Letters to the editor | Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022: Extorting stadium from Modesto taxpayers
Don’t extort stadium from Modesto taxpayers
Re “Modesto stadium backers point to other successful projects” (Front Page, Feb. 17): The headline should have been “Magical hand-waving zone.” We are shown seven examples of successful ballpark developments across the country. “Dickerson said Tulsa’s model is one Modesto project backers are looking to emulate. Though funding differs...” Just like Tulsa, only different. They show the success of Tulsa without mentioning the realities of Modesto.
The reality of Modesto is that a new ballpark would likely see attendance fall below present levels due to the necessary increase in ticket price. We already have two concert venues close to hand — a third would serve to dilute this revenue stream. As for the hoped-for development bringing in revenue, consider the fate of the Red Lion hotel.
“There are still so many unknowns, and we are still at such an early stage of this.” But the group must submit a plan for a new ballpark to MLB before the start of the 2023 season.
Hurry, hurry — we must close our eyes, hold our nose and jump in or else we’ll lose our Nuts.
William Bishop, Modesto
Homelessness not tied to construction
Re “Why Modesto builders don’t construct affordable homes” (Page 6A, Feb. 4): When the word “Why” is removed, a statement remains that in the author’s view is apparently regarded as gospel. However, all housing that is constructed is sold or rented, therefore it is affordable.
It would seem that the author is using the currently en vogue idea of “affordability” as a synonym for trashy housing that teeters on the edge of conforming to minimal building code standards, and that has been financed at excessive public
expense. Elsewhere in this country such housing is frequently referred to as “the projects.” Yet even the projects require some financial participation in public subsidies.
The suggestion that market rate development and construction trends is the cause for homelessness is not tenable. Those who have zero assets and zero income are unable to participate even in the projects, let alone in market rate housing. Those who have no economic value to exchange for food, clothing, and shelter are wards of the state. The state of California at one time operated institutions that provided for such wards. A return to some form of institutional care is the most that can be hoped for, but such care is a separate matter entirely from that of housing construction trends.
Eric Reimer, Modesto
One candidate? No choice
There should be more than one candidate running for district attorney. I’m worried that he’ll repeat cycles of case backlogs and obscurity that has been going on for 16 years. There should be more candidates who are willing to challenge Jeff Laugero. If that doesn’t happen, nothing in the DA’s office will change. We need to find candidates who will bring real transparency, justice, and accountability.
Jack Fahy, Modesto
Managing Ukraine crisis
Regarding the Ukraine crisis, President Biden said that great nations can’t bluff. I’d assumed he meant Vladimir Putin couldn’t bluff, but now I suspect he meant the U.S. couldn’t. One option for Biden may have been to raise the stakes, stationing U.S. troops in Ukraine. If Americans are killed, even by accident, Putin would be facing an armed conflict with the U.S., a risk the world cannot accept.
As a deterrent, the west has threatened sanctions if Putin invades, and to stop being Putin’s friend. Politically I am no hawk, but I’m not naive, either. Putin has never been our friend. Gangster-style regimes throughout history have only been constrained from grabbing real estate by the specter of military force. It’s the threat of war that keeps the peace. How we manage the Ukraine crisis is a signal to gangster nations how we might respond to future provocations.
The 20th century’s lesson is that world wars start small — an assassination in Sarajevo, or sacrificing Czechoslovakia, an inconsequential sovereign nation, to a predator state in exchange for “peace for our time.” How will we react if sanctions don’t stop Russia from annexing another inconsequential nation? We’re not bluffing, right?
J. Jason Gale, Riverbank
Bringing back worst of past
Biden has brought us firmly back to the 1970s; we’ve got the 1970s crime rate, 1970s gas prices, the 1970s proxy war with an evil empire, 1970s inflation. The only thing he hasn’t brought back yet is Jim Jones.
I feel truly sorry for people on the marginal edge of our economy because those are the ones who are truly suffering from all this. Lately they have been given a lot of cash — but the only thing that has done is make them marginally more comfortable in their poverty. And now a lot of that cash is drying up. Where do they go from here?
John Mendosa, Ceres
Trump’s cult of personality
Former VP Mike Pence finally manned up and admitted that constitutionally, he had no right or authority to overturn an election. This truth was explained to him by another marginalized Republican VP, Dan Quayle. Of course, hearing this declared openly would have been good news a year ago, but those jockeying for position pick their own moments.
Meanwhile, lawmakers and breakers, cable TV pundits, lawyers, press secretaries, sycophants and political groupies are wondering why they put themselves in this awkward position, all at the mercy of a monomaniac known to be toxic to all he touches. They have one thing in common: the naivety of allying themselves with the Donald and expecting a good outcome.
The sad part is, none of the aforementioned are stupid people. They merely got sucked into the cult of personality that is Trump, and soon learned it was a vacuum that destroyed many lives before it was their turn in the void.
Trumpsters everywhere, I pity your fate. How loud does the wake-up call need to be? And is that approaching bus the one you’ll be thrown under?
Cheryl Wolford, Oakdale
How to slow climate change
Often now, when I speak with friends about climate change, we generally agree that a) there is warming and b) it’s mostly human caused. The argument against acting to mitigate or reverse it is 1) distrust of government to fix anything and 2) what about other countries and 3) the problem is really overpopulation, suggesting that there’s nothing we can do about that so why try?
The reason we must try — and now — is because we owe it to our children. We will not leave rising seas, more devastating weather, and longer wildfire seasons to them. We won’t, because there will be no wall tall enough to keep out desperate and starving people if we continue without acting.
Congress can legislate one solution: enacting a carbon fee on greenhouse gas generation, and limiting trust in government by making it revenue neutral. This is the solution Elon Musk recommends. And he’s right.
Des Orsinelli, Ripon
Library system is a jewel
I think very few folks are currently aware how dependent our local primary and secondary schools and our colleges are on the county library system. The primary school districts have not had restored all the library cutbacks that occurred in the great recession of 2008. Most college students have access to our county library system, and it is a true must.
As a student at Modesto Junior College and California State University, Stanislaus, I get access to research materials not even available at those college libraries. Our county public library system supports, without duplicating, our local schools at all grade levels.
Yes, local higher education is served well by our countywide public library system. I am pleased by the vast public support put forward in approving sales tax ballot measures. This proves that our Stanislaus County library system has had wide community support in the years past, and I hope this holds true for the future.
Daniel Marsh, Modesto