Letters: Fremont’s folly | Lafayette schools | Evolution of Scouting | Homelessness answer | Parliamentary system

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Fremont frittersaway valuable school

Since 1988 New Horizons School has provided an excellent education to Fremont children. It offers small class sizes, individualized attention, a caring environment and high-level academic instruction. It is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

In 2019, the school needed to move to a new location it found. It invested tens of thousands of dollars to meet the city of Fremont’s demands for approval. In December 2020, the city’s Planning Commission approved its plans.

But that was not the end of it. Fremont strung the school along. The school would submit plans, the city would wait until the 90 days for it to respond almost passed — and impose new demands, often petty ones. Costs mounted; the children suffered.

Then the school found a wonderful new building in Newark — and opened there on Jan. 10, 2022.

Fremont lost New Horizon School. Our local government failed working parents.

Dorit ReissFremont

Foreman, Smith, Sturmfor Lafayette schools

Lafayette has great schools. As former Lafayette School Board members, Ann Appert, Judy Carney, Roger Falcone, David Gerson, Teresa Gerringer, Art Kapoor, Shayne Silva and I are proud of the part we played in building and sustaining the educational programs that support every student’s success.

Today, we are supporting the following candidates for the Lafayette School Board. We are confident that they will ensure the continued excellence of our schools and reflect the values of our community: Katy Foreman, Dave Smith and Rob Sturm.

They are knowledgeable about educational issues and have outstanding records of contributions to our schools and community. They will best represent our students, our teachers, our community and our school district. Lafayette deserves and needs school board members who will continue to bring our community together.

Mary McCoskerLafayette

Scouting has evolvedinto model of inclusivity

Re. “Scouting is in deep trouble but is needed now more than ever,” Page A6, Sept. 21:

Thank you Mr. Plante for sharing your Scouting adventure. You are correct. The world needs more Eagle Scouts.

Since 1911, more than 2.5 million scouts have been awarded Eagle Scout. Many of us have gone on to be great humanitarians who live to serve humanity in myriad ways.

Scouting has evolved into the model for youth protection, diversity and inclusion — setting the moral compass of our next generation of heroes. Troop 234, Moraga pioneered scout’s inclusion policies. In fact, President Biden refers to these as “guiding principles.”

Packs and troops across America have literally led the way out of COVID, getting families back on the move.

Visit a troop or pack in your neighborhood today. Communities thrive where scouting thrives.

Mark R. CliffordMoraga

Law enforcement nothomelessness answer

Re. “‘Homelessness’ is not about housing,” Letters to the Editor, Page A6, Sept. 22:

The writer of this letter shows a stunning lack of understanding and empathy regarding homelessness.

Not all shelters are created equal. While many offer referrals or in-house treatment for addiction, not all unhoused people are drug users. Many are working people who have no permanent home due to circumstances out of their control. People I’ve spoken to on the streets state that shelters have been some of the most unsafe places they’ve stayed, citing theft and assault. While there are those who choose to live outdoors, the vast majority of unhoused folks don’t want to live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Law enforcement is not the answer, we’ve seen how that works. We desperately need more mental health services and affordable housing. I would urge this writer to go out on the street and look some of these folks in the eye. You can’t unsee this suffering.

Christina LoeligerBenicia

Parliamentary systemis stable, reliable

Re. “Queen Elizabeth lent dignity to the monarchy,” Letters to the Editor, Page A6, Sept. 22:

The late Queen Elizabeth II undeniably lent dignity to the monarchy (and the United Kingdom) as letter writer Ramsingh Asnani so correctly states. However, I can’t agree with his assessment that the parliamentary system is volatile and “carries the risk of corrupt practices in governance.”

Actually, the parliamentary system (head of government) functions hand-in-glove with the monarchy (head of state) to provide a stable government, as witnessed by the recent change of prime minister from Boris Johnson to Liz Truss and of the prime monarch from the queen to King Charles, both carried out via legal processes with no drama and no questioning the “results.”

Contrast this to our decidedly faltering democracy in the United States and the insurrection staged by Donald Trump’s backers on Jan. 6, 2021, goaded on by the president and his enablers. How different things would be if we had a parliament and monarchy. But no. We must work with what we have.

Leslie PahlOakland