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Getting rid of RCVwould boost legitimacy

Re. “Critics still scrutinizing Thao’s victory,” Page B1, Dec. 15:

The controversy regarding whether Oakland’s confusing ranked choice (RCV) vote system “suppressed” votes for Loren Taylor in the mayoral race is a precise one. The larger question is whether RCV should be entirely scrapped and whether we return to holding a primary election followed by a two-person final one.

Supporters of RCV say it produces more harmony among the candidates. But the more critical purpose of a debate is to hear the candidates’ ideas in detail so they can be properly evaluated.

This does not happen by posing questions to a large range of candidates answering questions in one forum with tight time constraints. Only a run-off filters out the issues.

Two-phase voting costs more than RCV. The cost is well worth it. It produces a more knowledgeable electorate and bestows full legitimacy on the winner. The cost is only a tiny portion of Oakland’s vast budget.

Gary SirbuOakland

Voters must stay vigilantabout misinformation

It is troubling to learn that in the 2022 San Ramon Valley Unified School District election, according to your Dec. 16 article “Campaign tricks cited in election” (Page A1), a disinformation effort may have influenced the outcome of that contest. The article reported fabricated information used to attack one candidate.

In the current environment of anonymous “publishers,” the League of Women Voters Diablo Valley encourages voters to consistently verify sources. Disinformation deprives us of free and fair elections, prevents voters from having accurate information with which to make decisions, and creates distrust in representative government. It is important that voters stay vigilant and alert to honesty and truth in election information. Information about spotting and stopping misinformation and disinformation can be found on our website.

Anne GranlundPresident, League of Women Voters Diablo ValleyLafayette

Only resignation willstop Newsom

Re: “Newsom, CPUC should resign over NEM change,” Letters to the Editor, Page A6, Dec. 20:

California’s nightmare must end. As Alan Marling writes, Gov. Gavin Newsom must resign.

The reasons extend beyond state regulators’ attack on utility payments to solar households. Newsom has again kowtowed to PG&E, one of Northern California’s richest felons. He tells us that he cares about our grid’s safety, but Newsom quietly designated the utility that instigated several fatal firestorms as safe.

Newsom serves as the poster boy of California’s duplicitous, two-faced politics. His slicked-back hair and tony ties shroud his backroom machinations to boost a criminal campaign donor. He may tell us Joe Six-Packs that he has our backs, but he just as easily backstabs us in the French Laundry underworld.

Forsaken promises. Crony bureaucracy. Sacramento’s mobster politics won’t end until Newsom quits.

Shun GravesBerkeley

A proposal to end bluestates’ homelessness

Dan Walters cites approvingly an article in The Atlantic that blames homelessness in California and other progressive states on excessive regulation. I could take issue with the premise — don’t people deserve to live in safe homes? Must environmental destruction be the price of affordable housing? Why would labor unions oppose projects that would bring them thousands of jobs?

But instead, I’ll put forth a modest proposal: If conservative states have affordable housing and little or no homelessness, let’s take a page from the book of conservative-state governors who put refugees on buses or planes and send them to progressive states. Let’s send the homeless — with their consent, of course — to where they can afford to live, free from burdensome regulations on housing (and on just about everything else).

One wonders how many takers there will be.

Merlin DorfmanLivermore

Expanded child tax credithelps prepare for future

As we look toward the future, one thing is for certain: The generations that inherit this world will have to navigate the challenges we’ve left behind. Now, we have an opportunity to better empower our children to become productive individuals and move our society closer toward being driven by humanity, not money.

The expanded Child Tax Credit supported families like mine to invest even more in our children and help enrich their learning experiences. Without it, we’ve had to be more selective of opportunities for them to pursue, possibly limiting them finding their passions and developing the skills needed to succeed.

I strongly encourage implementation of more policies similar to the CTC to provide our families with additional resources to build toward humanity’s future, for they will be the ones inheriting our problems. We have an obligation to build the foundation for the next generation to move us forward.

Sherman TangUnion City