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Chevron should pay
tax, not bully workers
Re: “Council places Chevron tax plan on ballot” (Page B1, June 20).
It’s rather nervy of a multibillion-dollar corporation to suggest any tax increase on its Richmond refinery could produce worker layoffs, as reflected in some comments at Richmond’s June 18 City Council meeting.
Large transnational corporations like Chevron can book profits and losses at whichever of their global operations they choose to benefit their bottom line, so claiming the Richmond refinery lacks sufficient earnings to absorb a tax increase is a hollow argument.
If Chevron is truly a good employer, as many speakers declared, it could choose to use a tiny portion of its immense overall profits to cover a local tax increase and not do so at the expense of its loyal employees.
My father worked for Chevron his entire career and the company treated him well. He also engaged in public service, advocating fairness and community empowerment. In that spirit, Chevron should stop trying to intimidate workers and voters.
Marilyn Langlois
Richmond
Preserve funding to
detect Oakland gunfire
The City Council meets next week to approve Oakland’s budget. For over a decade, Oakland has used acoustic gunshot detection called ShotSpotter — dispatching police and paramedics without a 911 call. I’m proud to be CEO of SoundThinking, which provides this service. It has been a critical tool for first responders because of its precision in response times, evidence collection and saving lives.
From 2022 to 2023, more than 380 lives were saved because of this technology — gunshot victims found from the alert despite no 911 call.
Some have asked the City to cut the service, which would be dangerous. Less than 20% of gunfire is reported by 911. This is where ShotSpotter steps in. We don’t want to return to the days when our police don’t know when — and exactly where — gunfire is occurring.
We hope the City Council will recognize the life-saving value of this service and preserve its funding.
Ralph A. Clark
Oakland
Shoplifting should bring
appropriate punishment
Re: “Criminal justice reform under attack” (Page A6, June 20).
A letter writer claims criminal justice reform is under attack, suggests more money for schools and the homeless, and claims that making shoplifting a felony doesn’t help anyone.
Well, the state pays more than $17,000 per student and spends over $3 billion for the homeless, both with poor results. So, I don’t think funds are the issue.
Putting people in jail for shoplifting would help owners of stores, and could help keep prices lower and keep more stores open. And the person stealing might decide to change their direction in life. In the old days, a first offense was a misdemeanor, but a second offense could be charged as a felony. Seems fair. Shouldn’t people be held responsible for their actions? After a first conviction, shouldn’t they be on notice not to repeat the offense?
Currently, there is nothing to prevent someone from being a repeat offender and insanity prevails.
Douglas Abbott
Union City
Trump leaves little
doubt on autocracy
The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has commonly silenced freedom of speech, and it also uses harsh measures against all dissenters. No independent political organizations, including labor unions, private businesses, churches and opposing political parties, are tolerated.
This is the government that Donald Trump wants. If you have any doubts, just recall his lavish praise for dictators and his reportedly keeping a copy of Hitler’s speeches by his bed.
Stuart Shicoff
Martinez
‘Mallard Fillmore’ doesn’t
belong on comic page
“Mallard Fillmore” isn’t a comic. It isn’t funny. But it is blatantly political, which is why it belongs on the East Bay Times’ Opinion page, not the comics page.
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There is no comic that balances its point of view, which is too often that President Biden is mentally incompetent. The June 20 strip says that Biden’s “team” edits his speeches so that they make sense. Another “comic” this week depicts the president as a senile old man who can’t answer a question. None of this is true, but the Times continues to allow this biased characterization.
“Dilbert” was removed because the writer made racist comments away from the “Dilbert” comic. Yet “Mallard Fillmore” gets a pass, in an election year, despite its obvious lack of humor and fairness.
It’s past time the strip was moved to the Opinion page, and the East Bay Times stopped calling this political hit piece a comic strip.
Sam Van Zandt
Walnut Creek
