Traffic violence is not inevitable, it is preventable with good city planning | Opinion

Traffic violence is preventable

“SLO Tribune letter writers on bike lanes and climate change,” (sanluisobispo.com, Sept. 18)

Five years ago, my primary mode of transportation was driving or walking. These days, I often favor taking a bike (even though I’m not a cyclist) instead of getting in the car.

In regards to the city’s goal of getting bikes off of dangerous, high-speed streets, it is fine to have certain high-use car roads as long as protected lanes or alternate routes on quieter, residential streets are provided. Then, everyone’s needs can be met.

As more people choose alternative forms of transportation, the use of cars decreases, as does the need for parking. I know several families around San Luis Obispo that have gone down to one car, opting for cargo bikes to shuttle kids to school and downtown events.

Traffic violence is not inevitable, it is preventable with city planning, and it’s the responsibility of every driver to avoid crashes. This is an adjustment phase. We are all learning and doing our best, and I’m excited to see how this positively impacts us in the coming years.

Rose Levinson-Woertz

San Luis Obispo

Helping our neighbors

“Homeless SLO residents say property goes missing after camp cleanups. What’s happening?” (sanluisobispo.com, Oct. 2)

Over the past 15 years, I’ve come to realize that reducing homelessness is not about lawsuits, notices, receipts, storage or public land. It’s about humanity and treating our unhoused brothers and sisters as we wish to be treated. It’s about giving a hand up to those who have nothing and helping people get ahead instead of making them start all over.

It’s about ensuring that everyone has a roof over their head in this pristine area we get to call home — making sure they are dry in the rain instead of taking their blankets away. It’s about making sure they have enough food and water and a place to use the toilet and shower.

It’s not about money or land, we have plenty of that. It’s about the will of the people. It’s about honoring our elderly, and not turning a blind eye to the man with a wheelchair sleeping in the dirt. It’s about doing the right thing. It’s about helping those who no one else could and moving forward with housing projects.

Hope’s Village tried for 11 years to help our unhoused folks get into a tiny house village. Let’s get someone to open a sanctioned encampment where people can be safe if and until housing is built. It’s the least we can do.

Becky Jorgeson, M.A.

San Luis Obispo

Opinion

Closed until safe

“Oceano Dunes: Off-roading can continue, SLO judge rules,” (sanluisobispo.com, July 20)

In 2019, the California Coastal Commission deemed the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area operations harmful to public health and the environment, instructing state parks to halt them by Jan. 1, 2024. Offroaders sued the CCC, and Judge Tana Coates sided with them; now, the CCC is appealing, and Oceano is held in limbo for at least another two years.

For over 40 years, our county leaders have buried their heads in the sand. Yet they have the authority, as pointed out by Coates, to enforce the CCC’s decision by revising our Local Coastal Plan. Instead, they await court decisions. Meanwhile, offroaders sue right and left and demand apologies, while poisoning Mesa residents and destroying our beach and dunes.

A data conflict ensued between Air Pollution Control District and Scripps Study scientists. If the Oceano Recreation Area were a private business posing a health risk, the county would have intervened. I request that it be closed until it’s confirmed safe.

Lucia Casalinuovo

Oceano

Feinstein’s legacy

“Stop talking about Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s tarnished legacy,” (sanluisobispo.com, Sept. 29)

Dianne Feinstein was a moderate in her own way. She had a beautiful political career, from being mayor of San Francisco to a California senator. Because of her, there are many women now in the Senate, including some of whom she mentored, such as Susan Collins, Patty Murray and Vice President Kamala Harris.

John Huerta

Merced

Essential healthcare workers

“What are highest paid CA state job openings in SLO County?” (sanluisobispo.com, July 11, 2022)

On Oct. 6, Physician Assistants/Associates all over the country will celebrate PA day and then PA week, continuing until Oct. 12. This day commemorates the birthday of the founder of the first PA program in the U.S., Eugene Stead. Currently over 200,000 PAs practice in the U.S.

There are currently two training programs on our coast in Santa Maria and Monterey which train PAs to provide healthcare where it is needed most and to our most vulnerable patients. You will find PAs in the emergency room, clinics, hospitals, operating rooms, prisons, offices and schools. They provide care in all medical and surgical specialties, doing about 80-90% of what physicians do. They are an integral part of the healthcare team.

As our national doctor shortage grows, PAs will have an increasingly important role to play in the future of healthcare. I am proud to represent both PAs and nurse practitioners on the central coast as the president of the only combined organization in our state. We are committed to work together to provide high quality healthcare to those living in our local communities.

Sharon Girard

President, Central Coast NP/PA Association