Letters to the Editor for July 3, 2026

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We received several letters to the Editor this week. Click a link below to jump to that letter.

• Overbuilding on the island ^[2]
• The infrastructure bond measure ^[3]
• AUSD’s unexplained dismissal of baseball coaches ^[4]
• Reflections on the Semiquincentennial ^[5]
• Celebrating weekly beach cleanup ^[6]
• “No Kings Since 1776” flags for the parade ^[7]

Overbuilding on the island

To the Editor:

Last week’s letter from Jay Garfinkle, “Unsafe Overbuilding ^[8],” should awaken all of us and especially our local government to the rapidly developing problem of overbuilding on this little island. With limited infrastructure and even more limited access/egress, our quality of life is being eroded and actual lives themselves in an emergency evacuation. This never-ending push for growth makes neither economic nor political sense and we need to vote accordingly.

Charles Bret,
Alameda

The infrastructure bond measure

To the Editor:

The Alameda City Council will consider at its July 7 meeting whether to submit a $300 million bond measure ^[9] to Alameda voters for approval at the November 3 election. The purpose of the bond is to raise funds to pay the cost of infrastructure improvements. The bond would be repaid by a property tax levied on taxable property in the City. The proposal and related documents (City Council Meeting Agenda Item 7-A) are available on the City website ^[10].

The bond measure is well-intentioned and could provide valuable benefits for residents of Alameda. Unfortunately, the bond proposal is deficient in that it does not specify what the bond proceeds will be spent for and should not be approved unless modified to do so.

As discussed in the Staff report accompanying the bond proposal, the City has conducted studies over the past several years, identifying specific infrastructure projects that the City needs and the cost of each such project, and concluding that the total cost is about $800 million. Since the bond amount is $300 million, it will not generate enough money to pay for everything.

The proposed bond measure lists five broad “categories of capital improvement projects” and examples of projects that are “authorized,” but does not specify any that the City actually agrees to fund with the bond proceeds. It also says that the projects funded may not even be on the list.

This is not an acceptable procedure. The decision about which projects have priority and will be funded is a policy issue that the City Council should address, specify, and justify in its submission to the voters. The City Council has the information required to do that. In the absence of such a plan now, project funding decisions will not be made until after the bond has been issued, with the money likely flowing to the loudest voices in the room.

Since sea level rise and flooding are a virtual certainty and pose an existential threat to the City, infrastructure improvements that address those problems are the most likely to receive widespread support even from residents who also support addressing other issues. To maximize the chances of voter approval, the bond measure should specify that proceeds will be used for this purpose, along with specified other projects the City Council deems essential that can be funded within the $300 million bond limit.

The City Council has an opportunity to do something valuable for the residents of Alameda. I hope it does so.

Neil Rubenstein,
Alameda

AUSD’s unexplained dismissal of baseball coaches

To the Editor:

AUSD’s recent ”clearing of the bases” in their sudden dismissal ^[11] of four dedicated long-term fixtures of Hornets baseball reeks with a customary lack of transparency in sensitive, controversial community matters such as this.

AUSD is in a position to let the public know at least some generalities about the allegations involved from what appears to be a single, anonymous letter of complaint against the coaching quartet. But AUSD prefers to try to keep the matter under wraps, presumably hoping any dust-up will soon subside.

True, AUSD does not want to—nor should they—reveal the name or names of the complainant(s) nor the names of minors allegedly involved to preserve the integrity of legitimate, whistle-blowing processes.

It is also true that coaches and a host of other non-tenured employees serve, and ought to serve, at the pleasure of the district.

But the public should be provided at least some kind of window dressing, on the record, as to this blindsiding.

If the letter was truly anonymous and a sole complaint, as we have been led to believe from what little is in the public record, any respectable model of due process on AUSD’S part should regard the allegations as suspicious but not verified, given the apparent lack of corroboration. As such, the coaches’ rebuttals of the accusations—in any fair-minded inquiry based on due diligence by the district—need to be given equal or greater weight, and the presumption of innocence should prevail.

AUSD is not likely to be more forthcoming on its own without substantial public pressure on involved administrators and, more importantly, school board members who may or may not be privy to the essence of the purported complaint or complaints.

So, the community at large must try to force them to show their hand, as they are elected public servants and we are the voting public.

The four impacted coaches, and the 1,000 or so community members who petitioned in support and to object to this seeming kangaroo court ‘justice’ process, can put the ball in play however, and more forcefully provide much more on the record than they have thus far.

They can invoke California Government Code Section 6250 and demand that AUSD provide a copy of the letter or letters of complaint (or related content) and let us in on the details and their defense.

The law classifies such content as part of the “public records (which) include any written information that is prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency (such as a county, city, or school district) and is related to the conduct of public business…”

Taking such a bold step is key if they choose a stronger path of self-advocacy in the interest of letting the public know enough for us to fairly judge the merits of the matter. For now we are mostly at the mercy of the district’s strategy of non-disclosure and that of community rumor mills.

Ultimately, it appears that the dismissal opens the door for anyone to allege anything—even that which may be defamatory—without even publicly addressing the credibility of the allegations or motive of the accuser who hides behind the veil and does not take personal, public ownership of an act that has ripped the Hornet baseball community apart.

The district’s proclaimed dedication to “transparency” and “equity” rings hollow in this instance.

AUSD’s silence is damning, not golden, and they have tarnished the reputations of four dedicated community members who have done so much for so long for so many of Alameda’s youth and our town’s baseball DNA.

Larry Freeman,
Alameda

Reflections on the Semiquincentennial

To the Editor:

For weeks now I’ve been trying to write something patriotic, something heartfelt about this coming Semiquincentennial celebration. I’m a born-and-raised American, son of an immigrant father and displaced mother. I went to college, raised two sons, and own my own home. It’s been a good life for me and mine in this land of hopes and dreams. But my heart is not full of love and devotion to this land of liberty right now. Too many people are hurting, too many hurt by a government not offering life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but instead going out of its way to restrict and remove people who want to be one of the We the People. There is a quality of meanness in this country that didn’t used to be here.

And then watching the USA/Bosnia-Herzegovina soccer match last night I saw it—a woman cheering with gusto while wearing a replica crown matching the one atop the Statue of Liberty. And I thought of that remarkable statue, a gift from France to help us celebrate our centennial, and I thought of the words on the base, a poem entitled The New Colossus, written by Emma Lazarus and added to the statue in 1903.

Somewhere in my past, some day in school when I was a kid, maybe back in 1976 when we celebrated the bicentennial and I graduated, some teacher asked me to read the poem. I did not know the statue’s name—Mother of Exiles—but I knew the last five lines of the poem:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I knew those lines because my dad was one of those who came here. And growing up in the Bay Area, everywhere I looked I saw others like him who came here, not speaking much English, not formally educated, but willing to work and believe and dedicate his life so that his family could make it here, and so that his children could have an even better life than the one he had.

We are a country of many things, many statues, many words and places, but for me, we are a land of immigrants. Immigrants are the engine that has roared and made this nation so rare, so remarkable, so admired for the last 250 years. Not every day and not in every way, but at our core. Right now we are not doing right for our newcomers, the lady’s lamp is not glowing brightly and our door is not golden. But it once was, and can be again. Yearning to breathe free—that’s what I believe in, all those who are fighting to maintain that idea, all those who want to come here for that idea, and all those who are here now, with arms and hearts open saying to the new Americans, you are welcome here.

Gene Kahane,
Alameda

Celebrating weekly beach cleanup

To the Editor:

Our weekly Alameda beach cleanup is going strong after six years of operation. To mark the occasion we celebrated last week with a delicious anniversary lunch at Cholita Linda on Park Street.

Organized through Nextdoor ^[12] as the Thursday 11 a.m. Alameda Beach Cleanup, we remove approximately two tons of trash from our beach every year. Our founding members volunteered for the Center for Biological Diversity ^[13], working through its Saving Life on Earth campaign to raise awareness of the mass extinction crisis. Unfortunately back in the spring of 2020 our ability to lobby presidential candidates was soon shut down by COVID restrictions. Looking for a safer way to help the environment, we turned our efforts towards this outdoor activity.

The beach cleanup is a relaxing activity and a great way to make new friends. Every Thursday at 11 a.m. volunteers meet across from the car wash on the beach side of Shore Line Drive. After a celebratory group photo, we pick up trash along the beach using gloves and our own bags or buckets, staying as long as we want. Volunteers are under no pressure, joining whenever it’s convenient. Despite this, over time many of us have developed a more intimate knowledge of the flora and fauna of our lovely beach. Newcomers are welcome.

Want to learn more? Join us any Thursday at 11 a.m. and support our ongoing efforts. Maybe next year you, too, will be celebrating at our 2027 anniversary lunch.

Chase Martin
Alameda

“No Kings Since 1776” flags for the parade

To the Editor:

Democracy isn’t something we inherit and forget about. It’s something we have to keep showing up for. That’s why Indivisible Alameda and All Rise Alameda are marching in a contingent in Alameda’s 4th of July parade with “No Kings Since 1776” flags.

Volunteers across our community gathered at restaurants (Project Burger and Abigail’s), local churches, and house parties to help prepare 6,300 “No Kings Since 1776” flags. We invite you to join our contingent and help pass out the flags. We’re suggesting marchers in our contingent wear white shirts and blue pants, and we’ll have 25 handmade red capes available for those who want to complete the look. You can RSVP to join our contingent at Fighting 4 Freedom on the 4th! ^[14]

Indivisible Alameda is a group of volunteers building community-wide resistance to the rise of fascism in our country; All Rise Alameda is an all-volunteer grassroots group that supports progressive candidates and causes.

We’d love for you to join us. Find out more, get involved, or just see what we’re planning at Indivisible Alameda ^[15] and All Rise Alameda ^[16].

Reclaiming our democracy isn’t a spectator sport. It takes all of us.

Sincerely,
Valerie Landau,
Indivisible Alameda