Lawsuit a step to repairing costly pension problem
To those who think David Brown’s quest for justice makes him a kind of Don Quixote, I think of him more as a current folk hero who has the guts and integrity for, and is carrying the financial and emotional burden of, a fight against local governments which have made a habit of ignoring the grand jury’s reports on illegal pension enhancements.
The conflict of interest, the fraudulent covering up of retroactive increases of pension benefits are matters which should have been pursued as a criminal case. Instead, the various public agencies whose officials benefited and padded their wallets have told us who pay for this largesse that it was just a small matter of failing to follow the rules on disclosure, rules which are in the state code and constitution — a small matter of going from a $36 million surplus in our county treasury to an almost billion-dollar deficit.
This was a big price for us to pay so that the same people who rigged the system can now collect millions of dollars in pension benefits.
There is a case to be made that claw back rules apply to these ill-gotten gains.
— Joyce Britt, Mill Valley
San Rafael leaders should insist on better design
Having recently written a letter to the editor (Readers’ Forum, July 1) addressing the issue of growth and change in downtown San Rafael, I would like to commend Dick Spotswood for his excellent column, “Marin planners should demand first-rate design.”
The one-mile stretch from Highway 101 westward and from Andersen Drive north to Mission Avenue offers a vast area for redevelopment. This is what people see from the freeway and as they drive into San Rafael.
The area offers ample space for talented architects to design beautiful buildings and streets which could make us proud. I reviewed a portion of the city GeneraI Plan, and it seemed to be a hodgepodge of different types of structures. Perhaps high-density equates to lots of tax dollars.
If growth is inevitable, then the city leaders should use our tax money to pay for above-board design that is an asset to San Rafael and every other city, including Reno.
A community’s professional staff has an obligation to take many things into consideration. Can we create a quality environment for the people who already live here?
— Bev Rowden, San Rafael
Showing support for single-payer health care
I was happy to read the IJ’s July 9 article, “Marin residents show support for single-payer health-care bill.”
One of the six experts on the panel at Saturday’s town hall said, it is seldom that a policy delivers higher quality, is less expensive, and excludes no one. Single-payer also lowers the burden of local taxes as it reduces costs of current employees and pension plans.
That must have been an unstated reason for the Board of Supervisors’ April 24 letter in support of SB 562, the Healthy California Act.
Three of the elected officials present at the town hall have demonstrated their commitment to SB 562.
We were blessed to have co-author Sen. Ricardo Lara, co-sponsor Sen. Mike McGuire and president of the county Board of Supervisors Judy Arnold, who pledged to ask all of Marin’s 11 cities to follow the Board of Supervisors’ lead.
Unlike many Democrats today who preach single-payer support, these officials know that this bill, the bird in the hand, is far better than the bill in the bush that might never get written.
— Dan Monte, San Rafael
Investing in the people of our nation
While members of the Republican majority are competing to see who can make the deepest cuts, there is a budget proposal before Congress that would boost the economy for all of us while cutting the number of people in poverty in half.
It’s The People’s Budget, proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
The People’s Budget invests in safe and productive infrastructure, education, affordable housing, health care and nutrition, child care and working family tax credits. It calls for increasing the minimum wage.
These investments will create 3.6 million jobs, and set us on a path to cut poverty in half in 10 years. The People’s Budget invests $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, expanding rural broadband, universal pre-kindergarten and free college tuition at state and community colleges.
Every year without fail our elected representatives give over half of the discretionary budget to the Pentagon, leaving less than half to be divided up to fund education, health care, environmental spending, infrastructure and everything else.
— Bill Lindner, Greenbrae
