Government failed the property owner

Re “COVID-19 destroyed private property rights” (March 19):

Your article is correct. I am a small landlord who had to continue paying a mortgage, property tax and all other costs of owning a real estate rental when my tenant lived in my property free of rent. As soon as the government announced a tenant did not have to pay rent and could not be evicted, my tenant stopped paying rent. The government claimed that the landlord would receive relief, however, this is tenant driven. I completed my form as soon as we were allowed. The government would not reimburse me for rent as the tenant did not complete their part and the case was closed with no reimbursement of lost rent. To top this off, when we were finally able to evict the tenant, we were left with an excess of $5,000 cleanup of the rental. This included removal of all the toys that the tenant was able to purchase when he was not paying rent. The government has failed property owners.

— Richard Clark, Riverside

Voters must pressure the state Legislature

Re “Public schools failed us; kids need school choice” (March 19):

This opinion piece overall was well-written; however, one glaring aspect of failing schools was not mentioned: The powerful and well-funded CTA union, which spends money on lobbying and buying influence with politicians. All one needs to do is Google how much money teacher unions spend lobbying with, by far, the majority of funds donated to Democrats. They influence criminal justice reform, abortion rights, affordable housing issues, climate change and so much more, all that have nothing to do with teaching children in our public schools. The only way California students will realize a quality education is for voters to put pressure on the state Legislature to implement school choice.

— Donna Hall, Rancho Santa Margarita

COVID and what I learned

Sal Rodriguez (March 19) should have mentioned we learned how easy it was for prisoners and big corporations to steal money from our government and unemployment benefits. All California taxpayers should be told how much was stolen and how much has been recovered. Pelosi and Newsom looked down their noses at the people who paid their salaries. That’s what I learned.

— Jon Reitz, San Pedro