2007 Mayor's Race, Tenderloin Development, Democrats in Congress ...Aug. 01‚ 2007In your 7/31 article, "Gonzalez Rebuffs Chronicle's Attempt," you repeatedly assert that there are no contenders for the Mayor's race. Can I assume you know that Ahimsa Porter Sumchai and Josh Wolf have announced their runs for Mayor -- and perhaps others I haven't heard about -- and that you are a priori discounting their presence in the race? Even if you think that they don't stand a chance of winning, don't you think it would be a democratic service to help open up room for them in the race by recognizing their bids and thus perhaps helping to get them some public notice, perhaps some debates, etc.? Deetje Boler To the Editor - As a community activist, I get concerned when articles are written with one point of view. Clearly Randy Shaw is concerned with housing developments in the Tenderloin his home-base. The Tenderloin is more than a collection of SRO buildings and new buildings being constructed, older buildings are renovated or reused, and structures are sometimes demolished and replaced. The Tenderloin is an urban neighborhood with challenges that include economic growth, development of community resource not yet being provided such as a neighborhood supermarket, full service postal site, financial intuitions, and long overdue community center. More importantly, there is a need for a comprehensive planning process. All of the projects mentioned in Randy’s article were promoted each on a project by project basis to community members. Community members are now concerned about preserving what little open space that left in our neighborhood. See our online petition “Call for more Tenderloin open space” at: http://www.petitiononline.com/TLspace/petition.html Michael Nulty, President Alliance for A Better District 6 Paul, Of course a corporate paper like the Washington Post is bashing Democrats; what else is new? While the Democrats are almost as corporate friendly as the Republicans, big business likes Republicans better and always supports them more when there is a choice (i.e., when a Democrat is clearly going to win, or after (s)he wins, big business will support him/her with contributions, hoping for political favors at some point). However, I strongly disagree with your claim that "you can't blame the Democratic leadership for this quagmire [in Iraq]." The Democratic leadership has refused to begin or even consider impeachment hearings, which would take time and effort from the administration in order to defend itself and thus time and effort away from waging wars, and has supported funding for the war. As Dennis Kucinich has said ad nauseum, all the Democrats have to do to get us out of Iraq is nothing; in other words, just don't even allow a military funding bill to come to the floor, except for funding for bringing all troops home. Without the money, there would be no more troops in Iraq. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Democrats are far too pro-military and/or too afraid to take a strong stance against the war that they won't do what's needed to get U.S. troops out of Iraq. Jeff Hoffman San Francisco You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: rshaw@beyondchron.orgor by writing to: Beyond Chron 126 Hyde Street San Francisco, CA 94102 415-771-9850 (phone) |