{"id":5276,"date":"2026-07-24T05:07:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T05:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5276"},"modified":"2026-07-24T05:07:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T05:07:24","slug":"letters-local-control-crucial-to-coastal-towns-like-half-moon-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5276","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Local control crucial to coastal towns like Half Moon Bay"},"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>Local control crucial to small coastal towns<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cNewsom administration sues Half Moon Bay\u201d (Page B1, July 17).<\/p>\n<p>I have lived on the San Mateo Coast since 1976 and have seen a lot of growth and infill. Unfortunately, with this growth and popularity with visitors, our infrastructure, roads, public transit, and TV and internet availability have not improved. During the last tsunami evacuation directive a few years ago, our two-lane roads were completely stopped by people trying to leave.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5274\">San Jose Sharks\u2019 first round draft pick finalizes plans for upcoming season<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Anybody coming here on a sunny beach day knows all too well the traffic jams on Highway 92, a very dangerous and antiquated road. Adding another almost 500 homes will make matters worse. The reality for most locals is to commute by car to good job markets for well-paying jobs, which are scarce here.<\/p>\n<p>Giving the state and federal governments control over local community governance is not a one-size-fits-all good idea.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bruce Krutel<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>El Granada<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Prop. 45 poll shows state in line with Trump<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cPoll points to strong Prop. 45 backing\u201d (Page A1, July 16).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s interesting that we now have strong sentiment favoring changes in California\u2019s CEQA legislation. It\u2019s certainly an indication of how far we\u2019ve come from caring about our environment.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s astonishing to think this legislation was signed by Ronald Reagan, a Republican revered in conservative circles. Now we\u2019re in sync with a Trump administration that trips over itself dismantling environmental regulations. It\u2019s all well and good to want to streamline the process, shortening review times and mandating time limits on court decision-making, but do we need to be reminded that we have this legislation because people are unwilling to do the right things on their own? Do the right thing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eugene Ely<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Could Oakland closure signal end of charters?<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cOakland charter\u2019s end seen as a harbinger\u201d (Page A1, July 19).<\/p>\n<p>Tragic. Cataclysmic. The death knell on publicly funded charter schools has sounded loudly and will have a grave impact on a movement that at one time showed promise.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The State Board of Education, on a 7-2 vote, shuttered the Oakland Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Charter School by taking no action. The State Board was petitioned by Aspire to overturn the vote to close by Oakland Unified and the Alameda County Office of Education.<\/p>\n<p>This decision essentially shutters the school for next year, sending the hundreds of middle and high school students packing to their neighborhood comprehensive high school, a forced choice hundreds of students and their parents fought to overturn.<\/p>\n<p>Former Gov. Jerry Brown said, \u201cThis is an organic institution that has grown up in Oakland. It\u2019s a real tragedy.\u201d I concur with Brown.<\/p>\n<p>The more than 30-year charter school movement should be a topic in California\u2019s race for governor.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5272\">The Bay Area has a massive shelter shortage. More beds alone won\u2019t solve homelessness<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Joseph Di Salvo<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Foreign student limits disregard our colleges<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cForeign students limited to four years\u201d (Page A1, July 17).<\/p>\n<p>I read about President Trump limiting to four years how long a foreign student can stay here. How about making the limit five or six years?<\/p>\n<p>How long a foreign student takes to complete a college education depends on whether a class is only offered once a year. What if that person needs to get a Ph.D., if they need to do a training program or do work in conjunction with earning the degree? They need more time.<\/p>\n<p>Again, Trump is putting hardships on foreign students who will pay more money to come over here and support U.S. universities. How can someone not place more importance on education?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Celeste McGettigan<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Global celebration contrasts with Trump<\/h4>\n<p>Re: \u201cFirst-ever World Cup Final Halftime Show was an outright winning show\u201d (Page A1, July 20).<\/p>\n<p>Kudos to the Mercury News and Jim Harrington for the splendid coverage of the World Cup finale half-time show, which was rivaled only by Spain\u2019s defensive excellence for pure wonderment.<\/p>\n<p>One cannot, however, ignore the dripping irony that the 11-minute extravaganza, which was a true celebration of international diversity, was performed before the most shameless and unapologetically racist white nationalist president in our country\u2019s 250-year history.<\/p>\n<p>Donald Trump is, without rival, our national embarrassment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Barry Goldman-Hall<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Kowtowing Congress threatens nation\u2019s liberty<\/h4>\n<p>The U.S. Congress has abdicated its power to Donald Trump, thereby eliminating the checks and balances of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>This has led to an unwarranted war, the indiscriminate incarceration of immigrants, unprecedented federal debt, a desecrated White House, the resurgence of fossil fuels and curtailed wind and solar power, a slash in National Park budgets, the elimination of social programs and scientific research, the use of the office for personal gain and federal overreach that threatens our personal freedoms. Additionally, the Department of Justice has become a personal tool of the president, thereby eliminating fair and equal treatment under the law and instead allowing Trump to pursue his perceived enemies and to strip the judicial system of experienced and qualified lawyers and judges.<\/p>\n<p>The Republicans are allowing Trump to steer a sinking ship with no intervention. It will be hard, if not impossible, to reclaim the United States that once was.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5268\">Letters: Oakland drivers deserve safe, well-maintained streets<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Claudia Parker<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Also: Prop. 45 poll | End of charters? | Foreign students | Global celebration | Congressional threat. Mercury News reader letters to the editor for July 24, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5276","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: Local control crucial to coastal towns like Half Moon Bay - 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=5276\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letters: Local control crucial to coastal towns like Half Moon Bay - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Also: Prop. 45 poll | End of charters? | Foreign students | Global celebration | Congressional threat. 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