Northgate housing plan just what county needs
I read Kurt Rossetti’s Marin Voice commentary (“San Rafael approval of Northgate plan a gift to owner,” Jan. 10) with interest.
Rossetti repeats many of the arguments being made against Merlone Geier Partners and its plan to convert the moribund Northgate mall into a mixed-use housing development — namely traffic, affordability and building height. However, I think what’s most interesting is what he doesn’t say.
Rossetti barely touches on the extreme housing crisis facing California currently — one that forces our teachers, police and firefighters to live far from the places where they work; forces our children to move away because they can’t afford homes in the community they grew up in; and contributes to rising homelessness.
He also makes the false assumption that only the affordable units in the Northgate project will address Marin’s housing crisis. This ignores the fact that adding housing of any type (including market-rate housing) will go a long way toward solving our housing shortage.
Finally, Rosetti doesn’t mention that it’s the perfect location for a large housing development of this size. It’s close to Highway 101, near the Civic Center train station and is within easy walking distance of existing businesses like Safeway. In fact, one couldn’t find a better urban infill location for a project of this type. It’s a far better option than paving over our pristine hills, as is occurring with some smaller developments in north Terra Linda.
Change is scary, but sometimes necessary. The San Rafael city government should be commended for the open and transparent process they’ve used in working with Merlone Geier and the Terra Linda community to take advantage of the golden opportunity the Northgate project provides for solving Marin’s affordability crisis.
— Brian Casey, San Rafael
Many pet parents need a financial safety net
I greatly appreciated the recent column from Lisa Bloch, the director of marketing and communications for Marin Humane (“A ‘safety net’ for Marin pet parents,” Jan. 7), on the somewhat new focus in the animal welfare space of helping pet families take care of their beloved furry family members when affordability is an issue.
As a retired veterinary surgeon of 30 years and founder of the nonprofit Sage Compassion for Animals, which provides funding for needed veterinary care, I am so happy to see it. While we all want to make sure animals needing homes find them, the recognition that some people are forced to surrender pets for purely financial reasons is a welcome shift.
There is significant discussion within the veterinary industry on the concern about pricing and the barriers it causes for many pet owners. Access to care is being studied by many groups and the American Animal Hospital Association recently compiled guidelines suggesting veterinary practices should seek to collaborate with nonprofit organizations and other community groups.
Sage Compassion for Animals assists with funding urgent care, and there are a growing number of other nonprofits that serve in different ways. Some help those who are unhoused with pets, others focus on senior citizens and others offer low-cost veterinary services and food pantries. We collaborate with groups like Marin Humane that offer community clinics because, even though their prices are low, some families still cannot afford it.
For those who have funds to care for your own pets, please remember there are many people in the Bay Area that do not. In order to avoid having to relinquish their pets, or worse, they rely on a network of nonprofits in our communities. Please consider donating to those groups to help those pet families care for their beloved pets who provide them support and love.
— Julie D. Smith, Mountain View
Hold special election for San Rafael school district
I am writing in response to the story published Jan. 9 with the headline, “San Rafael school district seeks applicants for board seat.”
Allowing elected officials to fill, by appointment, a position similar to theirs that becomes vacant, before letting the person they chose subsequently run for election as an incumbent, is self-servingly undemocratic. The appointee will have an insurmountable advantage.
If the San Rafael City Schools Board of Trustees thinks that spending between $70,000 and $100,000 on a special election to fill the vacancy in Area 2 created by the resignation of Lucia Martel Dow is too much, it should appoint an interim member to complete her term with the express stipulation that person will not seek the seat in the next election.
When Laphonza Butler was appointed as California’s interim replacement for Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate following her death in 2023, Butler quickly announced that she would not be a candidate for the seat in the 2024 election. If the board must rely on an appointment, that’s the correct way to proceed.
— Jon Fox, San Rafael
Works of South Korean author are very important
I was motivated to write after reading the Another View commentary by Gilyoung O published Jan. 6 with the headline, “Conflict in South Korea reopens the very wounds examined in this year’s Nobel laureate’s work.”
Readers of the new South Korean Nobel Laureate Han Kang and the recent history she examines in her work (profiled in O’s essay), may want to take a look back at the extraordinary writing of the 20th century South Korean writer Richard Kim.
Reviewing Kim’s Korean War era novel “The Martyred” in the New York Times, Paul Engle observed, “Who has not, after reading a book, thought to himself — what manner of man wrote this story, and what sort of life has he led?”
In Kim, I believe I can say it was an extraordinary one. From his homeland being ripped apart in war to a rekindled life of scholarship and letters in the United States, his works remind us of the tragic struggles of a people during that long-ago time. Reading the modern works of Kang in tandem with those of Kim offer an occasion to both gauge current times in South Korea and to reexamine a receding past Kim revealed more than a half-century ago.
— David Weinsoff, Fairfax
Highlighting differences between Trump, Carter
Seeing recent news about President-elect Donald Trump’s statements next to articles about the death of former President Jimmy Carter highlighted the contrasts between the men for me.
Mr. Carter was humble, competent, compassionate, honest and championed human rights. He will also be remembered for the Camp David Accords peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
His amazing record of post-presidential service is considered by many to be the best in American history. He built a center in Atlanta devoted to conflict resolutions, supervising democratic elections abroad and combating disease. For such efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Price in 2002, becoming only the third American president to achieve that honor.
Mr. Carter continued his life of service through his 90s, building homes via the Habitat for Humanity nonprofit organization.
Trump, on the other hand, continues to repeat “the Big Lie,” that the 2020 election he lost was stolen. He was convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records. He was found liable in a separate lawsuit for lying about a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million to E. Jean Carroll, as well as an additional $83 million in a related defamation case. From my view, he has utter disregard for the truth except to twist it as a weapon.
According to research by the Washington Post, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading statements over the course of his previous four-year presidency. That’s an average of 21 every day he was in office.
— Carsten Andersen, San Rafael
This post was originally published on here
