Letter writer Ann Grogan forgets the original question behind the debate regarding whether or not the Recreation and Park Department should be allowed to abandon another park responsibility by throwing Coit Tower into private hands: Will privatizing public park facilities keep other parks free? The answer remains a resounding no, and voting yes on Proposition B would redirect Rec and Park back to its mandate. (“Prop. B debate continues,” Letters, Sunday)   Read More

Without clean air and water and natural beauty, California wouldn’t be a desirable place to live or do business. But it’s not easy to take on the special interests who would despoil California. State Senate candidate and former Assemblywoman Sally Lieber showed uncommon courage in taking on tough battles in the Assembly to protect the environment and our health. Lieber received death threats over her smog check legislation, but stuck with it and got it passed. Read More

There are several good reasons why diverse groups including the San Francisco Republican, Democratic and Green parties; good government groups San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association  and Plan C; business leaders and organizations; and labor leaders and organizations all urge San Franciscans to vote no on Proposition A. Read More

The California Labor Federation is demanding a project labor agreement from Sacramento Democrats for the high-speed rail boondoggle. A project labor agreement would exponentially raise construction costs, require unsustainably expensive union perks and require unfunded multibillion-dollar expenditures from California’s depleted general fund. Indeed, the California Alliance for Jobs, comprising hundreds of building and trade unions, sponsors high-speed rail ads and pays union members to pack rail meetings. These unions got Democrats elected and want payback.  Read More

The San Francisco Examiner speaks erroneously (Newsmakers, Wednesday) when it calls Harvey Milk the first openly gay elected official in the United States. In fact, Milk was not the first — he was the sixth. He was, however, the first openly gay elected official in California. More importantly, he was the first openly gay elected official to be regarded as a genuine threat  by enemies of the gay community — not so much because he was gay, but because he was also reasonably left-wing, reasonably fearless, and very articulate and persuasive. Read More

Your editorial correctly notes that paying lip service to environment improvement won’t solve the problems that are becoming more serious — and more obvious — with each passing year (“Tough choices about air quality lie down the road,” Opinion, April 22). Motorists will be affected. They will probably have to both slow down and drive less. Read More

Next week, Wells Fargo is holding its shareholder meeting here in the Bay Area — and I will be there to represent the 99 percent. Wells Fargo makes billions in profits every year, but pays a single-digit tax rate and receives more than $21 billion in tax subsidies. You’d think with all that money to throw around, Wells Fargo would help out California homeowners and communities. Instead, it continues to hike interest rates and monthly mortgage payments, pushing more and more families like mine to the brink of foreclosure. Read More