A simple fix to providing e-bike safety standards

I can’t tell you how many times I have had to slow down and keep an eye on a kid on an e-bike. But this is not hard to fix. Just like any new thing we have to teach kids how to be safe. We don’t need laws, licenses and the DMV. Simple, if you want to ride an e-bike you need a certificate and to get that you have to take a two-hour safety course. Any teacher can teach it and provide the certificate.

— Chelsea Wagner, Soquel

Don’t heed Kessler’s ‘dour opinion’ on protests

Does the Sentinel Editorial Board actually want readers to shut up and go home? That’s the message in Stephen Kessler’s dour April 12 opinion piece (Ed. note: Kessler is a columnist, not a member of the Editorial Board).

Can you not hear yourselves giving in to the slow-moving coup?

Nothing is more important right now than standing up together in public in huge numbers so we can find our community and share new ways to govern ourselves. Of course one day won’t be enough.

Our elected leaders are failing us. The system is failing us. The media is failing us. Our current form of democracy, bought and paid for by corporations, is failing us.

When he says no one knows what to do, he’s wrong. We need to abolish the Electoral College and “Citizens United.” We need a multi-party system that forces politicians to compromise with each other, even though our media won’t be able to handle anything more complicated than a fist fight. We need voting to be mandatory. Other countries do these kinds of things.

I am deeply insulted by Kessler’s opinions.

— Ellen Farmer, Santa Cruz

Combining library, train station, cut-down trees

The Sentinel reported April 13 that construction of the new Downtown Branch of the Santa Cruz Library will start in June. A month or so should be plenty of time to add a Downtown Rail Station to the plans. Think of the convenience. All those riders can check out a book while waiting for a train. And ties for the tracks can be milled from the heritage trees they cut down. Win/Win!

— Gary B. Silberstein, Santa Cruz

Canopy: Many SC heritage trees have been lost

As I read city Park and Recreation Director Elliot’s Commentary (April 13) about the loss of grants that would have supported the Urban Tree Canopy goals, I couldn’t help but mourn the past and future loss of so many of the city’s heritage trees.

Over a thousand city heritage trees have been cut down with permit from the Parks department in the last five years. That number does not include the heritage trees removed under Planning, or those cut down illegally.

As more and more new mixed-use projects come up for review, our Heritage Trees are the “collateral damage.” The required arborist reports find many of these trees still in good health. The replacement saplings are a poor substitute in terms of air quality and visual/psychological effect.

And despite the city ordinance, developers blithely submit plans that ignore the requirement to design projects that would preserve the heritage trees on the site. This includes the upcoming Magnolia Massacre, coming soon to Lot 4.

— Judi Grunstra, Santa Cruz

More effort needed to save city’s existing trees

Sunday’s Guest Commentary authored by the Director of Parks and Recreation talked to the value of a city tree canopy. A $1 million federal grant awarded to the Parks and Recreation Department to finance the expansion of the city’s tree canopy has been cancelled.

Apparently the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t value city trees. In reality it seems the City of Santa Cruz doesn’t either. Where would additional trees be planted? Virtually all of the numerous housing projects are being built right to the sidewalk with no space provided for trees. There seems to be little effort to preserve the trees we have. The majestic liquid ambers on Cedar Street will soon be felled to make way for a mixed use parking structure. The writer states every child should be able to walk to school in shade yet numerous heritage trees adjacent to Gault School were recently mowed down and there are far more examples of sidewalks being prioritized over trees . Let’s put some effort into saving the trees we have!

— Michael Funari, Santa Cruz