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Judge governor hopefuls by stand on utilities
Re: “PG&E’s reduced profit pace fits with vow to lower rates” (Page A1, Feb. 13).
My utility bill is going up — even when I reduce energy use.
TURN’s Mark Toney and former CPUC Commissioner Loretta Lynch are right in their criticism: PG&E has failed to provide reliable service, and our state public utilities commissioners have failed to adequately regulate investor-owned utilities. I doubt this will change until we elect a governor who will eschew large donations from the utilities and actually appoint commissioners who will regulate rather than coddle and kowtow to whatever the utilities want.
As the candidates for governor campaign and debate each other, we should all be asking them whether they will commit to do just that.
Beth Weinberger
Oakland
Progressive companies bolster Bay Area politics
Re: “Fixing the U.S. requires fixing Silicon Valley” (Page A8, Feb. 15).
TCM recently showed “The Working Man” of 1933 about the competition between two shoe manufacturers. Being from the Triple Cities in New York state, it prompted me to look into the history of Endicott Johnson shoe manufacturers; we lived a block from one of their tanneries, and I remember the soot and stench.
What was impressive was how well they treated their employees — a philosophy which influenced IBM. It is also a story of the support of immigrants recruited from Eastern Europe to staff the factories and how much the children of these immigrants contributed to society. Unfortunately, as a result of the rise of neoliberalism, these thriving companies left the area, and it became a very depressed area.
The loss of these companies with their progressive policies was devastating to the entire region. Don’t think it can’t happen here in the Bay Area as well.
Denise Clark
Fremont
Remember supervisor’s take on gate fight
Re: “Supervisor blames Fremont for gate dispute” (Page A1, Feb. 13).
Vargas Plateau Regional Park is a Fremont treasure. Christopher George has done nothing but complain, obstruct and delay this park that benefits everyone. And was it because his land was being taken? No. He doesn’t want “outsiders” on the street by his ranch. He bullied EBRPD into a smaller parking lot, and now complains that people are using a public street. This is getting tiresome.
There are politicians that will care about one rich rancher over the good of the public. Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert appears to be one of them. George has given him substantial amounts of money; that is what traditionally corrupts people in his position. So Haubert is now whining to the city of Fremont on George’s behalf for more obstruction by commandeering and blocking a public street. Please remember this when Haubert desires reelection.
Marc Ricketts
Fremont
Opposing Trump on climate could be costly
Re: “Trump revokes climate finding” (Page A1, Feb. 13).
Over 30 EPA authors and contributors have created the Endangerment and Cause document, and this document has been reviewed by more than 10 federal expert reviewers. Yet our president asserts that this document is “a giant scam.” Who would you bet on?
But if anyone with power dares to object, they will learn that speech is not free.
George Doddington
Walnut Creek
Voters will remember history despite Trump
The way history is told may change, but history itself does not.
• Tearing down the East Wing of the White House to install a grand ballroom does not alter the fact that it’s still the “People’s House.”
• Slapping “Trump” on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts does not make it his.
• Groveling for someone else’s Nobel Peace Prize does not make one an agent of peace.
• Calling Alex Pretti and Renee Good “domestic terrorists” does not change the fact that they were victims of state violence.
• Scrubbing information about slavery from Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia does not erase that history.
• Removing the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument does not vanquish queer people.
• Revoking the 2009 “endangerment finding” does not alter the reality of a warming planet.
Hear this, Donald Trump: We will remember.
Anne Stafford
Oakland
Critical that we not forget truth of Ukraine war
As we enter the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we must remember that how this war ends matters. I know that because my extended family members are Ukrainian.
In March 2025, before graduating from Columbia University in New York City, my son and his college sweetheart were married. I am aware of the horror occurring in Ukraine. As a mother of two, my heart aches for Ukrainian mothers. As of early 2026, Ukrainian authorities have verified that at least 19,546 children have been exported or forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territories since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. There have been nearly 2 million casualties since February 2022.
I sincerely implore all in the Bay Area to move forward with love and peace, not forgetting the horrific war and suffering occurring in Ukraine.
Rebecca Amedio
Castro Valley
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