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Published April 12th, 2023
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Letters to the editor
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Congratulations to Cathy Chang
I am thrilled that Cathy Chang has been elected the 2023 Moraga Citizen of the Year!
Cathy is the most amazing young woman I know in Moraga. In addition to working full-time as a single Mom of two, Cathy has been an active provider of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion education to both Moraga students and adults, through curriculum, movie/ discussion nights and numerous library displays. She engages her children and her adult friends in distributing food pantry items to those in need in Oakland, established the Plant it Forward program for local 5th graders, led a program for Moraga elementary students to prepare winter Friday nightdinners at an Oakland Senior center (using "ugly produce" gleaned from a local farm), helped lead Girl Scouts in a fun geocaching hunt (learning, aside, about survival compass use and building a survival shelter), and led Girl Scouts in harvesting and packing milkweed seed to give to local residents.... and so much more.
Of the 41 prior Moraga Citizens of the Year, only four have been Asian, and only one other Asian woman has been elected (despite that 20.8% of Moragans are of Asian descent), and none have been from the younger Moraga demographic. Cathy's election is an important statement about who we are as a community and our values.
I urge you to join me in attending the Celebration Dinner for Cathy on April 28 at Holy Trinity Serbian Church in Moraga and meet and honor this extraordinary woman (register at
www.MoragaValleyKiwanis.org).
Proud of our Town,
Bobbie Preston
Moraga
A point of clarification
I'm writing to acknowledge a complete slip of words in my public
comments made at the recent City Council meeting discussing the
Pleasant Hill Road Bike/Pedestrian Path project. In reading the March
15 edition of the Lamorinda Weekly, I saw that I was quoted in saying,
"No one wants to see the Pleasant Hill and dedicated bike and pathway
project done." I immediately listened to the recording of the meeting
before reaching out to reporter Lou Fancher. Unfortunately, I was
quoted correctly.
But that is absolutely not my view on the project. What I failed to say were three very important words at the end of that sentence: "... more than me."
I have spent the last three years working with Eric Law and others on the project; building a website, managing email and social media communications, designing and selling yard signs, walking door to door publicly advocating for the project, attending public meetings and town halls and also investing my own money. In fact, I spent the bulk of my free time during the day of the meeting writing an email to supporters and a social media post outlining my support of the project.
But when I was finally able to read the public comments submitted by concerned citizens, I realized that now is not the best time to ask for federal and state funding. In my haste to write down and speak my public comment, I forgot those important words.
I still believe that we need a solution to create a safer and more environmentally-friendly way for kids and members of our community to travel Pleasant Hill Road without a car. (Not every family can nor should need to purchase another car in order for their child to get to school). But the solution must take into consideration the traffic needs of that section of town. There is more work to be done and I look forward to being part of that process.
Lauren McCabe Herpich
Lafayette |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA