Why has Park Avenue Soquel housing stalled?

I was wondering if you have any news on what is going on with the Permanent Supportive Housing Project on Park Avenue near Highway 1. It seems to be stalled. The longer a project sits like that, the more likely investment to date will be wasted. That would be very unfortunate as the housing is much needed.

— Katherine Harasz, Capitola

A move to redistribute ‘white privilege’ wealth

Responding to Stephen Kessler’s recent piece (May 31) about the ambiguities of material privilege: I want to invite us – especially we who have benefited from white privilege – to examine how wealth has been created, amassed, and passed on generationally. Wealth has been built on stolen land and labor. Those holding excess financial wealth, overwhelmingly white, continue to benefit from divisive racism in the form of inequitable policies, mass incarceration, and targeted hate manifesting as cuts to essential programs.

I have benefited from intergenerational wealth. Working in public health and early childhood education throughout my career, I have gotten close to racial inequities, felt a psychic pain, and finally started to face and act to transform it through reparations-inspired learning and action. Most recently, I have become involved in Redistributing White Wealth Santa Cruz County (https://redistwhitewealth.wixsite.com/rwwscand). I invite Mr. Kessler and any white-identifying Santa Cruzan pricked to consciousness to take responsibility for inheritance. Join us in a cross-race, cross-class effort to build collective care and liberation through shared learning, mutual aid, and wealth redistribution.

— Jill Schettler-Susskind, Santa Cruz

Praise for Grey Bears’ new Executive Director

Kudos to the Grey Bears’ Board of Directors for hiring Jennifer Merchant, the new Executive Director. It is so refreshing to get to know Jennifer’s professional skill sets and nonprofit knowledge and know that she will aid the Bears and the senior community. We look forward to her maintaining essential services like the Brown Bag Program which provides fresh produce to almost 4,500 seniors weekly as well as any new ventures to improve the lives of seniors.

Thank you, Jennifer for joining our community.

— Lynda Francis, Soquel

Netanyahu is the one who is truly ‘antisemitic’

Israel’s Prime Minister is fond of throwing out accusations of antisemitism whenever someone dares question his Gaza incursion. This slur has become a convenient pretext to excuse his criminal conduct. Like Trump, Netanyahu is a hardened maximalist who never, ever admits to any wrongdoing. But even he must realize that his actions can likewise be characterised as antisemitic. After all, his people assemble in the thousands to protest his obstinate continuation of the war, and his failure to deliver the hostages. Thousands more protested his attempt to weaken the judiciary. And by continuing the war and deflecting blame for October 7, he has damaged Israel’s economy and its standing in the world.

Meanwhile, the West Bank is blowing up, with the IDF actively arming the illegal settlers and looking the other way as Palestinian orchards, infrastructure, and homes are plowed under.

Netanyahu’s goal, nakedly stated, is that Palestine will never have self-determination, let alone an unoccupied homeland. Israel, a once-thriving democracy, is fast becoming one that uses annexation, theocracy, and inequality to achieve its goals. Now that’s antisemitic.

— Tim Rudolph, Santa Cruz

Trump’s use of pardon power pleases his base

So Trump pardons notorious gang leaders, tax cheats, drug lords, thieves, criminals defrauding people out of millions, possible murderers. He is considering one for the thugs convicted of an attempted kidnapping of a sitting governor. Let’s not forget all those who beat police, defaced and stormed the Capitol on January 6th in an attempted coup.

Wouldn’t a pardon by Trump for the mother of Sofia, an illegal whose daughter requires critical medical care and whose death is almost assured if forced to return to Mexico be a much more appropriate use of the pardon power?

Sadly, she is of no use to him either monetarily or politically. She is just a throw-away deportee who if she received a reprieve it would probably anger his mean-spirited base.

— Christine DeLapp, Aptos