Letters for July 10, 2014

Big Telecom is the problem

Re “Your Internet is actually really slow” by Lien Hoang (SN&R News, July 3):

As author Lien Hoang mentioned, Europe and Asia enjoy much faster and cheaper Internet connections than most communities in the United States. Then, Ms. Hoang discussed how municipal fiber-optic networks offer the best solution. But what she did not stress was how the telecom companies—Comcast, AT&T, etc.—have been fighting hard to restrict municipal broadband. Local or even statewide legislation, sponsored by the telecom companies, has already removed that option for many communities. In my view, such laws need to be changed. Big Telecom is the problem, and publicly funded fiber broadband is the only solution.

John Kwasnik

Sacramento

Which one is it, SN&R?

Re “Big arena shake-up” by Raheem F. Hosseini (SN&R Feature Story, July 3):

For at least a year now, I’ve been reading in SN&R why the arena project is bad for Sacramento, how it’s the result of corrupt politicians and greedy billionaires, how it’s not going to work to bring economic vitality to the city, how it’s going to drain city coffers and hurt city services.

Now, along comes a story that says it will in essence work too well, that it will result in economic development that will hurt vulnerable populations, i.e., the poor and the hipsters, along with small business. I could ask, which roadblock to the arena do you want to erect: It won’t create development, or it will? You can’t have both.

Frank Bruno

Sacramento

Cohousing inspires

Re “You have how many f@#king roommates?!” by Janelle Bitker (SN&R Feature Story, June 26):

Janelle Bitker’s personal story of living in a commune is an inspiration for sustainability as well as community. As she mentions in her article, cohousing is another form of living in community.

Our cohousing group, Renaissance Village Homes, is seeking property that is within walking distance of shops and transit in Sacramento’s urban areas. We meet twice monthly to review progress of our working groups and make decisions. We hope to begin development in the fall. We invite interested people to join with us in this exciting venture. For more information, go to www.renaissancevillagehomes.org.

Anne Geraghty

via email

Status quo at SCUSD

Re “Head of the head of the class” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Bites, June 26):

As someone who works in the Sacramento City Unified School District, I am not surprised. SCUSD operates under this policy of only those who need to know know. Now, of course, there are avenues, or should I say attempts, to collaborate and gather consensus. But by the time this happens, these attempts have transpired into signature collections to pass a predestined contract. As we see in this case of hiring a new superintendent.

Going from a superintendent with no education background to one whose two-year tenure is described as “short and rocky” proves this school district is not ready to get serious and take our students to the next level. So now what? Parents and staff members spend the next school year with principals and teachers being pulled out of their schools to go to meetings for new policies and procedure, all the while the fundamentals of educating our students falls by the wayside.

“Get it Together”

Sacramento

Hold the sexual references

Re “Old-school fancy pants” by Garrett McCord (SN&R Dish, June 26):

When reading a restaurant review, nobody wants to read the reviewer making a sexual reference like that in the review of Cafe Plan B. Don’t you guys have editors?

Gerald Nelson

Sacramento

Bad development in Mather?

Re “It takes a university” by Alastair Bland (SN&R News, June 19):

Great cheap apartment slums, a Wal-Mart and then no university. What a rip-off. The homes won’t have nearly the value with slum apartments surrounding them. I have seen the plans with commercial zones, housing, apartments and parks and a tiny area that might hopefully someday be a college. For years, all I heard about was just the school, come to find out it was all just a front for big developers. When you look at the plans, this is definitely a bait-and-switch deal. This will just be an expansion of Rancho Cordova ghettos into Mather ruining the area!

Leland W. Winstead

Mather