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County inaction puts children at risk
Re: “Abuse warnings ignored” (Page A1, June 21). Once again, we read an article about a child’s death and the apparent inaction and negligence of the Santa Clara County child welfare agency.
All of these cases have obvious red flags, and yet nothing is done. Kids are dying. Where is the accountability? Where is the change to prevent these deaths? What do these employees do all day? Protecting the safety of these kids should be their first priority and they are failing.
It is simply shocking to read about these kids being placed and kept in homes where they never should have been. Shame on the county for not fixing this.
Jack Kent
Los Gatos
Baby Jaxon victim of one cruelty after another
Re: “Abuse warnings ignored” (Page A1, June 21). It brings me to tears to read the account of Jaxon Juarez’s short life and tragic death.
One wonders how this autistic child processed the meaning of life, of his life. He was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. His mother died, and he was passed on to two other caretakers, the last of whom left him under the supervision of his suspected sexual molester, tormentor and killer. The world, offering nothing but cruelty and misery, failed him. It seems he wasn’t spared any kind of pain in his short two-year life.
How could an innocent child endure all that? What did he look forward to as he woke up each day? What final thoughts went through his little mind as he slipped into unconsciousness? Did he know that he, too, was a child of God?
Kathryn Tomaino
Los Altos
Bill offers glimmer of hope to mentally ill
Re: “Bill to limit prison diversion for mentally ill near signing” (Page B2, June 20). The society and the system are very unfair and, many times, cruel to the mentally ill. Beds and treatments are few and far between.
Once in a while, a glimmer of hope shines. One of these is the bill to limit prison diversion for the mentally ill. Kudos to Stephanie Nguyen of Elk Grove.
We are already stacked with mentally ill individuals with no or no good treatment, many of them aged, thanks to President Ronald Reagan, who dismantled the mental health system in place and threw them under the bridges and into homelessness.
More needs to be done on this front by releasing the aged mentally ill and providing them with appropriate treatment. Mental health advocates need to get more vocal and aggressive.
Also, I have a question to ask of Gov. Newsom: What happened to your mental health initiative? Kohli Singh
San Jose
Iran war takes globe to edge of economic crash
Re: “Fraught launch to truce talks” (Page A1, June 22). President Trump has no choice but to surrender to Iran. Finally, at long last, Trump and his advisers awoke to what oil executives were saying — that the U.S. and the world’s oil reserves were rapidly being depleted and the world economy would very quickly go into the toilet.
The light bulb went off in Trump’s mind, and he deduced that he would be blamed for an economic depression comparable to the 1930s. He even concluded that the Republican Party would also be blamed for the depression and consequently lose a number of future elections, thus delivering to Democrats exactly the opposite of what he and the Republican Party would want.
Too bad the United States and the world have had to suffer what this intemperate and vindictive man has foisted upon all of us.
Now it is Israel’s turn to try to counter Trump’s surrender.
Larry Dorshkind
Redwood City
Column asks wrong question about Musk
Re: “How much housing does $1T buy today?” (Page E1, June 21). Elon Musk has been clear that his life goal is to ensure human survival by expanding human presence beyond this planet.
He has taken the wealth created by each company he has built and used it to create other companies that employ thousands of people and create wealth for hundreds of thousands of people with their 401(k)s or pensions. He is not using it for real estate, and his trillion doesn’t keep others from buying houses (unlike government regulations and bureaucrats, which do contribute to housing unaffordability).
The correct question is, “How much will it cost to get humans to Mars and establish a viable, self-sustaining, long-term presence?” Because that is where Musk will direct his wealth and the wealth of any investors who want to help him do that. It is not clear that a trillion will be enough, and there is no guarantee of return on that investment.
Dan Winter
San Jose
No getting around cost of switching from gas
I have read several letters to the editor about how beneficial it is to convert from a gas to an electric water heater.
I am all for lower pollution appliances, but I think the writers have missed the point of those who object to the conversion mandate. The objections are not about the required conversion, but about the cost. In an older home like mine, I need to upgrade my electrical service to 200 amps. This can cost $3,000-$5,000, and PG&E can take 2-6 months to complete the process. When adding in the cost of an installed heat pump water heater, that total can reach $8,000-$10,000.
If the homeowner does not prepare for this change in advance, they might have to go without hot water for months until the service upgrade can be performed, and may have to take out a loan to pay for it. Marty Kahn
San Jose