Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Oct. 15, 2023

Allow approved comments to be read during meetings

Since 2020, many public agencies have used video conferencing to allow elected people and the average citizen to continue to do public business in a transparent and convenient manner.

Sadly, some Marin boards and agencies really don’t want to hold “hybrid” meetings. Nearly all have continued to serve the public by allowing older folks, single parents, those who have autoimmune disorders and other citizens who can’t attend meetings in person to fully participate.

With video conferences, all citizens can be part of the public discourse. The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers strongly believes that, in the spirit of the Ralph M. Brown Act, all public meetings should offer this service.

Recent racist “Zoombombings” (“Marin council meetings disrupted with bigoted comments,” Sept. 27) are a complete misuse of the First Amendment. While the Supreme Court has permitted hate speech and anonymous speech, it has upheld the rights of public agencies to limit speech to topics that are under the jurisdiction of the agency in question.

COST has a simple solution. All public agencies should adopt hybrid meetings. At open time, the public has the right to speak on topics under the jurisdiction of that agency. Callers who won’t turn on their cameras or display their phone numbers should be directed to use the chat feature and the secretary of the board will read it. If the question is race hate or not under the jurisdiction of the board, it will not be read. A simple picture of that chat for the future protection of the agency should be saved.

Let’s do public business in the best way possible and stop using bad acts to deny the public the right to speak at public meetings.

— Doug Kelly, San Anselmo

U.S. must demand a cease fire in the Middle East

War and retribution is not the answer to the latest Israeli Palestinian conflict. The ongoing cycle of revenge is escalating as the latest horrific murder of civilians by Hamas earlier this month and current bombing of Gaza proves.

Deporting Palestinians is not the answer (especially not to a non-Arab country like Iran, as one letter to the editor suggested). Wiping out West Bank villages and confiscating Palestinian property is also not a solution. A two-state solution becomes less and less possible with the expanding settlements.

The true solution lies in the establishment of a real democracy with equal rights for all. An ethnic or religious label in front of the word “democracy” is contradictory.

We should be demanding a cease fire and negotiating an equitable path forward. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live and worship in peace together on this small strip of land. Otherwise, only the arms manufacturers that supply this and other conflicts are winners.

In a quote often attributed to Gandhi, the former prime minister of India said, “an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”

— Carolyn Shadan, Tiburon

MMWD is too reliant on Russian River water

Well, at least the new directors of the Marin Municipal Water District are trying to move forward with improving our water supply. Their best idea is to raise the dams to increase reservoir capacity. That’s long overdue.

Sadly, it appears to me that there is a lot of emphasis on drawing more water from the Russian River. Apparently, these well-intentioned plans fail to remember that during the most recent drought, water use along that river was severely limited due to reduced flow. It’s not an unlimited resource.

The “elephant in the room” is expanding the use and availability of recycled water for toilets and landscaping. Imagine if all new hotels, as well as new housing, is mandated by the state to use purple pipes (designating for recycled water) in toilets and outside taps. Unfortunately, that can’t happen until local jurisdictions install purple pipes to transport recycled water.

I think spending money on that kind of infrastructure is a better use of funds than expanding a pipeline that may or may not deliver water from the Russian River.

The whole business model of the water district is flawed in that it relies on consumers to pay for too many expenses. I worry it includes salaries, retired employee pensions and infrastructure. It’s a vicious circle.

As consumers use less water to comply with restrictions, revenue drops. I suspect that is the real reason behind higher water bills. But higher costs drive less use.

Perhaps it’s time for bond funding, as well as grants from state and federal sources. Ratepayers are wrung dry.

— Elaine Reichert, Santa Venetia