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San Francisco Chronicle​

Letters: What would Oakland do with more property tax money? Waste it like always

Regarding 'Property tax hike proposed by Oakland's interim mayor to patch budget gap' (East Bay, May 6): Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins wants us to pay more property taxes. No way! Our household income last year was $85,000. Property taxes, at $674 per month, are our largest bill. For decades, we have watched the city fritter money away on consultants and things like the abominable Downtown Oakland Specific Plan. Streets have bicycle lanes where no one rides bikes, while up on Skyline Boulevard, the cavernous potholes maim cyclists, who can now sue the city. And how about the 'traffic calming' reconfiguration of Telegraph Avenue in the Temescal District? Were the transportation planners who designed that mess microdosing on something? How much tax money went to the hated Bus Rapid Transit infrastructure on International Boulevard? A recent UC Berkeley study found that this bad planning has resulted in 35 fatal accidents and economic losses to small businesses. We are fortunate to own our house. Many of Oakland's residents are renters who figured that they could stick it to homeowners by voting to increase property taxes. But, of course, landlords pass this on by increasing rents, which decreases affordability in Oakland. We have great confidence in Mayor-elect Barbara Lee. But she should not count on the largesse of her house-poor Oakland citizenry. Amelia Marshall, Oakland Mother's Day reminder Mother's Day evokes joy for many; it carries a deep and painful significance for me. I lost my son Eric to an overdose on Nov. 23, 2022, just three weeks shy of his 32nd birthday. His loss is part of a tragic statistic: about a million lives have been lost over the past decade to overdoses, all preventable deaths. For far too long, society has responded to substance use disorders with stigma and punishment rather than compassion and understanding. Harsh drug laws are ineffective, costly and steeped in systemic racism. Criminalization fills our prisons without addressing the root issues faced by those struggling with substance use disorders. We must advocate for expanded access to evidence-based health strategies that have proven effective in saving lives. This includes making medications for opioid use disorder more widely available, increasing harm reduction services and ensuring that the overdose-reversing drug naloxone is distributed across all communities. Cara Wykowski, Oakland While not wishing to wax too rhapsodic about the San Francisco Giants, in these screwy times, baseball is a grand way to forget about it all for a few hours. To see a grand slam, a guy steal third or the joy on the face of a child who gets a foul ball, all make the experience a balm in times of trouble. Steven Tracy, Davis