SHAME ON SCHWARZENEGGER

I am disappointed that Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the universal health care bill SB 840 [“Health Care Emergency,” Sept. 21-27]. SB 840 would have provided for a single health insurance agency, not a government-run healthcare system. It was not socialized medicine.

It is a matter of record that the governor has accepted millions of dollars in campaign donations from the health insurance industry. This makes him part of the problem. It’s a shame that the governor cannot do what’s right, and a shame that he doesn’t truly feel the anxiety and pain of 6 million of his constituents who have no health insurance. —Sue Miess | Monterey

IMMIGRATION KILLS

Raul Vasquez can’t quite pull himself to provide his readers with meaningful public health or economic statistics in his piece “Health Care Emergency” [Sept. 21-27]. I suppose readers can readily find out what populations use public healthcare and at what cost in Monterey County.

But obviously, when you combine the costs of local healthcare with the number of undocumented individuals residing in Monterey County (who have the protection of local government officials), you get a monster. A soft, killing machine.

Clearly, when you turn a blind eye to the number of illegal residents flowing into this county, and then read about a collapsing public health delivery system—with the undocumented facing “a health crisis,” you can’t help but point the finger at our idiotic elected officials who created this problem in the first place. You big boys wanted bodies? You got bodies. Too bad bodies fall apart, huh?

Perhaps America’s new motto should be “Bring me all of your sick, dying, fearful, tired, surplus laborers…and they won’t last to see their grandchildren born. But your veggies will be awfully cheap.” —Jim Safranek | Monterey

LAND USE PLANNING: SÍ

As an East Salinas resident and a Latino, I signed both petitions on Rancho San Juan and the Community General Plan and so did my neighbors. Voting on them will help protect things we care about: Safe neighborhoods, better schools and libraries, jobs and more housing for people who live here. Rancho San Juan won’t help with any of these things and will only make our problems worse.

Instead of listening to the people who will be most affected by RSJ, county supervisors continue to ignore us, trying to take away our vote, and taking the side of the developers, saying they want what’s best for Latino working families. If the supervisors really cared, they’d listen to voters, reject RSJ, and get serious about increasing affordable housing and working on things we really need.

Since the Salinas City Council has dropped its lawsuit against Rancho San Juan, our chance to vote on RSJ and the Community General Plan is even more important. If our leaders won’t work for average people, we’ll have to do it ourselves. When these measures finally make it on the ballot, I plan to vote no on Rancho San Juan and support the Community General Plan Initiative. —Ramiro Rodriguez | Salinas

LOCALS ACTING GLOBAL

The city of Pacific Grove has joined, last week, the fast-growing ranks of enlightened and forward-looking cities in this country and throughout the world when it voted unanimously to adopt the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and the Urban Environmental Accords. PG is the first signatory city in Monterey County.

The Urban Environmental Accords, initiated by the mayor of San Francisco and sponsored by the United Nations, have been signed to date by nearly 100 cities. The protection agreement, initiated by the mayor of Seattle, has been adopted so far by 295 US cities. The overlapping goals of these two agreements cover, among others, transportation, energy efficiency, waste reduction, alternative energy, and water quality. They will serve as tools to guide the city in its efforts to achieve and promote sustainability.

Our city leadership recognizes that the old way of doing things is not what will get a secure future for us and the generations to come. Sustainable Pacific Grove, a grassroots citizens action group, is committed to work with the city on implementing the actions recommended. Citizen participation is a key component for the success of their implementation, and our group is ready, with commitment, energy and dedication, to move forward. We welcome all interested residents to join us in our efforts. —Denyse Frischmuth | Pacific Grove

The letter writer is on the steering committee of Sustainable Pacific Grove.