High demand for housing protects school districts
Because interest rates have increased, Marin’s largest affordable housing development in 50 years — Oak Hill Apartments — is now in jeopardy. When built, it will provide 135 workforce housing units for educators and county staff and another 115 units for other lower-income families.
There seems to be a lot of concern about school districts being asked to take a financial risk by guaranteeing that the new workforce housing component will not suffer from vacancies. If they agree, the funding gap will close, as the lenders financing the project would lower the interest rate.
As board co-chair for the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative, I think all residents need to put this financial risk into perspective. The lack of affordable housing is why Marin school districts and other governmental agencies can’t hire and retain educators and staff. It should be obvious to all that there will be a waiting list to fill these new affordable workforce apartments, so fearing vacancies seems far-fetched. Even if one school district can’t satisfy its commitment, other districts or agencies should jump at the chance to access more units for their employees. Failing that, I would expect that the general public, now almost totally locked out of affordable homes, will be ready to move in.
The risk is almost nonexistent, and the reward is incredibly valuable — 135 new low-income families can live near their workplace, easing the pressure our schools, county and other agencies now feel when seeking qualified new employees and trying to stem the exodus of their existing personnel who are no longer willing to tolerate their long commutes.
We’ll never close the affordable housing gap by building a few units here and there. We must support developers willing to commit to 100% affordable housing projects, and if it means taking a small theoretical risk, let’s do it.
— Steven Saxe, Novato
Fairfax needs to abort recall attempt right now
The attempted Fairfax recall of Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman is outright wrong. You could not find two more hardworking women for our town.
I consider this campaign deceptive and misleading. Spending $60,000 on a recall election is a complete waste when it could be better spent on roads.
Rather than create division, we need to appreciate our hardworking elected officials. We need to stop resisting necessary progress bound by state law. I urge residents to do their homework and not sign a petition for recall. Let’s bring back the Fairfax we used to know. Support one another with respect. This is a very special town that we are privileged to live in.
— Spirit L Wiseman, Fairfax
‘Ride and Drive Clean’ gets credit for EV rate
In 2019, Carleen Cullen started the nonprofit collaboration known as “Ride and Drive Clean” because passenger vehicles account for 50% of carbon emissions in Marin. This carbon stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, literally driving climate change.
I believe Cullen’s organization has had a significant impact on high electric-vehicle adoption in Marin. Her group has hosted hundreds of EV and electric-assist bike shows in Marin, plus monthly webinars. It has focused on providing more equitable access to owning an EV by reaching out to communities like San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood, West Marin and Novato to host listening and educational events.
The Ride and Drive Clean group has helped over 1,500 drivers buy an EV with events like the upcoming show at the Red Hill Shopping Center in San Anselmo on May 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Similar to all its live shows, it will display the latest EV models and residents can talk to drivers about their experience without the pressure of a dealership. Price cuts and rebates have made EVs more affordable than ever.
We need to protect ourselves from the extreme weather produced by a warming planet. Not only does climate change destroy nature, homes and lives, but it is increasingly hitting us in our pocket books. Homeowner insurance costs and cancellations have skyrocketed. Potential home buyers can now look up a home’s climate risk, making selling a home more difficult if not impossible.
Let’s get out of our gas cars and choose clean transportation options like EVs and e-bikes to slow the effects of climate change.
— Susannah Saunders, San Anselmo
Trump should do more to support Ukraine plight
Some of us remember the conflict in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. Many members of my generation had to register for the draft with the understanding that, yes, we would be sent to a war that had not yet been declared. That eventual declaration was all part of an inevitable “domino effect.”
Now, I think President Donald Trump is following suit. If we don’t support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, most of Central Europe could fall, because Trump, who I consider to be a traitor, has a cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It appears that the whole of the leadership that makes up the NATO alliance (except for Trump) expects that Putin will invade whatever countries he desires. I believe that the following countries are at risk from Trump’s betrayal: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Moldova, Romania and Turkey. I won’t bother mentioning those in Asia to the east, but they are also fair game for Putin, as long as Trump continues to exhibit this kind of fealty.
Yes, the domino effect might be proved to be real in the 21st century.
— Philip Hicks, San Anselmo
Democrats sat back during Trump’s speech
I am writing in response to the analysis of President Donald Trump’s recent speech to Congress published by the New York Times and reprinted in the Marin IJ on March 6 with the headline, “Trump enjoys disruption, but ignores costs.”
I thought his speech was similar to those of former Cuban President Fidel Castro. It sounded like a tirade from a mentally unstable older man. That was to be expected, but what I found so infuriating was the Democrats’ tepid (at best) response. Paddles and pink tops? That’s it?
No Democrat stood by Rep. Al Green when he disrupted Trump’s speech and was escorted out. Why not? I called Rep. Jared Huffman’s and Sen. Adam Schiff’s offices on the morning of the speech to urge the caucus to either skip this spectacle altogether or show up and disrupt.
It is time for the Democrats to embrace their “inner Marjorie Taylor Green.” If this is the best form of protest congressional Democrats can muster, then they’ll never return to power.
— John Redfield Brooks, Fairfax
Democrats should have stood with Al Green
In a scene from the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film “Spartacus,” starring Kirk Douglas, a Roman general demands the identity of Spartacus in exchange for sparing the lives of a group of slaves. One brave slave, Antoninus, declares, “I’m Spartacus.” This inspired act of bravery leads to the other slaves in loyal solidarity, rising in turn to shout, “I’m Spartacus.”
Earlier this month, at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, Texas Rep. Al Green was removed at the behest of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Green’s transgression was to vociferously state that Trump had “no mandate,” following Trump’s preposterous claim that, “Nov. 5 was a mandate like has not been seen in many decades.”
Perhaps the Democrats have not seen the film, so they couldn’t draw on that inspired example of courage. If they had, they should have stood up one by one and shouted, “I’m Al Green.” Not only did no Democrat stand with him, they spent the long remainder of the speech sitting on their hands, lest they be escorted from the chamber. I found it to be a disgusting display of cowardice.
Other than Green, who should be lauded for his action, there were no profiles in courage.
— J.S. Danielson, San Rafael
