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 concern Page A July There have been numerous 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 challenge Letters Bills offer California approaches to end candidate 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 dilemma without accountability or compassion won t work We want real change and it starts with political and citizens pressure Ignacio Ramirez San Jose Newsom s new agency must be transparent Re Agency to confront housing difficulty Page A July Gov Gavin Newsom s new housing and homelessness agency signals progress towards housing accessibility but resolution of California s housing predicament 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 undertaking 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 details after California has spent enormous materials 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 physical condition care have shattered families and futures SB is a chance to change that The Second Chance Project shifts the focus from punishment to healing supporting diversion courts and mental strength medicine It s a practical community-driven answer 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 the present day it is about eggs The majority ironic of these lawsuits was an adjudicated sexual predator telling California that its scheme of sexual tuition was wrong How does he ever find the time to literally govern the United States Answer He doesn t Ruth Crabtree San Jose Locality 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 operation and FEMA Elect Trump and this is what you get and it ain t great Maybe the fired USAID workers can bring back several packages when they return I in recent months heard the acronym YOYO You re on your own It s a good time to consider CERT training Neighborhood Urgency Response Club You ll learn how to prepare for a calamity and how to help when one happens Kris Sowolla Los Gatos Bipartisan act needed on surroundings I m deeply saddened that the Big Beautiful Bill cut clean capacity tax credits at nearly the same time that Texas was ravaged by catastrophic floods Environment disasters are getting worse so it s troubling to see the executive taking initiatives backward This is inevitably the menace of partisan regulation like the Inflation Reduction Act which established the clean capacity tax credits initially When the other party takes power they can totally undo the progress that was made To make true progress we need to pass bipartisan bill This is why I m thankful to Sen Alex Padilla who not long ago introduced the Fix Our Forests Act along with a Republican colleague This bill will address countless circumstances and wildfire issues It s not a perfect bill but compromises must be made to pass long-lasting bipartisan solutions to the atmosphere emergency Nicholas Robinson Pacifica