Senate Bill 79

Ironic that Steven Greenhut uses Alice in Wonderland to debunk naysayers of SB79 (“Property rights for me, not thee,” July 13.) The setting for Alice is in a symbolic England, ruled by a tyrannical Queen who is an arbitrary authority with no regards for consequences. Much like dismantling CEQA requirements for traffic studies, especially in fire-prone areas.

How many dwellings would have burned in Altadena had it been infilled per SB79? How many more will burn anywhere due to lack of foresight? We are not Baltimore 1910. We are California 2025. Water is scarce. Infrastructure failing. People on transit are shot.

Magically speaking of high-density housing as a panacea unchecked is to utter nonsense like TweedleDum and TweedleDee. Imagine a smart growth philosophy entailing coherent development where locally based input complements sensible state regulation.

As the Cheshire Cat said, “If you don’t know where you are going, then you’ll end up where you are headed.” So far, it doesn’t look good.

— Gloria Solis, Garden Grove

Inside Safe Program

Re “Homelessness drops in L.A. County survey” (July 15):

Today’s paper said Los Angeles has lowered the homeless count by 3.5%. Does that mean that our taxes are going to put them in hotels? This is not solving the problem. All it’s doing is raising taxes for those of us who worked our whole lives. They need to put them in facilities that can help them with their issue, be it alcohol, drugs, PTSD. anything. Giving them a free place to stay is not going to help them. All it does is get a few people off the street at taxpayer expense. These people need help, not free hotels.

— Terri Glaser, Simi Valley

Health data privacy

Re “State right to sue over Medi-Cal privacy” (July 11):

While it’s in our best interests to keep medical information private, this leftist governor and Legislature believe it’s perfectly OK to give away public funding to illegals in the form of Medi-Cal insurance. Medi-Cal is the California flavor of Medicaid. If this is federal money that has just been moved between Peter and Paul with a slight of hand move, the feds have every right to see the ID of the recipient. California voters never got a chance to vote on this type of money laundering.

— Roy Reaser, Fullerton