| | Published March 16th, 2022
| Letters to the editor
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A note of thanks to Mr. Bill at Ace Hardware Moraga
My name is Rylan Gottschalk, and I am from Girl Scout Troop 33780 in Moraga. Our most recent project is our Bronze Award, in which we help our community with a specific service project, making a lasting effect. We are building cat shelters out of plastic barrels for a local animal shelter called Jelly's Place in San Pablo. We contacted Mr. Bill, the owner of Ace Hardware in Moraga, and asked for supply donations to paint the barrels. He was more than willing to give us the paint that we needed, and on top of that, he gave us a $50 donation to support our project and Jelly's Place. This is an incredible act of kindness and generosity, and I hope this community recognizes how giving and humble Mr. Bill is. He gives back to this community every day, and he deserves to be acknowledged for what he does.
Rylan Gottschalk
Moraga
Orinda must oppose housing mandates
Gross negligence and inattention have become -- in the area of the Orinda's housing - the hallmarks of the Orinda City Council.
"Orinda has been assigned 1,359 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) units. . . ," according the Lamorinda Weekly (March 2, 2022). In the same article, City Council Member Amy Worth is quoted as saying: "It's really important that we show good faith to HCD [Department of Housing and Community Development of California] and agreed that the city should proceed with the rezoning by Jan. 31."
The extra housing comes from a demand by the State of California. The Orinda City Council has presumably refused to object to RHNA's plans. Instead, the city meekly goes along with whatever the State of California demands in terms of new housing. Currently, California is experiencing a severe drought. Extra housing will do nothing to conserve precious water. In addition, extra housing will make evacuation from a local wildfire more difficult.
On Jan. 20, 2022, I wrote Orinda's mayor, Dennis Fay, stating that extra housing in Orinda "is not in the interest of Orinda's residents." To date, I have not received a reply from the mayor. Is he afraid to respond to his constituents? If I had not paid my local property taxes, I am sure that I would have heard from the mayor or someone else in government.
Orinda, in conjunction with other local communities, must oppose housing mandates from the State of California. Decisions on housing and local zoning for housing should be made by local government, not the state government.
Richard Colman
Orinda |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA