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Stebbins is the right
choice for judgeship
Santa Clara County voters have the rare opportunity to fill a vacant seat on the Superior Court and Johnene Linda Stebbins is the highly qualified, experienced candidate to fill this seat.
Johnene is the only candidate endorsed by Judge Vincent Chiarello to replace him for Superior Court judge .
As a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney for 26 years, Johnene prosecuted a wide range of criminal, consumer protection and environmental cases, and taught law to organizations and groups in the legal community. She is a women’s rights advocate who engages with the community on both professional and personal levels.
Johnene Stebbins is the right choice for Superior Court judge.
Rebecca Elliot
San Jose
Vote yes for rent
control with Prop. 33
California is long overdue for comprehensive rent control. Your paper’s opposition to rent control is simply advocating for policies that take from the poor and give to the rich.
The rent control exemptions on new construction have allowed developers to tear down rent-controlled apartments, build new apartments with no rent control and displace existing residents.
The exemption on single-family homes has helped fuel an investor monopolization of home ownership.
California’s high rents are not due to a lack of housing. They are due to corporate greed. A lot of people have been pushed into homelessness by rents that have doubled and tripled in just a couple of years. The same developers we’re told won’t build unless we give them every conceivable concession aren’t going to give anyone affordability out of the goodness of their hearts.
Vote yes for people and no for corporate greed. Yes on 33.
Steve Van De Pitte
San Jose
Prop. 5 will return
power to communities
As affordable housing leaders in Santa Clara County and beyond, we are acutely aware of California’s massive housing shortage. Too many low- and middle-income neighbors struggle to afford, find and keep a roof over their heads.
Proposition 5 provides a crucial solution by returning the power to local communities, allowing us to create more affordable housing and ensuring that our public infrastructure keeps up with growth.
Proposition 5 is not just about building affordable housing; it also supports critical public infrastructure, such as transportation, parks and schools, that make neighborhoods thrive. Housing does not exist in isolation. Safe, livable communities require investment in infrastructure that connects people to jobs, education and services.
Let’s seize this opportunity to change the future of our communities. We urge you to vote yes on Proposition 5 this November to create a stronger, more equitable California.
Regina Celestin Williams
and Noni Ramos
San Jose
Artificial turf is wrong
choice for environment
Re: “Sides lining up to protect their turf” (Page A1, Oct. 15).
The Oct. 15 article on artificial turf overlooks critical concerns. While the Synthetic Turf Council, a “nonprofit that advocates for the turf industry,” claims synthetic fields save water, they often require thousands of gallons to cool down — an effort that lasts only 20 minutes.
Addressing field shortages, the article fails to mention that artificial turf fields become dangerously hot. With temperatures reaching 50-70 degrees hotter than natural grass, extreme heat poses serious risks to athletes. Increasing reports from across the country highlight athletes suffering from heat exhaustion, and even death, on these fields.
In addition, artificial turf is difficult to dispose of, hard to recycle, and sits in landfills for hundreds of years. Sustainable solutions, like improving natural grass fields, need to be prioritized for our health and the environment.
Cheryl Weiden
Los Altos
A vote for Trump
is a vote for Musk
We see the once mighty Intel faltering, having lost its former mojo. It has gotten so bad that talk abounds of its susceptibility to takeover efforts by various rivals.
Similarly, Donald Trump has become confused, weak and sunk to dancing to golden oldies.
The danger is that he too, being weak, is subject to takeover by a stronger entity. Today that entity is Elon Musk. He has donated tens of millions to the Trump campaign and will have a strong hand over Trump and thus, over our nation’s resources (financial and military) if Trump is elected.
If you want to hand the car keys to a driven, narcissistic billionaire then a vote for Trump is really a vote for President Musk. Do you want that?
Ed Taub
Mountain View
Affirmation separates
Democrats, Republicans
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I notice a striking and important difference between the Republicans and Democrats.
The Republicans are all about punishment, of individuals and groups; the Democrats are about working together to find solutions to important problems.
Punishment vs. affirmation is a telling difference in mindset.
Don Barnby
Menlo Park
