Argument about Ross fire station needs clarity

I am writing in response to the recent Marin Voice commentary by Dr. Elizabeth Robbins (“Emergency response times in Ross shouldn’t be sacrificed by fire station closure,” Jan. 24).

As a member of the Ross Valley Fire Department and association president of the Ross Valley Firefighters, I would like to separate and clarify misrepresentations regarding two topics of significant importance mentioned: the closure of Ross Valley Fire Department Station 18 and three-person staffing on RVFD engine companies.

Three-person staffing has been a long-standing goal for Ross Valley. Four-person engine companies are the national recommendation. Three-person engine companies are standard throughout Marin County. Yet, the Ross Valley Fire Department makes do with only two onboard its engines. RVFD does it by not having a firefighter in the back seat — splitting the duties between the engineer and captain.

The station closure was brought about by a unanimous vote of the Ross Town Council. The joint powers authority governing the department was then amended through action by the Ross Valley Fire Board. The authority had to be updated because, per that agreement, each town is required to maintain a fire station. Station 18 is closing because Ross failed to maintain it. Town officials are the ones who decided rebuilding it was too costly.

It was not closed in order to increase staffing on its remaining engine companies. It is true that staffing was increased at two other stations after the closure was announced, but that was only to avoid laying off firefighters.

Firefighters serving Ross are just as serious as residents about wanting first responders stationed there. However, stepping into the past and responding with a two-person engine company (stationed in a trailer behind a partially condemned fire station) is no longer an acceptable response model.

— Tommy Pastalka, Mill Valley

Jews should not feel alone in face of hate

I am the granddaughter of refugees from Eastern Europe and the parent of two Redwood High School graduates. I have always believed public education should foster empathy, critical thinking and historical awareness. Unfortunately, I think the ethnic studies framework for Tamalpais Union High School District students, as currently implemented, falls short.

Just as the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis triggered generational trauma in Black communities, my community experienced a similar trauma on Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Jewish people in Israel. That trauma continues today.

Many of us stood in solidarity at Black Lives Matter marches, just as some of our parents marched for civil rights in the 1960s. Some placed “Black Lives Matter” signs in windows. Yet, when Jewish lives were taken in Israel, some tore down posters calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Palestine. When we grieved, some celebrated.

On some college campuses protesters chanted for the destruction of Israel. Some Jewish American students were ostracized. Some educators — people we are asked to trust — enabled what many considered to be hateful actions.

The Anti-Defamation League reports a surge in antisemitism, yet I think the response remains muted. It appears to me that the stranglehold of antisemitic indoctrination can’t be stopped. In many ways, my community has felt very alone in the days since the terrorist attack.

We must band together now and remain vigilant about what is being taught to our children. Education should build bridges, not deepen divisions. Ethnic studies should ensure that no community is left to feel that they are standing alone in the face of hate.

— Randi Curhan, Corte Madera

Richmond Bridge bike lane must be removed

In his recently published commentary, IJ political columnist Dick Spotswood provided extensive data to explain why the bike and pedestrian lane should be removed from the westbound upper deck of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (“Richmond Bridge movable barrier ‘pilot program’ is a waste of time,” Jan. 26).

I agree with his premise that the bike lane causes significant problems for commuters and that very few cyclists actually use the lane to get to work. Clearly, cyclists need to go somewhere else for recreation.

Spotswood pokes holes in the latest proposal to test opening the bike lane from 2 p.m. Thursdays to 9 p.m. Sundays. Officials say they want an 18-month study (beyond the four-year study that concluded last year). That’s a bad idea. How about just using logic instead?

There will still be horrendous backups on Fridays and the weekends. Why are officials willing to ignore the needs of drivers on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays?

The correct decision is for officials to stop pandering to the bicycle and Bay Trail lobbies. Then, once the bike lane is removed, they should repeat the same steps as were taken on the eastbound lower deck. The deck should have three lanes of vehicle traffic during the heaviest commute hours. The rest of the time, the lane is for emergencies and breakdowns. As Spotswood pointed out, doing so saves commuters from spending an extra 66 hours per year in their cars.

— John Neuenburg, San Rafael

Health department should focus on need, not race

Marin residents should be troubled by the Marin County Health and Human Services Department’s announced policy to lead with race and view its duties through a “focused lens of race and intersectionality,” as Niccore Tyler, the department’s assistant director and chief strategy officer, wrote in her recently published Marin Voice commentary (“Health plan builds more equitable, resilient community,” Jan. 28).

In my view, since 90% of the agency’s duties are administering state-mandated social service programs, the primary focus should be need. If need is concentrated in particular populations, then those groups should receive the most services.

By making race the focus, the door is opened to unconstitutional discrimination that is both contrary to state law governing the services it provides and frustrates the department’s own policy of fostering community partnerships. I think having a racial focus promotes resentment, not reconciliation.

Department officials appear to have accepted an ideological approach that inaccurately attributes Marin’s admittedly distressing racial disparity to deliberate discrimination rather than migration of poor, unskilled people into an already expensive area.

In some ways, department officials are buying into the same conflict-based ideology that has roiled the Tamalpais Union High School District’s plans for an ethnic studies class.

— James Holmes, Larkspur

Trump ignoring history with actions on tariffs

The imposition of tariffs by President Donald Trump demonstrates how, once again, he is ignoring the lessons of history.

Displeasure over tariffs lay at the heart of the American Revolution. I would think that someone raised in the Northeast, as Trump was, would have heard of the Boston Tea Party. As all Americans should know, it was our reaction to tariffs imposed by King George and British Parliament that provided an unfair advantage to the East India Company and increased the financial burden on the colonists.

Tariffs returned to haunt our country again during the Great Depression. Countries erected tariff trade barriers that brought world commerce to its knees and deepened the financial catastrophe.

Perhaps it’s time to remind Trump of American distaste for punishing tariffs. It appears to me that his actions reveal little faith in America’s ability to compete in world markets without the heavy hand of government interference and regulation.

In the meantime, I’m thinking about changing my whiskey choice to one of those really tasty Canadian blends.

— Michael Sillman, Larkspur