Saturday’s Letters to the Editor

Vote no on recalls

EDITOR: President Joe Biden won. Gov. Gavin Newsom won. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon won. Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch won. Republicans simply cannot accept the results of elections. I resent all these recalls, and I will be voting against them. I will not reconsider Newsom or Ravitch or their policies until the election of 2022. We should put a lid on this waste of taxpayers' money and time. Don’t forget to vote.

LISE MELIN

Santa Rosa

The numbers tell a story

EDITOR: Early in England's history of debates over smallpox prevention, a parliamentary speaker objected to the use of William Jenner’s cowpox vaccine: “The liberty of doing wrong,” he said, “was still left among the privileges of free-born Englishmen.” As of June 21, more than 33 million unvaccinated Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, and 601,825 of them have died, compared to about 10,000 infections and 160 deaths among the 100 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated. Smallpox was eliminated by widespread vaccination.

TOM WHITE

Rio Vista

Help for landlords

EDITOR: Ross Liscum left important information out of his June 24 commentary (“Pandemic policies left out landlords”). Public officials throughout California have gone on record in many news formats saying the pandemic has hit everyone hard. By the way, the true victims are those who were infected by COVID-19, who lost their lives or became seriously ill. The rest of us have suffered hardships, and we are still alive.

Liscum did not mention that since March 2020, millions of homeowners have received forbearance under the CARES Act, allowing them to temporarily pause or reduce their mortgage payments. For mortgages that are not federally backed, servicers may offer similar forbearance options. If you are struggling to make your mortgage payments, servicers are generally required to discuss payment relief options with you, whether or not your loan is federally backed.

The California COVID-19 rent relief program is designed to help low-income Californians through the payment of unpaid rent to landlords. There is state law protection for homeowners. On Aug. 31, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Homeowner Relief Act, which provides protection to borrowers who were current on their mortgage payments as of Feb. 1, 2020, and are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. More information is available at dfpi.ca.gov/2021/03/15/covid19

MARY ROSE KACZOROWSKI

Fort Bragg

Save what we can

EDITOR: Our world has run out of time for moderate measures. Delay and denial have brought us to the beginning of a crisis that will continue to get worse as long as we don’t act boldly and effectively enough. Climate change is here, and it‘s bad, but we are not doomed so long as we don’t give up.

We can mitigate the worst effects while adapting to those already baked in. The time for either/or is gone; all that’s left to us is both/and. Draw down fossil fuels and adapt to extreme weather events. Build up renewable energy sectors and improve infrastructure. Transition to a green energy economy and help communities become more resilient.

Now is not the time to shy away from the challenge because it will be difficult and expensive. The costs of not acting are so much higher, and so much worse. The situation is urgent, but we have the agency to affect how bad the outcome will be. We cannot save everything, but we have to fight to save what we can.

MONIQUE MARSTEN

Santa Rosa

America’s potential

EDITOR: James Baldwin brilliantly said, “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” This is true of many American socialists, myself included. Far from being the hateful and nefarious caricature the Republican Party paints, we understand that there are deep, systemic problems with America that need addressing.

Police brutality is not a new problem. Racial discrimination is not a new problem. Wealth inequality is not a new problem.

We have ignored these problems for too long. While those on the right would prefer to shrug their shoulders and claim that’s how it has always been and always will be, that attitude is neither helpful nor becoming of the promise of America. For all her many faults, our country has tremendous potential. That potential landed us on the moon and Mars. That potential invites people from across the world to become fellow citizens.

There are serious problems in America, but we can only hope to fix them by starting with admitting them. American socialists know this and are getting elected across the country because the country is starting to realize it as well.

PATRICK COLFORD

Rohnert Park

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.