Letters for September 17, 2015

The hits keep coming

Re “Minimum effort” (SN&R Editorial, September 10):

How nice of the mayor's minimum-wage task force to offer the services of the City Attorney: defending the California Restaurant Association's legal theory exempting tipped employees.

Once again, the council and Kevin Johnson show that Sacramento stands behind the people who really matter. And the hits just keep on coming.

John Kwasnik

Sacramento

Support SN&R

Re “Help SN&R” by Rachel Leibrock (SN&R Editor’s Note, September 3):

For many years now, those of us living in this city have been able to pick up free of charge a newspaper that always has contained at least one story with important ideas or describing situations vitally concerning this area and those of us living within it. We have been treated to investigative reporting at its best, and we have been fortunate not just to witness this kind of courage but also to have the information provided. Perhaps we have not realized how fortunate we have been, but newspaper and magazine reporters who go out and research facts to get at the truth, which some may wish to be hidden, are rare. They have guts, intelligence and curiosity.

Unfortunately, such reporting is not likely to be popular among some of the high and mighty. And now SN&R, in attempting to discover exactly what has been happening in our city’s governmental offices, has met resistance from the mayor, who is suing the newspaper because they wonder why he has been using his private emails for official business, thus managing to hide items that should be open for the public’s information.

There’s no better way to get rid of uncomfortable opposition than to bankrupt it, and this is all too easy in today’s climate of a universally struggling press. This is the attempt that is now being made here in Sacramento. Are those of us who have been reading this newspaper and benefiting from the insights contained within abandoning it when our help is needed? Let us hope that we realize our strength and put some of our cash where our interest lies. We, the people, are the grit that gets into the machinery of bad ideas and stops it before it poisons the country. Please join me in sending a gift to SN&R legal fund so that they can weather this storm brought about by a despicable wish to smother the truth.

N. Chinery

Sacramento