Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Dec. 23, 2023

Electric-assist mobility devices need licenses

I applaud recent efforts to regulate electric-assist bicycles and scooters, which should include rules for safety and fines for violations.

However, I have heard no mention of requiring these electric-assist mobility devices to be licensed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. All motorized vehicles should be licensed and require age limits, a written test, riding test and training.

— Kate Brouillet, Novato

Support plan to reform wording of Proposition 19

Proposition 19 changed the assessed value of inherited homes. Before it was voted into existence in 2020, children would inherit their parents’ home at their respective assessed value. Now, the new assessed value equals the maximum of the original assessed value or the current market value minus $1 million.

What does this mean? Take, for example, a home with an assessed value of $500,000 and a current market value of $2 million. If a child inherits the home, under the rules of Proposition 19, the home’s new assessed value is $1 million. The assessed value is now twice as high. That means, as a result, the child’s property taxes will probably just about double too.

That’s just not right. If you concur, please consider signing the Initiative to repeal Proposition 19. Just go online and search “Repeal the Death Tax” and you will find the form. Time is of the essence, the signed forms have to be received by Jan. 16 for it to be on the 2024 November ballot.

— Gaetan Lion, Mill Valley

Tired of hearing critics bashing 49ers’ Purdy

I felt like I could hear an audible sigh of relief across the entire Bay Area last Sunday when Brock Purdy, the 49ers’ 23-year-old magician of a quarterback, emerged from the sideline tent used to diagnose concussions and other injuries, reclaimed his position at quarterback and promptly threw a touchdown pass to the unstoppable force of nature, Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey, himself, also had just emerged from what many feared was significant knee injury.

Despite being the last player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy is proving experts quite wrong. He is definitely in the conversation for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Purdy is performing at an exceptional level. He leads the NFL in numerous quarterback categories. With each success he continues to be criticized on social media by “experts.” Some say they cannot believe that he is as good as he appears to be. I think that critics simply cannot tolerate that he defies the metrics by which quarterbacks are typically evaluated, including physical stature. However, Purdy has all the athleticism he needs to play perhaps the most difficult position in all of sports. And he has an elite ability to process information as it quickly unfolds during a game.

Purdy is a golden nugget that was overlooked by almost all talent evaluators in the NFL. I think he brings the 49ers their best chance of winning a Super Bowl since the glory days of Joe Montana and Steve Young.

— Bruce Farrell Rosen, San Francisco

PG&E has plenty enough money not to raise rates

I am writing in regard to the recent news article about Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s planned rate increase (“Higher PG&E bills coming,” Dec. 12).

PG&E officials argue, in part, that it has an “intensified squeeze on its finances.” However, according to the investor website Macrotrends.net, its gross profit for the 12 months ending Sept. 30 was $18.004 billion, a 6.38% increase year-over-year. In 2022, its annual gross profit was $16.824 billion, which was a 3.46% increase from 2021.

In other words, it appears to me that PG&E has plenty of money. I think it wants to give it to its shareholders. This is Exhibit A as to why PG&E needs to be dismantled and a public utility created.

— Stephen Bingham, San Rafael

Institute of Health study on diet promises truth

I am writing in regard to the recent Another View commentary by Bobby Ghosh (“New dietary guidelines for Americans present uphill battle,” Dec. 8). It’s heartening to read about the interest in eating a healthy diet. Often, we hear such conflicting advice.

Now the National Institute of Health is sponsoring what seems to be a well-controlled, longitudinal study that could give us answers, not just anecdotes or opinions. We are all different in how our bodies respond to our diet. I am in the process of signing up to participate in the study. I hope others will too.

According to the NIH website, “The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to collect and study data from one million or more people living in the United States. The goal of the program is better health for all of us.

“Our mission is to accelerate health research and medical breakthroughs, enabling individualized prevention, treatment, and care for all of us. This mission is carried out through three connected focus areas that are supported and made possible by a team that maintains a culture built around the program’s core values.”

The study lasts for 10 years. We will know a lot more about healthy diets with the results of efforts like this one. This study is not sponsored by the corporate food industry as so many others are — often in ways that disguise their agenda.

Here’s to good health for all of us.

— Nancy Grover, San Anselmo

Bay Bridge protesters must be liable for losses

I am writing to express support for the recently published fine letter by Val Hornstein titled, “Consequences for bridge shutdown should be dire.”

Approximately 80 protestors obstructed the region’s busiest artery — the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — during a busy commute time on Nov. 17. They caused civil chaos. I worry they will walk away with no consequences.

What if there was a way, perhaps a new state law on the books, that opened the door to financial harm caused by protestors? It would be a redress of financial grievances through due process in the courts system for “John Q. Public.”

I would suggest this wording: Protestors will be subject to an administration fine of $50. However, they may also be subject to certain civil lawsuits, plus legal fees associated with the disruption of intrastate business and commerce.

Those 80 protestors who were arrested would now be on public record as traffic disruptors. And those businesses, hospitals, airline travelers and transport companies — anyone whose entities were disrupted — would have financial recourse via the courts.

Let’s say they enjoined a class-action lawsuit, citing a paltry $1 million in economic damages. It would be a $1 million settlement caused by approximately 80 perpetrators, or $12,500 per arrestee, plus legal fees. That would be a reasonable financial payback.

— Bob Bowen, Tam Valley

Impeachment inquiry of Biden will backfire

I am writing in regard to the article headlined “Impeachment inquiry OK’d; crime unclear” published Dec. 14. I think Republicans in the House of Representatives couldn’t have given President Joe Biden a better gift than their slipshod attempt at impeachment.

The entire effort reeks of partisan bad faith that couldn’t be more transparent in its efforts to smear the Bidens. Other than those whom I believe are the most devoted “make America great again” cultists glued to right-wing media 24/7, there is no groundswell of support for this “witch hunt.”

It appears that some in the GOP are convinced Biden must be guilty of something. Accordingly, it seems they are ready to rummage around in his family’s personal affairs until they find what they imagine is their smoking gun.

In the likely event that they don’t find anything, it appears they will fabricate a reason for outrage. I think all they are doing is ensuring Biden’s reelection in 2024.

— John Brooks, Fairfax