we need to have active shooter drills just like the required earthquake drills because either one can take place at any school at any time.

As a former high school teacher and principal for more than 40 years I have disarmed students and outsiders who carry all types of weapons. If students don’t feel safe at school they will not learn. Let’s be prepared every day.

John Sellarole
San Jose