Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

Protect our environment; vote no on Prop. 45

Re: “Prop. 45 would reform CEQA, speeding the approval process and spurring construction” (Page A14, Oct. 18).

Thumbs down for the Mercury News and East Bay Times’ regrettable yes position on Proposition 45.

Proposition 45 would largely dismantle the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California’s bedrock environmental protection law. Since 1970, CEQA has ensured that projects that threaten California’s clean air, clean water, tribal assets or invaluable environmental resources receive full public and judicial review before they are built. While the Chamber of Commerce and Proposition 45’s corporate proponents ramble on about enabling more housing (while most housing is already exempt from CEQA), their true objective is to fast-track polluting projects — including data centers — with far less public and environmental oversight.

Where is the planning that allows human society and nature to succeed together? Voting no on Proposition 45 provides an opportunity to push back on the rush to development at all costs.

Please join Climate Action California’s thousands of supporters in voting no on Proposition 45.

Janet Cox, CEO, Climate Action California
Oakland

BART can’t be trusted with more tax money

Wondering whether to vote for the transit sales tax (RTM)? Yes, we need transit. But we also need to spend our tax dollars prudently.

The 2018 transportation tax measure wisely included a requirement for an Independent Office of the Inspector General to oversee BART’s finances. But the 2021-2022 Alameda Civil Grand Jury found that BART impeded the OIG’s ability to conduct oversight. Nothing has changed. In their 2025-2026 report, BART Office of Inspector General: Independence Delayed is Independence Denied, the Contra Costa Civil Grand Jury found the same.

The 2025-2026 Grand Jury also issued a report titled, BART at a Crossroads: Structural Deficit, Governance Accountability, and the Choices Ahead. It details that even if RTM passes, BART will need additional cost reductions, and BART’s current governance structure is inconsistent with addressing those needs.

Civil Grand Juries spend a year investigating issues affecting taxpayers. Their researched and detailed reports are worth reading.

Linda Waters
Pleasant Hill

Measure W gives new group of students hope

I’m a junior at Miramonte High School, and I am feeling the effects of budget cuts.

I can’t study in the library before a test, students crowd into the wellness center, and our remaining counselors carry impossible workloads, while we’re still expected to excel.

Acalanes schools earned a reputation for excellence because this community invested in them. Measure W protects that legacy.

I know costs are high, but failing Measure W isn’t free; students pay the price daily. Another $4.2 million in cuts threatens far more than our libraries: it threatens our futures.

Most students can’t vote, but we’ll live with the results. Even if you don’t have children in school, you were once a student. Please do for us what you wish someone had done for you.

Vote yes on Measure W on Nov. 3.

Lorelei Keenan
Orinda

Vote for Rubisol for San Ramon council

San Ramon District 4 Councilmember Marisol Rubio has earned our vote.

Rubio’s proven record shows she deserves our vote on Nov. 3. She brings rigorous focus to every council and committee meeting.

Whether she’s scrutinizing the city’s finances, pushing for better public transit and affordable housing, or supporting climate plans that save money and improve our health, Rubio’s dedication to our community’s well-being is second to none.

She’s driving smart, thoughtful, energetic progress in San Ramon. Let’s keep her voice at City Hall — she’s earned our trust and our votes.

Kathryn Grace
San Ramon

Ignore election mailers and do your research

Beware of all that glossy election mail. It is often bankrolled by big money donors paying for the expensive printing and postage.

Don’t let billionaires and big business mislead you with these clever advertisements. Ignore them.

You can quickly find out about candidates and ballot measures yourself, using nonprofit, nonpartisan websites like VOTE411.

Don’t let billionaires and industry groups buy your vote. Think for yourself.

Elizabeth Katz
Oakland

Our pets deserve clean, healthy air

Love your furry pet sharing your home? Or feathered friend, or reptile buddy? If you want them to live long, healthy and happy lives, then the Bay Area Air District’s upcoming decision on whether to gradually reduce air pollution could be a life-and-death matter.

Bay Area air quality remains one of the worst in the country. Our pets, much smaller and often breathing more rapidly than us, can be even more vulnerable to the health effects of polluting equipment than we are. Dozens of people are proven to be killed each year by pollution the Air District might choose to prevent; thousands are sickened annually, and the toll on our pets’ health could be even worse.

Those animal faces and lives are absolutely dependent on people, and they have no choice. Please keep that in mind as the Air District decides whether to protect the health of us all.

Brian Schmidt
Menlo Park