I’m backing the DA in his attempt to address Sac’s homelessness crisis | Letters to the editor

Backing Ho

“No clear path as Sacramento’s homeless crisis fuels rift between city and DA,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 13)

I am backing District Attorney Thien Ho in his attempt to address the homeless crisis in Sacramento. He is trying to make a difference by holding the city accountable to the law. He is small in stature, but big in ambition.

We need a DA who cares enough about our beloved city to do what is right, and what the majority of tax paying citizens want. God Bless Thien Ho!

Nola Boyer

Sacramento

Resource allocation

“No clear path as Sacramento’s homeless crisis fuels rift between city and DA,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 13)

Until we abandon current ideology and face facts, we will never resolve our homeless problems. I have founded a homeless shelter, been a program director for homeless recovery, conducted clinical homeless research, published several peer-reviewed articles on homelessness and interviewed over 400 homeless individuals in shelters. With few exceptions, the core problem behind homelessness is substance abuse and/or mental illness.

Until we redirect resources to attack those issues exclusively and aggressively, we will never resolve our now generational homeless problem.

Gary A. Incaudo

Sacramento

Spark of hope

“No clear path as Sacramento’s homeless crisis fuels rift between city and DA,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 13)

Sacramento residents have the right to be free from illegal camping in parks and on streets. This is a right recognized by District Attorney Thien Ho and ignored by city leaders. Now, because of Ho, there is a spark of hope.

Without Ho’s strong but compassionate leadership, the city will continue its failed policies that have dramatically increased homelessness — ruining our city. The city is proposing more of the same. Meanwhile, Ho is working to give us our city back. He should be supported for doing so.

Jim Randlett

Sacramento

Maui on my mind

“Wildfires in Maui are among the deadliest in US history,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 14)

My condolences go out to the families and loved ones of those killed in the Maui wildfires. This is another tragic example of why we must urgently address the climate crisis.

Paul Bacon

Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Overcooked rumors

“Pork prices could soon rise in California as a new law takes effect. Will bacon cost more?” (sacbee.com, Aug. 10)

Threats of a pending bacon shortage are overcooked. For years, we’ve been subjected to alarmist “bacon-gate” stories in an effort by industrial pork producers to overturn California’s ban on caging mother pigs in the court of public opinion.

At the same time, companies such as Hormel, Clemens, Perdue, Seaboard and Tyson have all publicly stated that they can meet the demand for crate-free pork, and some have publicly touted that they have already moved away from gestation crates and are eager to supply the California market. An Iowa State University study found that eliminating gestation crates may even reduce costs when considering the increase in live pigs produced per sow on higher welfare farms.

Pork producers will not turn their backs on the biggest consumer market in the country because they were unsuccessful in overturning Proposition 12; to do so would just be pig-headed.

Benjamin Williamson

Torrance

Heads in the sand

“July was Earth’s warmest month: How hot did Sacramento get?” (sacbee.com, Aug. 4)

It feels like I’m back in 2013 when I joined an organization called Citizens Climate Lobby. At that time, a major goal of the organization was to convince climate change deniers that it was real, that it was caused by the burning of oil, coal and natural gas and that it was a major threat to our future and, increasingly, our present.

In 2023, not a day goes by without a headline about a climate catastrophe. Yet in a recent PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist Poll, 70% of Republicans said climate change was either a minor threat or no threat at all. In June, Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy vowed to boost U.S. production of oil and natural gas.

To paraphrase an old saying: “Only a fool will continue to bang his head against a wall hoping it will turn into a door.” It’s 2023 and my head hurts.

Harold Ferber

Elk Grove

County’s ignorance

“Sacramento County OKs almost $1 billion for new jail annex,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 9)

In the 1970s, states and the federal government closed asylums, evicting the mentally ill. Former President Richard Nixon started the drug war and terminated federal-built affordable housing. We’re now reaping the harvest from these actions: a bumper crop of homeless and mentally ill individuals wandering our streets.

Luckily, Sacramento’s supervisors have a solution: building bigger cages! You’re not innocent until proven guilty in Sacramento, you’re guilty until proven wealthy. So the county will take on nearly a billion dollars of debt for an enlarged, militarized homeless shelter, and the supervisors will blame the courts for telling them they had to stop mistreating inmates.

Of course, only cages were on the agenda, no move to eliminate cash bail (as Illinois and Washington D.C. have done). And (bonus!) the county won’t have money for future emergencies!

Mark Dempsey

Orangevale

Convert to electric

“California must meet its ambitious climate change goals,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 5)

With regard to your recent articles about meeting climate targets, it may be helpful to remind readers that replacing gas-powered appliances at the end of their life with electric technology is particularly effective at bringing down direct emissions over time. Consumers can also save thousands in tax credits for converting to electric.

Brenda Morelos

Carmichael