Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.
New Brentwood station good for whole county
The Brentwood City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the rebuild of its downtown fire station.
When it is approved, fire service will be better in Brentwood. Because we are all in this together, Brentwood’s increased fire resources will make all of Contra Costa County safer.
Contra Costa Fire has determined that the downtown location will provide the best services to the community and strengthen our county’s entire fire protection system. Across the country, firehouses operate in downtowns without issue, and Brentwood’s did for nearly 100 years.
Right now, the 67,000 residents of Brentwood have only one station. The rebuilt downtown station will be a crucial second location, with a third also planned in North Brentwood.
We need to continue improving our fire service in Contra Costa County. The Brentwood City Council should approve this station without hesitation.
Diane Burgis, Contra Costa County supervisor Brentwood
Have a safe, sober summer on the roads
The longer, warmer days bring more travel. Freedom comes with following laws.
When I was 16 in 1992, I was hit by a drunken driver. Medical care and therapy in the Bay Area and Central Valley made up half of my teenage life. After three decades, I communicate with a deep tone, read lips, cannot drive and I walk unsteadily.
Look at the results for Independence Day Weekend Maximum Enforcement Period for 2023 and 2024: CHP made 1,224 DUI arrests in 2023 and made 1,336 DUI arrests in 2024. Drivers, please make DUI arrests come down this year.
Summer holidays are coming. You can avoid disturbing memories like a crash, injuries and even death if you stay sober while driving.
Taking I-680 to go home after drinking at a festivity? A sober driver ensures safe summer roads. Freedom and safety go hand in hand.
Lori Martin Tracy
CIF overreacts to athlete’s celebration
Re: “Celebration costs girl state track crown” (Page C1, June 3).
It was wrong that the girl from North Salinas High was disqualified after winning the 400 for what the CIF called an unsportsmanlike act.
She celebrated by stepping away from the track and taking a fire extinguisher to her shoes. She didn’t do it in front of her opponents. What’s wrong with that? It was a drop-the-microphone moment, and they ruined it for her.
The CIF should be more concerned about ensuring fair competition in the girls’ events. Commonsense is sadly lacking.
John DeMartini Danville
Tax hike would be more largesse for BART
Re: “Lawmakers advance transit tax hike bill” (Page A1, June 4).
The proposed sales tax increase is another handout for BART employees.
They always find money to give a pay increase to the employees, who are among the most highly paid transit workers in the area. Even during COVID, the public agency gave a pay increase.
Our senator at the time, Steve Glazer, opposed it, and he was slapped in the face by fellow progressive Democrats.
BART is a public agency run by the unions. Even the inspector general appointed by the Legislature stepped down. She could not do her job because she was stonewalled by the agency.
James Joseph Lafayette
A fraud is occupying the Oval Office
Donald Trump bragged he would bring down inflation, then, as president, admitted there’s not much he could do about it.
He said he would bring down crime, but pardoned convicted criminals and put a clause in a bill that neuters the judicial branch.
He takes the Oath of Office to protect the U.S. Constitution, then violates the First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments plus the Emoluments Clause. He cuts tens of thousands of jobs and eliminates agencies in an effort to save money and bring down the debt, but then has a big, ugly bill that adds trillions to the deficit. Trump says he will weed out fraud but then pardons people convicted of fraud, and he flip-flops on his tariffs almost daily, creating chaos in the world markets.
The fraud we need to weed out sits in the Oval Office.
Frank Grygus San Ramon
Deficit solution always is to take from the poor
The cartoon by Michael Ramirez published in the East Bay Times on June 4 (Page A6) misleads. It has a child pointing out “the obvious” fix to the national debt: reduce spending.
Related Articles
Letters: Proposed transit tax for BART isn’t supportable Letters: Donald Trump’s cuts to research will set the U.S. back Letters: Government must end payouts to Elon Musk Letters: Fear and anger, not age, separate the GOP and Democrats Letters: Even with leverage, would Trump use it against Putin?That would mean, in the current administration, removing essential services from even more desperate Americans through increased cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, EITC and so on.
The correct answer is even more obvious, and just: return tax rates to the levels of the 1950s, when American prosperity grew, and enforce collection.
Stop transferring wealth from those with too little to those with obscenely much, as the laughably named “Big Beautiful Bill” will do (as confirmed by numerous nonpartisan, competent analysts).
Peter Nicoll Dublin
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Letters: Downtown Brentwood station would be good for entire county )
Also on site :