More needs to be revealed on MAH’s troubles

It was enlightening to read (As We See It, June 29) the Sentinel Editorial Board’s discoveries about the Museum of Art & History at the McPherson Center, particularly the comments about financial debt, dwindling donor support, donor flight, and the change of focus from art and history to an events-centered venue.

One can easily read between the lines, and I hope there will be an expanded story forthcoming. It’s overdue.

— Carolyn Swift, Watsonville

‘Too much money for too few riders’ for rail service

Jim Weller does his best to spin the $4.28 billion price tag for county rail service as a “worst case scenario” but no amount of number-crunching can change the fact that it’s simply too much money for too few riders!

A few thousand passengers a day? Metro, requiring no new unique infrastructure (tracks, stations, locomotives) reports over 10,000 boardings per day (2024) with multiple routes and frequencies for a pittance by comparison. Why do we need rail?

Has the RTC ever led a project that came in under budget? Our rail trail estimate has ballooned over six-fold from $4 million/mile to $26 million/mile. Now Watsonville’s only getting some bike lanes on West Beach and San Andreas Road — no rail trail at all!

The state high-speed rail project is a fiasco! Could Mr. Weller’s excessively optimistic projections lead to similarly disastrous results here?

Federal — and probably state — funding sources have evaporated.

Bay Area transit networks serving millions are struggling with ridership and funding.

Stop now! It’s too much money for too few riders!

— Nadene Thorne, Santa Cruz

‘Wishful thinking’ on projected costs of train

Jim Weller’s train cost numbers appear to be wishful thinking. Just look at the poorly done cost estimates by the RTC on the Santa Cruz section of rail trail. The RTC has proven to be inefficient and even wasteful with repeated studies and conflicting projections of time, money and ridership.

It is hard to believe the RTC can shave 1-2 billion off the future price of a train. Even if the train only cost $10.55 per month per citizen in tax increases (to build and operate) that’s $506.40 per family of four living in Santa Cruz per year according to Weller’s lower cost estimates. Times 20 years of projected payments that’s over $10,000 per family. And the few people who ride the train will also have to pay train fare. How much will that be? Let’s also not forget that money coming from the state or feds is also tax money. If all this money is not spent on a pie in the sky boondoggle it can be spent on more inclusive projects.

— Mark Ban, Capitola

Sanctuary laws harm undocumented people

I can’t help thinking that the haphazard way ICE agents assigned to sanctuary states are locating, detaining and deporting undocumented people living amongst us is a self-inflicted injury. While well-intentioned, sanctuary laws prohibit local law enforcement from having any input over when, where and how immigration enforcement is conducted. Local law enforcement officers know where the bad guys are, but sanctuary laws prohibit them from pointing the feds in the right direction. This intentional disconnect has forced the feds to conduct generalized sweeps and subsequently detain and deport productive members of our community.

Most undocumented people arrested and deported from non-sanctuary states have committed at least one criminal act since arriving in this country, yet only a small number of undocumented people detained and deported from sanctuary states have engaged in unlawful behavior. While our intentional disconnect is not the sole reason for this statistic, it is undoubtedly a contributing factor. Maybe it’s time to reconnect so we can have some input on when, where and how immigration laws are enforced in our community.

— Owen Hendricks, Santa Cruz

Look into new concept in elevated transportation

I was reading your Guest Commentary (June 24) about an elevated transportation system in lieu of budget-busting rail in our county. I would like to recommend a whole new concept in elevated transportation that is leagues ahead of anything suggested so far. Go to whoosh.solutions to see Whoosh.

The video has an aerial view of a whole system in place in Queenstown, New Zealand. It’s giant leap forward in transportation!

— Eileen Sundet, Aptos