CalPERS owes us transparency after massive data breach | Letters to the editor
Emergency meeting needed
“How hackers stole 769000 CalPERS retirees’ confidential data,” (sacbee.com, June 22)
The information about the PBI Research Services/Berwyn Group breach came out right before the recent CalPERS Board meeting, making it difficult if not impossible for the vast majority of members to address this incredibly serious issue at that meeting. But this issue must be addressed immediately.
CalPERS members deserve the opportunity to speak directly to the Board and to CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost about this breach at an emergency public meeting. Frost must be held accountable, and so must the Board.
This is a huge security breach with alarming financial consequences. Denying members an urgent public meeting is unconscionable and a breach of good faith. Our leadership must be held accountable for yet another disastrous action: the hiring of PBI, the third party where the security breach occurred.
Dev Berger
Sacramento
Goodbye, Sup. Aguilar
“SCUSD Superintendent Aguilar will step down, district says,” (sacbee.com, June 28)
Sacramento City Unified teachers like me have seen numerous superintendents come and go. A few have been helpful, but most have been irrelevant — if not downright detrimental — to the real work that’s done in the classroom. I wonder if outgoing Sac City Superintendent Jorge Aguilar learned anything in the last six years…
I know my students sure did, and I’ll be back in the classroom come August to pour my heart and soul into seeing it happen again. Working people are stronger when we have a union fighting for us. As teachers, our priority has always been student success, and we’re in the classroom doing the actual work to ensure that.
John Doolittle
West Sacramento
Opinion
Protect democracy
“Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges,” (sacbee.com, June 27)
Several high profile cases were decided by the Supreme Court this month, but only one (Moore v. Harper) had the potential to impact the very lifeblood of our democracy: voting. This election law case considered, in part, a controversial constitutional theory known as the independent state legislature doctrine. At issue was whether or not state legislatures had absolute power with no electoral oversight authority by state courts to regulate federal elections. With unchecked power, state legislators in key swing states could have rejected the voters’ slate of electors and appointed their handpicked substitutes.
The Supreme Court has an obligation to protect our democracy. By rejecting the dangerous independent state legislature theory, the court safeguarded state-level judiciaries and ensured that our republic, in place since 1789, will remain a true representative system of government.
Jim Paladino
Tampa, Fla.
Top priority
“Fossil fuel companies to blame for share of California wildfires, scientists say,” (sacbee.com, May 28)
The severe heatwave in the South and the wildfires blazing in Canada serve as yet another reminder that our world is rapidly warming. To stop the polluting of our atmosphere with carbon dioxide from our continued burning of fossil fuels, we must act now.
With the passing of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, there are incentives that make clean energy sources cheaper than burning fossil fuels. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is tasked with regulating utilities and ensuring that ratepayers have affordable, safe and clean energy.
CPUC members must show bold leadership and rapidly transition all California utilities from burning carbon polluting fossil fuels to producing our electricity from clean sources of energy such as solar and wind and using energy storage. Please, for the sake of our grandchildren and all future generations, make this transition your top priority.
Ron Sadler
Roseville
Support wildfire survivors
“California wildfires grew worse. The Forest Service dropped more retardant. Did it help?” (sacbee.com, April 20)
I am writing to implore Congressman Doug LaMalfa to prioritize House Resolution 176, which would “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a deduction for attorney fees awarded with respect to certain wildfire damages and to exclude from gross income settlement funds received with respect to such damages.”
We need this bill passed now.
LaMalfa represents the survivors of two catastrophic megafires: the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Dixie Fire. For survivors, these settlement funds are an absolute necessity to rebuild their shattered lives and communities.
The fate of HR 176 rests on LaMalfa’s total commitment to addressing this injustice. Without his unwavering support, this bill risks failure, and his constituents will suffer even greater hardships.
I urge him to prioritize HR 176, fight for its passage and ensure his constituents receive the support they desperately need.
Tina Reszler
Paradise
