Letters: Public safety is lost in bureaucratic speech about gas explosion

"PG&E and Alameda County Fire officials say more investigation is needed to determine if residents should have been told to leave. The fact that a house blew up and people were injured means they absolutely should have been told. These spokespeople mean "did we follow our flawed process that said no need to notify despite the risk, or did we not follow our good enough process that should have notified people?" As such, they completely lose track of their real responsibility, our safety."

"If we had ranked-choice voting, the millions of dollars spent on this special election could have gone to education, food banks, medical care, housing, etc. And to add insult to injury, the other person on the ballot had been advertising that if he is elected, people over a certain age will not have to pay property taxes. The county assessor does not determine who has to pay property tax and who does not. Apparently, quite a few people believed him."

Bureaucratic spokespeople prioritized procedural questions over immediate safety after an explosion and injuries, questioning whether established processes required evacuation rather than acknowledging the need to warn residents. The failure to issue warnings after a dangerous gas leak is characterized as losing sight of responsibility for public safety. Ranked-choice voting is presented as a remedy to expensive special elections, with savings suggested for education, food banks, medical care, and housing; the example of a misleading assessor candidate illustrates voter confusion about tax authority. A political leader's public suggestion that an antisemitic attack was a 'false flag' is described as deeply disheartening and damaging to trust in a diverse community.

Read at The Mercury News