From birth to the grave, get involved in helping people

This front page article on December 13 with the headline “Questions, Needs Linger As Winter Approaches Camp” about the homeless support service area in San Rafael should inspire us all to take a longer view of the issue of homelessness.

A recent road trip to Portland, followed by Seattle, confirms that this is not a local or regional issue. It is a systemic problem that has been brewing for decades. Cities have struggled with figuring out how to house the homeless for a while, but now there are also homeless tents in rural areas along America’s highways. It is heartbreaking.

It is important to house the current homeless. We are very fortunate in Marin to have smart and caring people working at Homeward Bound, Ritter House, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul and so many other organizations. But I think it’s imperative that we also see the Build Back Better Act and its programs as a long-term solution. To me, better health care, early childhood education, subsidized vocational training and a community college, along with affordable housing, are all part of the solution.

We can drive past the encampments and the locals in our fancy cars and moan that they need to ‘put things back together’, or we can set a course to help people – from birth to grave – like so many prosperous and caring countries do. the world. It is our choice to make.

– Polly Elkin, San Rafael

Corte Madera Creek dam could collect stormwater

Whenever we receive heavy precipitation – like the one we are currently experiencing this second week of December – a large amount of rainwater pours into the Corte Madera Creek Basin and then into San Francisco Bay. If the Marin Municipal Water District built a small dam about 8 feet high at the narrow outlet of the creek into the bay, a large amount of rainwater could be saved behind the dam.

Additionally, as long as we can forecast the storm for at least 24 hours, we could ensure that the water in the basin is at low tide level, thus delaying local flooding and some upstream flooding.

Imagine what MMWD could do with that extra water. I first proposed this idea for study in 2009. Seawater officials told me that it would not be economical to build a dam and then refine the rainwater. It was a very long time ago. I imagine we are a little more desperate for water today.

– Kenneth Dale, Ross

Kellogg’s hard line illustrates why strong unions are needed

I’m writing about David Huerta’s California Voice commentary (“Unions Win Again,” December 13).

It was heartening to hear that progress is being made, at least here in California. This is not the case in some other states, however. The Kellogg company recently announced that not only is it moving much of its production to Mexico, but it could end the jobs of 1,400 workers who have been on strike for cost-of-living adjustments since October at factories across the country. Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

During the coronavirus pandemic, these dedicated employees worked many hours of overtime. Their hourly wages are as low as $ 13.77. Meanwhile, Kellogg’s CEO compensation is well over $ 11 million this year. We have a long way to go.

– Richard Pedemonte, Fairfax

Stay away from big banks for a better environment

I was delighted to see the full page ad from our friends in the climate action community on December 12 asking all of us to rethink our bank assets and divest our funds from the big banks that continue to support the destruction of our planet by financing the extraction of fossil fuels.

Some of these companies include Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, and Citibank. About six months ago, our family closed all of our accounts at Wells Fargo for this very reason.

The only thing missing from the ad in the IJ was where you should put your money. We decided to keep ours local and put our funds into a local credit union, as they only use our money to fund loans to their members and our local community.

The two obvious choices are Redwood Credit Union and Marin County Federal Credit Union. Redwood Credit Union even offers a reduced auto loan rate to finance your new electric vehicle. If we all get out of these big banks, the environmental benefits will be huge. And when you make the decision to divest yourself, tell them why and hopefully they’ll get the message.

РRen̩ Voss, San Anselme