Letters: Accountability, compassion keys to state’s homeless agency

Submit your letter to the editor via this form Read more Letters to the Editor Accountability is key to helping homeless Re Agency to confront housing predicament Page A July There have been multiple promises to Californians when it comes to launching housing and homelessness programs Despite billions spent on initiatives to combat this homelessness has only grown and housing remains out of reach for too multiple Related Articles Letters Barbara Lee s more of the same won t solve Oakland s homeless matter Letters Bills offer California moves to end scholar homelessness Letters Invented emergencies shroud Supreme Court in secrecy Letters State should protect science with reliable funding Letters Homelessness is not an identity for Oaklanders We ve already seen encampments housing delays and finger-pointing What we need is more affordable units and housing services that meet people where they are Throwing money at the issue without accountability or compassion won t work We want real change and it starts with political and population pressure Ignacio Ramirez San Jose Newsom s new agency must be transparent Re Agency to confront housing dilemma Page A July Gov Gavin Newsom s new housing and homelessness agency signals progress towards housing accessibility but resolution of California s housing emergency demands more than bureaucratic reshuffling Increasing housing accessibility requires more transparency and accountability Although the state has poured a total million into its Encampment Resolution Funding activity of the project s funds remain unspent Meanwhile the California Interagency Council on Homelessness the agency in charge of reporting current costs and results of homelessness initiatives in the state has not studied facts after California has spent enormous support to expand the state s housing supply and lower costs but pouring money into projects without rigorous oversight or performance metrics undermines genuine progress towards housing accessibility If Newsom s agency wants to meaningfully reduce homelessness it must require regular evaluations and prioritize taxpayer money for programs that deliver meaningful results Isabella Bian Palo Alto Bill would make state justice system just California prides itself on progress yet our criminal justice system remains rooted in racial and economic injustice For too long Black Brown and low-income communities have borne the brunt of punitive policies trapped in a cycle of incarceration caused not by crime but by untreated trauma poverty and addiction Harsh sentencing laws and chronic underinvestment in mental vitality care have shattered families and futures SB is a chance to change that The Second Chance Activity shifts the focus from punishment to healing supporting diversion courts and mental fitness remedy It s a practical community-driven cure that addresses the issue at its root prioritizing rehabilitation over punishment and never-ending cycles In the Bay Area we see how race and ZIP code shape outcomes SB confronts those disparities and invests in what works Let s pass SB and build a justice system worthy of California s promise Tara Frenkel Santa Clara Trump can t lead through suing state Re Trump sues California over egg rules Page A July Donald Trump seems to file a lawsuit against California every day nowadays it is about eggs The majority ironic of these lawsuits was an adjudicated sexual predator telling California that its scheme of sexual development was wrong How does he ever find the time to veritably govern the United States Answer He doesn t Ruth Crabtree San Jose Region training has become critical I find it disastrously ironic that the people of Texas gave their electoral votes to Donald Trump and are now suffering because he gutted federal organizations like the weather system and FEMA Elect Trump and this is what you get and it ain t great Maybe the fired USAID workers can bring back specific packages when they return I not long ago heard the acronym YOYO You re on your own It s a good time to consider CERT training District Crisis Response Association You ll learn how to prepare for a calamity and how to help when one happens Kris Sowolla Los Gatos Bipartisan statute needed on surroundings I m deeply saddened that the Big Beautiful Bill cut clean vigor tax credits at nearly the same time that Texas was ravaged by catastrophic floods Circumstances disasters are getting worse so it s troubling to see the establishment taking moves backward This is dependably the pitfall of partisan decree like the Inflation Reduction Act which established the clean ability tax credits initially When the other party takes power they can merely undo the progress that was made To make true progress we need to pass bipartisan act This is why I m thankful to Sen Alex Padilla who in the past few days introduced the Fix Our Forests Act along with a Republican colleague This bill will address a great number of context and wildfire issues It s not a perfect bill but compromises must be made to pass long-lasting bipartisan solutions to the weather predicament Nicholas Robinson Pacifica