Fresno Bee letters: On marijuana stores and Hustler, right-wing media, 3 Strikes law

Fresno has no pot stores, but Hustler

I am extremely disappointed with the way our city is denying people their right to open a cannabis outlet. They claim they don’t want our city to look bad. Really?

They seem to have no problem with the Hustler lingerie store and massive billboard on Highway 41 and Shaw. This gives our city a bad look. Porn is much more destructive than marijuana. Get rid of this store, then I’ll listen to your arguments about pot.

Time to bring back Fairness Doctrine

Opinion without rebuttal, becomes propaganda. And, propaganda without restriction becomes a tool for controlling and manipulating others, a form of brainwashing. And we all know what can happen when a group of citizens has been convinced, by propaganda, that they have been cheated and/or harmed.

Before 1987, the Fairness Doctrine required TV and radio stations to provide equal time for citizens to rebut any political opinion expressed on the airwaves. This doctrine was not an abridgment of speech or censorship, but rather a safeguard that insured that differing opinions would be heard, without restriction.

It was Ronald Reagan’s administration that removed the Fairness Doctrine that gave us Rush Limbaugh, Fox Cable News and 24/7 paid partisan propaganda. Since, then, our American society has become siloed into separate and competing realities where there is no opportunity to hear an opposing opinion, let alone understand actual facts.

It seems to me, the first step to achieving common ground in our society is to create an environment where we agree to vigorously debate our ideas and our opinions in the public square. Simultaneously, it seems we need to resurrect a Fairness Doctrine that applies to our airways and our social media.

U.S. pastime of banning books

Looks like the American pastime of book banning is back.

The good news is it doesn’t work.

You would think the censors would remember Brer Rabbit — don’t throw me in that briar patch! As soon as you forbid a book, people rush out to read it. You should see the number of people asking for “Maus” in the library

Of course I did too. Is the book disturbing? Absolutely. Would it make kids uncomfortable? Sure. Should they read it? I cannot think of a better account of the personal impact of the Holocaust.

I have a sneaking suspicion that few of those protesting the placing of any book have ever read them. I can remember the banning of “Grapes of Wrath” in Bakersfield. There is usually a pernicious brand of ignorance connected with these efforts, and it’s still with us today.

Lots of history is uncomfortable, not to mention bloody, or as in “Maus,” disgusting. Some heroes were butchers, racists or insane. Banning books is just one sign of the Stalinization of history. Don’t like an idea? Airbrush it out.

Get tough with criminals

Mr. Hoffman could at least report the facts accurately. In 1992 and 1993, when California crime at an all-time high with over 4,000 murders a year, including our daughter Kimber, California passed the Three-Strikes Law Both legislatively, with a two-thirds majority from our state Legislature, and on the ballot by California voters.

Within three years California saw its crime rates drop faster and further than in its entire history of keeping records. Not only did crime go down, our prison population froze at approximately 170,000 and stayed that way over the next decade. When there are fewer crimes, there are fewer criminals to lock up. That’s how you reduce prison populations.

The current policy encourages the use of drugs, and users support themselves through selling more drugs and crime.

Laws that are no longer enforced are, in effect, no longer laws.

Can you remember when it was criminals that were moving out of California? Getting tough got results.

Better modeling needed on Fresno Unified board

Current adult board members at Fresno Unified aren’t modeling core leadership values: Specifically, that collaborative adult relationships are essential, and parents, students and the community as a whole are vital partners.

Recent meetings have created a toxic, unwelcoming environment. The adult bickering is a diversion from addressing real issues impacting the majority low-income, Black, brown and API youth that comprise more than 90% of our district's current population. Issues like the need for more mental health resources and counselors on campuses, or staffing shortages creating increased class sizes and less off-campus opportunities, need to be addressed.

Healthy dialogue should always center our youth and how to improve the conditions of our schools. The board must avoid becoming a political pulpit for anyone's agenda and hate speech.

FUSD deserves loving and caring adults modeling what healthy dialogue and debate can look like. Students should be empowered by our school board, not kept at a distance. We know that working alongside youth as collaborators is the best way to ensure transformation and real progress in addressing the issues they face. Youth board members will give students real decision-making power, strengthen our district’s leadership and ensure we’re centering the needs of our students.

Trash in the county needs hauling off

There is a large household-items trash pile that has been sitting near my house for more than a month. This is the case despite multiple phone calls to the county from my neighbors and me.

I was told by county road maintenance that there is a big problem in Fresno County with the dumping of household items on public property.

When I checked further I was told the county of Fresno has allocated $600,000 for picking up dumped household items. The county has contracts with three different haulers at $200,000 each.

I phoned the office of my county Supervisor, Nathan Magsig, 559-600-5000, and suggested the county implement a program such as other locales have, where residents can have a free haul-off of household items once per year. This would have to save money and would lessen the dumping.

The person I spoke with said he would get back to me.

If you think this is a good idea, feel free to phone Supervisor Masig’s office and say so.

Mimimum wage equals poverty life

Proposition 47 does not enable criminal activity. What it does do is stop putting impoverished citizens away who feel pressured to turn to crime to get by.

We should instead be focusing on the root cause of why people feel the need to steal. I recently noticed that baby formula in several stores has been moved to a locked cabinet. The simple explanation is that people can’t even afford essential items, such as baby formula.

This is not to say that every poor person is a thief. What I’m saying is that if a large part of thieves are impoverished, we should be looking into ways to get them out of this lifestyle. Our minimum wage should be able to support people, but it doesn’t. Our current minimum wage is poverty, and it’s near impossible to get out of it without outside support.

County board refuses to see risks

In the Feb. 27 issue, The Bee reported that the county Board of supervisors rejected a grant to study health impacts of climate change, with Supervisor Magsig questioning whether such a study would fit with local agriculture, and Supervisor Brandau, unsurprisingly, making vague statements about the “sketchy” people who would do the study — with no clear example of what was sketchy about them.

This is, unfortunately, fairly typical of these two, and of the council as a whole as of late. When granted the opportunity to do their duty and help identify problems for their constituents in order to be prepared, they have chosen instead to bury their heads in the sand.

Every summer we see how climate change causes health problems by burning the Sierra, and we are now seeing how climate change-fueled droughts can impact local agriculture. But apparently the BoS feels that even acknowledging real-world problems, instead of fighting fictional culture wars and pursuing fringe Libertarian economic theories, is somehow not appropriate.

Failing to acknowledge the risks that the Valley faces from climate change is a dereliction of duty. I hope that the voters of Fresno County will hold these people responsible.

This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Fresno Bee letters: On marijuana stores and Hustler, right-wing media, 3 Strikes law."