State must keep its promise on HOV lanes
Shame on Assemblyman Marc Levine, state Sen. Mike McGuire and your editorial board for opportunistically pandering to a so-called majority who drive solo and don’t want to see the Highway 101 high-occupancy vehicle lane hours expanded.
Apparently you hope to sink the plan by Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which came after federal authorities warned that the clogged lanes might result in the loss of federal aid.
Here’s reality: The HOV lanes were built with federal money. Part of the deal was that the lanes would function as intended — giving buses and carpools a faster ride to their destinations. The federal funds were not provided to add more capacity for solo drivers.
Marin signed that deal when it accepted federal funds.
Whining about expansion of the HOV lane hours is like signing a contract, and then demanding a change to the terms after the other party performed its side of the bargain. It’s downright sleazy.
We should expand the HOV lane hours permanently, and while we are at it, let’s face the fact that a parent shuttling their 10-year-old to private school has no business being in a HOV lane.
The threshold should be two licensed adults, or three persons (to allow for school carpools).
— David L. Fiol, Novato
Time to open HOV lanes around the clock
I recently moved from Marin County to Sonoma County, and now I’m experiencing the time-consuming commute to my Marin-based job.
During my morning commute, beginning at 7:15 and lasting 50 minutes to 90 minutes or more, the majority of cars I see in the carpool lane are being used by single-occupant drivers, gambling they won’t be seen by the California Highway Patrol.
Or it’s sporadically dotted with drivers in compliance.
The evening commute isn’t much better, with HOV scofflaws.
Plain and simple. Open the HOV lane to all cars. Some of our taxes go toward maintaining and repairing the highways, and we should be able to use all the lanes.
For way too long, it’s been a reward-or-penalty system, depending if you’re one or more in a vehicle.
Carpooling would be great if I can find someone.
The SMART train is out for me. At the proposed daily cost of $20, five days a week, plus a bus from San Rafael to Central Marin, it’ll cost me much more than my current expense for gas, which would be another penalty.
— Ellen Segale, Rohnert Park
School board’s obligation to students, taxpayers
The May 11 IJ editorial examining the benefits of the lawsuit and subsequent settlement between the Kentfield School District and Marin County Office of Education presented readers with inaccurate information regarding the lawsuit, school funding and resource allocation.
To be clear, the Kentfield School Board attempted to resolve the dispute with MCOE outside of the courts for two years prior to filing a lawsuit. The building and land were property of the district and we had an obligation to our community taxpayers to reclaim these assets based on the needs of our student population.
Because litigation is time-consuming, costly and fraught with uncertainty, we carefully weighed our fiduciary duty to our community against our relationship with MCOE. In the end, the Kentfield School District spent $788,000 over a seven-year period protecting district property.
As a public school district, it is our responsibility to ensure that district resources are actively benefiting our students. The settlement resulted in a net gain of over $630,000 that the Kentfield School Board will direct toward capital projects to realize our Strategic Plan goal of continuously monitoring and improving facilities to ensure spaces are optimal for teaching and learning.
Every decision made in the Kentfield School District is based on what is best for our students. This commitment is embodied in our Strategic Plan, our Local Control and Accountability Plan, and in our classrooms.
We begin every school board meeting reviewing our board norms, the first and foremost of which is to focus on the best interests of all students at every grade level. Stewardship of the district’s facilities and fiscal systems is not just something we say we are going to do in our Strategic Plan, and it is not an end in itself.
Our school board protects these resources in order to fulfill the district’s mission of inspiring and challenging all students to live, learn, and lead to their fullest potential.
— Juli Kauffman, Greenbrae president, Kentfield School Board
Field lights will benefit the community
We need to hear more from the thousands of people like myself and my family who support the San Marin High School sports field lights project.
Unfortunately, however, the neighbors and their negative emails seem to be dominating our representatives. Anything we can do to get more folks to write in would be helpful and appreciated.
During school it is so important to belong and one way to belong is to participate in our sports programs — either on the field or in the stands, no matter.
Teamwork at this point only supports our children in the next phase of their life, college and career paths.
Also, the lighted fields give family time, sharing in a sports event or supporting one.
As graduates ourselves, and seeing our children go through San Marin High School and the sports system, we still need to be involved in supporting all of our neighborhood schools.
We sincerely hope to see us all work together to improve our schools and the community overall. We all need to hold our school board accountable for our decision in this matter.
— Michael and Terri Hickey, Novato
Thanks for coverage of San Marin lights debate
Thank you for printing Mr. Joly’s well-reasoned Marin Voice column on the proposed field lights at San Marin High School.
I have seen very little written on this important topic.
What is happening at San Marin can just as easily happen at Tamalpais, Redwood, Drake and Terra Linda high schools.
Community papers like yours provide a valuable service giving voice to community members in cases like this.
— Mike Hitchcock, Novato
Field lights part of giving kids a safe place to play
I wanted to express my support of the new lights for the field at San Marin High School.
Giving our youth a safe place to play and develop their athletic skills would be an asset to the community.
— Claire Tyler, Novato
Lights at San Marin ‘crucial’ for local youth
I am a resident, a Novato voter and I support the lights for San Marin High School.
I was born and raised in Novato; my mom, aunt, both brothers, my oldest son and I graduated from San Marin and my youngest son is currently a sophomore at San Marin.
Lights at San Marin are crucial for our youth and all of us in the community.
— Tara Odetto, Novato