Sacramento residents shocked by deputies who punished volunteers feeding homeless | Opinion
Shocked by cruel action
“Sacramento church has fed homeless for 7 years. Then deputies gave them trespass notices,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 14)
I am shocked by the political and societal hypocrisy made evident by the trespass notice given to the four Mercy Pedalers volunteers feeding the homeless.
In 1981, then-President Ronald Reagan said that if only “every church and synagogue would take in 10 welfare families each, homelessness could be weathered until it passed.” In true conservative fashion, Reagan planned to “save” the taxpayer the cost and the messiness of finding actual solutions to homelessness. Faith communities have always done the work of caring for the vulnerable in society, and now we are being punished for it.
I don’t think this was what the late president had in mind.
Kathy Stricklin
Mercy Pedalers
Arden Arcade
Shameful behavior
“Sacramento church has fed homeless for 7 years. Then deputies gave them trespass notices,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 14)
Recently, a team of four Mercy Pedalers volunteers offered unhoused persons near the Arcade Library food, coffee, water and other resources. In response, they were cited by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for trespassing on private property and threatened with arrest if they returned to this location.
The recent election may have emboldened law enforcement and politicians to act more cruelly toward citizens, but these actions still stand in stark contrast to the mandate of Jesus to be guided by justice, love, kindness and mercy, and to feed the hungry.
The specific irony here is that it is the county’s duty to provide for its indigent citizens — not faith groups.
John McCormack
Sacramento
Restaurant deserves better
“Sacramento CA revives waterfront revitalization plans,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 14)
Just a few short months after the City of Sacramento refused to make the necessary repairs to keep the Rio City Cafe operational, Mayor Darrell Steinberg hosted a press conference heralding a plan to “upgrade buildings” and “repair docks,” among other improvements.
Now that the pandemic is over, the city wants to fast-track “improvements” to the waterfront district. But what of the city’s responsibility to the owners of the Rio City Cafe, with whom they had a long-term rental agreement? The city neglected to make necessary maintenance and repairs, promising vaguely to address the issues in the future. The owners of Rio City were good tenants through good times and bad, including weathering the storm during the pandemic, with no help from the city.
Isn’t it time to right a recent wrong and provide Rio City with the upgrades the city should have provided as landlords?
Bill Motmans
Sacramento
Drax plans to pollute California
“Stockton residents fight back against wood pellet proposal,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 31)
Wood pellet plants and their associated mass transportation are proven to cause extreme increases in air pollution. Drax, the wood pellet company planning to open shop in California, has plants in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that are riddled with citations from the Environmental Protection Agency. Studies surrounding the plant in Mississippi indicate a correlation between pellet production and asthma rates in neighboring counties. Drax plans on polluting Stockton, Lassen and Tuolumne so they can sell expensive carbon credits to European companies.
We must stop pretending that the supposed biomass benefits outweigh the harms to Californians. Why are we selling our health and the health of our forests so these companies can make a quick buck?
Luke Zaelke
Chatsworth
Big oil CEO speaks out
“America’s Largest Oil Company Asks Trump Not to Pull Out of Paris Deal,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 12)
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods’ encouragement of Donald Trump to stay in the Paris Agreement highlights the dangers the world faces from climate change. When oil company execs are (finally) speaking out strongly in favor of climate action, we should listen.
Woods told Politico, “I don’t think the challenge or the need to address global emissions is going to go away... Anything that happens in the short term would just make the longer term that much more challenging.” In other words, we can’t afford a four-year delay in climate action or a rollback of the progress we’ve already made.
The U.S. is a net exporter of fossil fuels and produces more oil and gas than any country. We need to transition away from fossil fuels — as the world agreed to do last year — to ensure a stable climate for our children and grandchildren.
Lisa Howard
Rocklin