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Caltrain Engineers
should be emulated

Re: “While some applaud former Caltrain officials who built secret apartments, prosecutors call it a crime” (Page B1, April 3).

Mayor Mahan may consider hiring Joe Navarro and Seth Worden to lead his housing and affordable housing efforts in San Jose. These two former Caltrain employees created two secret apartments inside an unused station for $50,000. Their entrepreneurship must be recognized and appreciated.

Having been fired and awaiting trial for misappropriation of public funds, they should have plenty of time to apply their obvious talents to the spending of millions in city funds earmarked for housing and ‘affordable housing.

Creativity, chutzpah and closure what more can we ask for?

Ty Greaves
Saint Joseph

AI is a promise
of a bright future

Re: “San Jose harnesses AI to identify homeless encampments” (Page A1, April 7).

With the rise of AI, Silicon Valley is once again at the forefront of global transformation. English is the new programming language.

For transformation, 20 years ago only the forward-looking among us (like former Adobes CEO Bruce Chizen) would be talking about replacing physical objects (such as flashlights) with apps. The idea at the time boggled the mind and, in retrospect, is taken for granted. Just as we download apps to our phones without problems, we will all soon generate our own GPTs not by coding, but by writing advanced instructions (in English) with custom knowledge bases.

Art will soon merge with technology as a new generation of non-engineers work on app design. The future is bright.

Akeem Mostamandy
Saint Joseph

EVs, other tricks
they are not the climate panacea

Re: Carbon tariff will boost electric vehicle sales (Page A6, April 10).

Carlos Rodríguez Santiago thinks the so-called cybertrucks are “so beautiful.” This is unfortunate when you consider that Tesla’s “cyber truck” is extremely heavy, requires huge batteries, and poses a serious road safety hazard due to its weight.

Electric vehicles of any kind, along with photovoltaic cells and “cloud lighting,” are by no means panaceas for the looming climate crisis. In fact, they are great distractions from what really needs to happen, which can be described as “radical conservation”. Maintaining the lifestyles of middle-class America (and elsewhere in the world) is unsustainable. Dramatic changes are needed in the way we live our lives.

There will be no technological miracles coming to the rescue, no matter what the billionaires say. Simply put, we need to produce less and consume less overall. And what we produce must be distributed much more equitably.

Anthony Stegman
Saint Joseph

California should
total ban on plastic bags

Plastic pollution harms our oceans, wildlife and even humans: plastic bags break down into microplastics, which end up in our drinking water and, consequently, our blood. The single-use plastic bags distributed by grocery stores, which we only use for five minutes, take hundreds of years to break down and continue to harm us for hundreds of years beyond their use.

As a global leader in protecting the environment, California has the opportunity to instigate major change for a more sustainable future. That’s why SB 1053, which would ban single-use plastic bags from grocery stores, is such an important bill. With this measure, we can pave the way for the progressive elimination of single-use plastics and ensure that their undoubted harm ends.

Avalon Kelly
The Cats

Continued blockade of Gaza
should lead to a UN investigation

It is outrageous that Israel continues to deny food, water and basic necessities to anyone under its control. There are many trucks loaded with food, tents and medical supplies outside their borders, waiting to be unloaded.

The United Nations World Court must prosecute Israel for the crime of failing to protect vulnerable humans living on its territory.

If Israel does not guarantee the safety of all who live on its territory, the United Nations should declare a total boycott.

Gil Villagran
Saint Joseph

Publishing raises the profile
of a few demonstrators

Re: “The appalling tactics of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement” (Page A7, April 9).