{"id":3348,"date":"2026-06-29T23:38:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T23:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3348"},"modified":"2026-06-29T23:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T23:38:03","slug":"letters-media-should-not-portray-election-as-a-popularity-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3348","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Media should not portray election as a popularity contest"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><em><strong>Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Media must transcend electoral popularity push<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cBecerra leads big in early polling\u201d (Page A1, June 12).<\/p>\n<p>The June 12th \u201cnews\u201d article exemplifies and exacerbates the problem with our democracy. News organizations reduce the electoral choice to a popularity contest.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3346\">Letters: Food service staff are World Cup watch parties\u2019 secret MVPs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thoughtful voters need to consider the candidates\u2019 history \u2014 what public services have they done before running for this office? Voters need to know what policies they are proposing if elected. Voters should look at the candidates\u2019 big financial supporters and high-profile endorsers. The candidates\u2019 character and trustworthy honesty should be evaluated.<\/p>\n<p>Newspapers should provide this essential information, rather than focus simply on polling numbers. An uninformed electorate cannot vote responsibly in favor of its interests. Stories about the political horse race belong in the Sports section. Fill the News section with facts to inform voters in our democracy. The people\u2019s choice must be based on more than popularity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bruce Joffe<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Piedmont<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Board must embrace fiscal responsibility<\/h4>\n<p>I am a lifelong Oakland educator, former school administrator and past school board director. Our district is again teetering on financial collapse\u00a0\u2014 not because of partisanship, but because our school board has avoided hard choices for two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Newsom\u2019s proposal to centralize state education authority won\u2019t save Oakland by itself. What will save us is local accountability. I call on our board and community to demand four things:<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2022 A binding, multiyear solvency plan with independent county review.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 A public fiscal impact statement before every major board action.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 A community-led audit committee with the power to hire outside auditors.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Board compensation tied to measurable fiscal outcomes.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Parents, taxpayers and board members should know that accountability is not political. It is the only path to trust and solvency. Our children cannot wait for another cycle of cuts and blame.<\/p>\n<p><strong>George Lerma<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Oakland<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Keep our highways safe on Fourth of July<\/h4>\n<p>America\u2019s rich history shines for its 250th birthday on July 4. Celebrations are happening all over America. For instance, there will be July 4 Fireworks at Pittsburg Marina.<\/p>\n<p>When I was 16 in 1992, my life changed when a drunken driver hit me. Freedom and driving laws are linked to ensure public safety.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, California made 1,336 DUI arrests during its Fourth of July law enforcement period. They made 1,311 DUI arrests during the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3345\">Nancy Pelosi\u2019s next act: A democracy institute at UC Berkeley<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sober driving protects everyone\u2019s freedom. There is no legal \u201cfreedom\u201d to drive drunk. Don\u2019t enjoy America\u2019s 250th birthday behind bars, in the hospital or dead.<\/p>\n<p>If you see someone driving erratically on any road, like Highway 4, notify law enforcement immediately. They will stop that driver.<\/p>\n<p>Follow laws to stay true to the country we call home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lori Martin<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Tracy<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Trump\u2019s indifference worsens climate change<\/h4>\n<p>In May, there were several deaths in France due to the extreme, record-breaking heat. Heat-related deaths in the United States are now the most common of all weather-related deaths.<\/p>\n<p>It is clear that climate change is on steroids. Our current president does not care, nor does he understand science. He has reversed America\u2019s energy policies and promoted oil and coal, which we know lead to the destruction of just about all living things and heat the planet. He has also shown he does not care about nature or animals.<\/p>\n<p>Now it appears humans can also be added to that list, as we can expect heat-related deaths to continue to escalate in the United States as well as globally.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kit Miller<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Walnut Creek<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Being up front about AI\u2019s impact is good business<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cUN chief: Declare AI\u2019s impact on environment\u201d (Page C7, June 24).<\/p>\n<p>I would like to echo the argument made by the UN secretary general that AI companies should measure and disclose the impact of their increasingly in-demand technology.\u00a0It is simply good business to do so, especially in light of the furor against the establishment of data centers by environmentalists.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, we should all be careful when using AI. While I can understand the use of AI where it is necessary, too many people are employing AI just for the sake of convenience or simply because they think it is \u201ccool\u201d to do so. Unless we do our part in preserving our environment, we won\u2019t be around to enjoy it for too long.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3343\">Former Warrior Jonathan Kuminga enters free agency<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Myokyaw Myint<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Also: Fiscal responsibility | Bike lanes | Keep highways safe | Climate change. East Bay Times reader letters to the editor for June 30, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Letters: Media should not portray election as a popularity contest - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3348\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letters: Media should not portray election as a popularity contest - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Also: Fiscal responsibility | Bike lanes | Keep highways safe | Climate change. 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