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Cupertino council fumbles
chance to honor official
It was a puzzling and sad oversight by the Cupertino City Council on Tuesday not to recognize all the accomplishments of Deb Feng while Cupertino City Manager.
During her two-year tenure, Deb guided our city through the extreme circumstances with the pandemic, helped our unhoused residents gain shelter and dramatically improved the city’s public outreach through coffee talks, community forums, and more.
It’s a major accomplishment of hers that on many issues both large and small, Deb was able to “bring the temperature down” and get resolution or keep a project moving forward. She showed her leadership by carefully listening to residents, yet always being clear about what was good for the city and what she would and wouldn’t do.
It will be a huge task to find someone with similar skills. Many thanks go to her for all her excellent and hard work on behalf of Cupertino.
Jennifer Shearin
Cupertino
Biden leads U.S. back
to global climate fight
Re. “Biden mends fences at G-7,” Page A1, June 14:
The G-7 summit and President Biden’s commitment to re-establishing U.S. credibility on the world stage was welcome news. As Biden stated at the summit, “America’s back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values.”
Among issues covered at the summit, global leaders “were gratified that the U.S. president accepted the science of climate change.”
But the United States is currently an outlier in its response to climate change. It is one of only two (out of 38) developed economies without any sort of carbon pricing. In addition, the European Union will soon implement a carbon border adjustment mechanism, putting American businesses at a huge economic disadvantage.
To level the playing field, Congress would be wise to enact H.R.2307 (carbon fee and dividend legislation with a border adjustment) currently in the House with 69 cosponsors, including Bay Area Reps. Anna Eshoo, Jackie Speier, Barbara Lee and Eric Swalwell.
Paula Danz
Los Altos
Governor’s label on GOP
sticks in Trump’s wake
Several years ago, before Donald Trump came along, Bobby Jindal, then the Republican governor of Louisiana, gave a speech in which he pleaded with the Republican Party to stop being “the stupid party.”
Clearly, Republicans ignored his call and instead doubled down on stupidity as attested by a recent poll in which 30% of Republicans said they would not get a COVID vaccine compared with 5% of Democrats. So more people will risk COVID infection and death just because they are Republicans. Worse, they will help spread the virus to others.
A political party that doesn’t even try to shed the “stupid” mantle does not deserve anyone’s support.
Raúl Martínez
Sunnyvale
Columnist fails to see
Trump helps only Trump
Marc A. Thiessen’s column on “How Trump could flip the Senate with just one phone call” (Page A13, June 13) is bleating used by a minority to maintain tyranny over a significant majority. Use the undemocratic U.S. Senate and the Jim Crow era filibuster to prevent what the American people want and voted for.
But it requires more. It requires framing what people want as “radical” and “partisan.” The “partisan election bill” Thiessen mentions has the support of 67% of Americans. The COVID Relief Act – 68% approve. All major pieces of President Biden’s infrastructure plan – more than 60% approve. Oh, and about those precious Trump tax cuts Thiessen is desperate to protect, increasing taxes on corporations and individuals – more than 64% approve.
Minority rule gaslighting we can expect from someone like Thiessen. But his clueless fantasies about Trump doing anything other than strictly serving his own petty grievances shows Thiessen is sniffing too much of his own gas.
Steve Reynolds
Milpitas
