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Choose Salwan to be
Mayor of Fremont
Our family’s call to public service began in 1981 when my father, John Dutra, was appointed to the Fremont Planning Commission. This was followed by 10 years on the City Council and 6 years in the State Legislature. I served two terms in the Municipal Council.
I share the above to emphasize how we need our next mayor to share this love for Fremont.
Councilman Raj Salvan loves Fremont. Like my family, he and his parents established roots and businesses in this great city. Raj served honorably on the city council. It will address our most pressing challenges by reducing congestion, creating a safer city for all, supporting affordable housing while regulating the proliferation of homeless encampments, and supporting sustainable growth that balances innovation and environmental responsibility.
Elect Raj Salvan as Fremont’s next mayor.
Dominic Dutra
Fremont
We should all support
Sonoma County measure
Re: “Family farms or factory farms?” (Page A1, October 20).
When discussing the public health issues surrounding meat and dairy consumption, it’s clear that regardless of politics, no one wants to hear the fact that we need to significantly reduce meat and dairy consumption and production to save our planet and improve our health.
If a product like tobacco was a family business, would we avoid discussing its harm to public health? Are we justified in protecting the harmful livestock business because some farms are owned by families?
As a graduate student studying public health systems change, I believe Measure J in Sonoma County is an opportunity to create a more sustainable food system, address climate change, and protect against zoonotic diseases, pollution, and antibiotic resistance. This is not just a fight for animal rights; this is a key moment to improve public health.
I urge everyone to support Measure J for the well-being of our communities and our planet.
Molly Woerner
Oakland
The demands of the housing crisis
government action
It angers me how much the cost of living is going up. It’s strange to hear that some cities are labeled as “impossibly inaccessible”.
We need more affordable housing, especially in the Bay Area and California, but California cities take four of the 10 spots for “impossibly unaffordable” cities. The government needs to come up with a plan to reduce housing costs so that not only the richest people can afford the basic need for shelter.
Imagine a world without the stress of knowing if you’ll find a place to call home, where everyone has a place to go at the end of the day. This is what we need. This housing crisis will not be resolved without the help of our government.
Mark Alcazar
Oakley
Electing Trump would
wasted World War II efforts
Why did the United States and our allies bother to defeat fascism in World War II? Now Donald Trump has a real chance of being elected – again.
Half the country apparently believes in the absurd idea that Trump will punish the “others” he has taught them to fear – but he will be loyal to his supporters. Nonsense. Autocrats who oppress “others” always end up oppressing everyone.
Once the man who promises to “terminate the constitution” takes power, he will no longer need your vote. Future “elections” will be fake rigged affairs like the ones Trump worshiped in fascist Russia and Hungary. If Trump disappoints you – and you criticize him – you risk being labeled an “internal enemy” or a “radical left-wing lunatic” and “processed” by the “National Guard – or, if absolutely necessary, the military.”
Unbelievable, but half the country is ready to waste the sacrifices of our ancestors.
Grace Clark
Livermore
Trump disqualified by
contempt for institutions
One presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has made it clear that he neither likes nor respects America’s democratic institutions. All you have to do is listen to what he says. He has contempt for our elections and will not accept the results if he does not win. Despite dozens of lawsuits since the 2020 election, there has never been evidence of massive fraud, as he claims.
Donald Trump tried to undo a free and fair election that he lost in 2020, and it seems clear that he plans to do the same this time. He promoted the violence that led to the attack on our Capitol on January 6, 2021. He is unfit to be president for these and many other reasons.
Please listen to everyone who worked with Trump in his first administration and supported Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz because Donald Trump is a danger to our democracy.
Colleen Perez
Fremont
Trump’s election defeat
it must be substantial
Some people say they won’t vote for Donald Trump, but they’re not sure about Kamala Harris. To these I would advise that Trump and his anti-democratic ambitions must be seriously defeated, not by a few percentage points, but by a tsunami. If the pursuit of the “internal enemy” becomes state policy, spies will put names on lists, people will begin to disappear; neighbors do not trust neighbors; everyone will be afraid to speak their mind out loud.
Our liberties cannot be surrendered to a dictator, not even for a day; this day could last a very, very long time. More than 700 former national security and White House officials who have seen Trump work closely have signed letters saying not only that Trump is unfit for office, but that they support Harris for president. This is not the time for the cool reservation of not voting; the active support of the Democrat is necessary to stop this anti-democratic menace.
Bruce Yoffe
Piedmont