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$9.6 million wastedon a name change
I’m pretty sure no one selects an airport based on the recognition of its name. Flight availability and convenience, airport proximity and accessibility, and, of course, ticket costs are the primary drivers of airport selection.
With all due respect to Norman Mineta, SJC’s namesake, it’s unfathomable that the City Council awarded a $9.6 million contract to a PR firm to assist in rebranding our airport in hopes of driving more traffic to SJC. The net result: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, its “official” name, will now be rebranded and marketed as San Jose Mineta International Airport.
Boy, that change oughta bring ‘em through the turnstiles in droves. It’s amazing what $9.6 million will get you.
Nick CochranSan Jose
Stanford guide is PCspeech gone awry
The naively catastrophic error the “progressive” left is making, as exemplified by the utopian, Orwellian and blatantly anti-free speech “language guide” written by the “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative at Stanford” in partnership with the People of Color in Technology and others, is the backfire support it is giving to those who would truly seek to overthrow democracy, the Constitution, and voting and civil rights including those of people of color, women, and those of various gender identity and orientation.
The extremity of political language correctness has reached far beyond the level of absurdity to itself becoming discriminatory and dangerous. It previously contributed to alienation resulting in the election of a demagogue, his lapdogs, and the attempted Jan. 6 coup. The extremist right is eating it up because they know it is now alienating moderate Democrats, independents and remaining moderate Republicans who are fed up with being told how to talk.
Steve BaronCupertino
False alarms arecostly for police, too
In regards to Ramchandra Khaparde’s Letter to the Editor, Jan. 4, (“False alarm costs discourage police calls,” Page A6) the invoice he received from the city of Santa Clara was most likely sent to him for having a false alarm of an unregistered alarm system.
The city of Santa Clara like many other local cities requires that residential and business alarms are registered with the city. If an alarm system is registered with the city of Santa Clara, you are allowed one false alarm per rolling 12-month period at no charge. Each subsequent false alarm is assessed according to the city of Santa Clara’s municipal fee schedule.
In each case where a potential residential burglary call is not canceled, a minimum of two police officers respond to the call for service.
Conrad SchapiraMilpitas
Reviving Auburn Damidea is still a bad plan
Unbelievable how “Stack and Pack” advocates will not let the minor inconvenience of a major earthquake fault get in their way of providing the infrastructure for more and more people.
Dan Walters’ Jan. 4 column (“What California can learn from major winter storms,” Page A5) proposing capturing excess rain runoff by resurrecting the Auburn Dam proposal, which was to be sited on the Smartville Block’s Island arc suture, takes the cake in irresponsibility.
The Sacramento Bee in the mid-70s, after a 5.7 magnitude quake had struck the Oroville Dam, postulated that if that would happen at the Auburn site, 250,000 Californians would die by drowning.
The dam proposal and work were soon ceased, but as John McFee wrote in his geological book, “Assembling California,” “a dam site is a dam site forever.”
Jack FieldSan Jose
Trump acolytes getwhat they deserve
It’s amazing to me to read about Trump aides like Hope Hicks and other men and women who hitched their wagon to Donald Trump’s chaotic political machine under their own free will, yet now complain and whine because of his behavior, that they are unemployable. “No one will give us a job,” “God I’m so f—-ing mad,” she texted a fellow staffer.
Are we really supposed to feel bad for these enablers? Sorry, you sleep in the bed you make.
David E. CohenSan Jose
MAGA Republicansbecome MAWA GOP
The new Republican House seems to be in disarray and seems not to have an agenda to move the country forward.
Instead, their agenda is to probe, investigate, impeach and unravel. Let’s call them MAWA (Make America Worse Again) Republicans. Say MAWA out loud, sounds like kids bawling, which seems to be what they are doing now.
Joseph GrenierLos Altos
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