Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for April 27, 2024

District must address community concerns

The recent Marin IJ article sharing the Tam High Union School District’s new push for a bond to cover school improvements (“Tam Union district to seek lower cost Measure A bond option,” April 18) shows once again how the leadership fails to look inward when casting blame for the recent loss at the polls.

Comments from trustees citing voters “listening to lies” or that “aggressive opposition” was putting out “deceptive messaging” are disingenuous and ignore voters’ ability to take decisions in public elections. The reasons for failure of passage of Measure A have been cited over and over and have nothing to do with “misinformation.”

They include a perception of unfairness in the distribution of funds among schools and their constituents, a financial burden on seniors or low-income homeowners already paying multiple school taxes, poor polling efforts by Godbe Research (which appears to be getting a second polling contract using public funds) and, most important for me, failure to account for spending of $200 million of bonds issued since 2000 for improvement of facilities.

If THUSD expects another bond attempt to pass, it will not be because they simply lowered the price; it will be because they demonstrated and addressed community concerns and showed a little humility regarding the ask.

— Mike Blakeley, San Anselmo

Urgent renter ordinance in San Rafael goes too far

San Rafael has made commendable efforts to encourage more affordable housing. However, while well intentioned, the “urgency” ordinance just passed (“San Rafael OKs urgency law to halt evictions in Canal area,” April 18) goes too far.

It purposely raises the cost of remodeling and improving apartments to the point where it is no longer feasible to do so. The city now has more than two years to devise new regulations, essentially blocking all “health and safety” improvements of any significance for a very long time.

It should be mentioned that the buildings in the Canal are all 60 to 70 years old, built on an old marsh and at high risk for flood or earthquake damage. Intended for middle-income families, they use materials and designs from that era. Without remodeling, they are obsolete by current standards. The ability to renew is essential to keep the neighborhood from falling into disrepair. Such maintenance should be made easier, not harder.

There is a natural tension between gentrification and modernizing these buildings that needs to be managed. It is reasonable that a property owner who is investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve a building gets a return on that investment.

Landlords did not cause Marin’s housing crisis and should not be singled out to pay for the fallout that has resulted. This is a community problem. The solutions should come from the entire community, not just one small segment.

If this matter is urgent, as stated, the city should shorten the deadline to write new ordinances and should make an energetic effort to involve property owners in finding balanced solutions that everyone can live with. Both sides need a better understanding of the other’s needs to find equitable compromise.

— Roger A. Smith, San Rafael

Parents deserved to be found guilty in shooting

In his recent Another View commentary, columnist John Crisp questions whether Michigan parents James and Jennifer Crumbley should have been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after their 15-year-old son brought an automatic pistol to school and committed murder (“Blaming parents for school shootings won’t change obsession with guns,” April 18).

However, some of the unmentioned facts of the case are important to the decision. Days before the shooting, the Crumbleys bought Ethan, their young teen, the gun as an early Christmas present. They made no effort to securely store it.

When called to a school meeting over Ethan’s drawing of a picture of a gun, a wounded person and a message saying, “help me,” the Crumbleys refused to take Ethan home; they also failed to mention that Ethan had told them of his mental health struggles and did not tell school officials that they had bought him a gun. Not long after the school meeting, Ethan started shooting. He left four dead students and wounded seven others.

In Michigan, an involuntary-manslaughter verdict means that a person had no intention of killing another but, due to their careless or reckless actions, caused the death of a human being. That describes the Crumbleys.

Crisp is right that blaming parents won’t fix our nation’s gun obsession, but it is an important start. If parents were consistently found criminally responsible when their minor children have easy access to weapons and harm others, behavior would change.

Legal rules can change behavior and change minds. It may be a long process, but it is worth pursuing.

— Ruth Dell, Tiburon

Dropping prices would make wine more popular

I read recent coverage about a glut of wine causing problems for producers around the world. While it’s sad anytime people lose significant income, I must mention the inflated prices being charged for good wine these days.

The first thing the wineries need to do is dramatically reduce their prices so average wine lovers can afford to buy their products.

Wine prices have gone through the roof over the last five years, so it is partially the industry’s fault. They got drunk (pun intended) on their wealth during the good times. Now they need to think about what they did.

— Brent Zeller, San Rafael

Sausalito ferry stoppage could have been avoided

I am writing in response to the article published April 21 with the headline, “Sausalito ferry service suspended after pier problem.”

I cannot believe, after all those numerous and heated hearings at City Hall regarding the Sausalito Ferry landing dock’s future, that here we are with ferry runs suspended after problems at the dock.

— Sandra Macleod White, San Rafael

Acknowledging inflation would be good for Biden

If Joe Biden is the Democratic candidate, can he win the election in the face of our entrenched electoral college voting system? That’s the biggest question for Democrats in the 2024 election.

It is easy to visualize a similar situation to when Al Gore and Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the election because they lost the “battleground” states.

There is no one easy answer about how to influence undecided voters to vote for Biden. A worthy suggestion, among others, is for Biden to make clear to all voters countrywide in vigorous and no uncertain terms that he knows all is not so well with the majority of hardworking people as they deal with continued high prices. Inflation impacts grocery items, utility bills and many less in-your-face expenses that keep families from having decent, nonexhausting and less anxiety-ridden lives.

Biden must strongly ensure us that he will always work hard for sorely needed systemic changes.

When Biden says that all is well with our economy because unemployment is down, he ignores what most Americans live with on a daily basis. His well-intentioned, very upbeat position does not resonate with so many people all over the country.

This modified message is humanistic, truly empathetic and practical. Let him know. It could be in keeping with what the president sincerely believes in his heart.

— Art Reiss, Greenbrae