Town hall: An open letter to Jimmy Panetta

I watched as you gave a 30 minute speech promoting yourself, and for some very worrying reasons, quote and put down Bernie Sanders. I watched as you had three different obvious town hall plants ask questions that you had prepared for beforehand, swallowing up more time. I even saw your staff mouth “raise your hand” to the woman from Dientes. This is not a time for a play, with actors and scripting everything. It turns away engaged voters like myself. We are not dumb, please stop treating your constituents as dumb. Your statement to the Sentinel that the questioners were chosen at random is a complete lie.

You received $257,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for reelection last year.

Your opening speech was well written, but why would you spend any time at all bashing Bernie? He’s a senator in a different state fighting the good fight that all Dems should be on board with as we form cohesion around “get Trump gone!”

We know why.

— Scott Joly, Ben Lomond

Skypark bocce courts roof needed in Scotts Valley

The City of Scotts Valley has made much appreciated progress in restoring facilities and programs at Skypark since the loss of personnel caused by the COVID shutdown five years ago, as described so well by Mayor Derek Timm in his Sentinel “Mayor’s Message” on March 30th.

During the pandemic, county seniors learned the importance of outdoor activities to combat isolation and have fun. The SV Senior Bocce Leagues are now at full participation, and hoping to increase opportunities to play.

Seniors are particularly vulnerable to weather extremes, but a solid roof can do what shade cloth and umbrellas can’t … protect us and the bocce courts from harmful UV rays, extreme heat, and rain.

If you are a bocce player, the family or friend of a bocce player, or just someone concerned about the health and safety of seniors, please let Mayor Derek Timm know that you support building a roof over the Skypark Bocce Courts as soon as possible. Then come and play!

— Cynthia Dzendzel, Felton

Elected leaders leading county down wrong path

Sorrily, Rep Panetta, state Sen. Laird, the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors, and King Keeley and his court, are missing the point in our communities.

Panetta points almost all our trouble onto the new administration; Laird, like Keeley, plays a combined 80 years of politics while endorsing special interest groups’ agendas.

Santa Cruz communities are losing their voice by special interest groups, like developers, homeless advocates to the RTC billion dollar project and Caltrans over-billing on contracts.

Additionally, Santa Cruz County with just over 260,000 citizens, is losing its culture, village, stability and economic outlook by advocates promoting a socialist agenda over common sense governance, i.e., opening cannabis lounges; drug addicts and dealers receiving housing; having an open sanctuary county for criminals; endless high-rise development; flipping downtown into a Las Vegas strip; to endless school bond measures for a decreasing population.

Santa Cruz must and can do better or watch its decline. .

— Jeff Staben, Soquel

Trump supporters should be embarrassed

This letter is in response to comments made by a frequent letter submitter to your paper.

It was mentioned that those who protest Trump’s agenda should be embarrassed for their actions.

If Trump supporters support the dismantling of our hard fought for democracy, the undermining and manipulation of our legal system in order to further his agenda and harming the most vulnerable in our society in the process, they should be embarrassed.

Please join us in protesting the illegal shut down of many of our federal protections and benefits on April 5th. Google HANDS OFF Santa Cruz!

— Connie Gardner, Santa Cruz

Greenland should have kept JD Vance crew out

Watching the unfolding drama around our VP’s Greenland visit it occurs to me that the Icelanders are much too kind. As an independent entity, which they are, they could have, and should have denied entry to that miserable crew. But, that’s just my opinion.

— Richard Jones, Santa Cruz