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Civil disobedience
should come at a cost
Re: “Tactics by protesters drive penalty debate” (Page A1, April 19).
I am a political progressive, a long-time contributor to the ACLU and Legal Defense Fund, and have always admired Gandhi, whose autobiography I read as a teenager many decades ago. Agree or disagree with the protesters’ reason for blocking the Bay Area bridges, I believe they should be prosecuted.
Nothing in the philosophy of satyagraha (passive resistance), or under the First Amendment to the Constitution, says that protesters cannot be held to account for breaking the law. In fact, the very essence and meaning of that practice is that one must be willing to make the sacrifice, publicly and with firm determination, to communicate the importance of the message.
If any protest can simply be excused under the law, no matter the damage caused to other people and society at large, the intended message devolves from a moral crusade into simple anarchy.
Will Beatty
San Jose
Homeless programs
need new approach
Re: “Newsom calls out homeless ‘failures’” (Page A1, April 19).
Everybody is somebody’s someone. Let that sink in and then ask how California could spend so much money to house our unhoused and not have the data to know which programs are working.
The state should provide one homeless database to use statewide. Cities should provide outreach to keep data up to date. Cities with large numbers of unhoused people should have a one-stop homeless navigational center.
Cut out the middle man, nonprofits. They all have a CEO, vice presidents, directors, managers and supervisors sitting behind desks, while the few outreach workers meet with clients.
Let’s build a system where a congregate shelter is only used for short-term emergencies and where unhoused folks, who can manage, have the opportunity to move into a 4-person dorm room, to a single room with no bathroom, to a single room with a bathroom, and eventually to a studio. Let’s build hope.
Francesca Paist
San Jose
Homeless spending
another ploy for office
Re: “Homeless programs fund use questioned” (Page A1, April 10).
Our governor and the mayors of many of California’s major cities claim they are in favor of solving homelessness and vote major dollars in their taxpayer-funded budgets to do so.
According to the latest California audit, none of them know how that money is being spent and whether it is helping reduce the homelessness problem, nor do they seem to care if they are solving the problem. They talk big but show small or no results.
It seems like they just want to keep their political offices by using taxpayers’ money to little effect. What a surprise.
Carla Stoffel
Mountain View
Transparent recount
process reassures
I recently returned from watching the District 16 recount process at the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters and felt compelled to share my experience.
The professionalism, courtesy and organization displayed by the Registrar of Voters staff was outstanding. It is clear that every member of the team is committed to transparency and accuracy in every aspect of their work. Their efficient handling of such a crucial task reassures the community that our electoral process is in good hands.
I commend the staff at the Registrar of Voters for their exceptional dedication and service.
Terrence Reilly
San Jose
Equity grading opens
education conversation
Re: “Critics say equity grading will fail high achievers” (Page A1, April 19).
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It was good to see an education story on Page 1. After 30 years of teaching high school and college, grading, to me, is a philosophy. Even the term “reasonable,” as used in the story, is philosophical. I know; I taught argumentation at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose.
In fact, Dublin’s superintendent was a guest speaker for me. His topic was education. I had my students prepare two or three questions to ask Chris Funk. We had a great discussion for two hours (thanks again Chris). Here’s how I graded them: Did they attend class on time? Did they ask a reasonable question? Did they listen to Chris Funk, their classmates and their instructor? Did they stay off their smartphones (research excluded)?
As I recall, every student earned an “A” that night. And so did my guest speaker. I hope that’s “equitable.”
Jerry Sheahan
San Jose
