Why we can trust District Attorney Mike Hestrin

Union donations go far beyond Hestrin

The Desert Sun interviewed the three district attorney candidates and chose to endorse Mike Hestrin, a decision with which I wholeheartedly agreed.  I too felt that Burke Strunsky is light on content and heavy on attacking Hestrin.

The Desert Sun was concerned that Hestrin has accepted donations from law enforcement unions, thinking this could become a conflict of interest should he have to charge an officer with a crime. I understand that concern, but during the time Hestrin was a prosecutor and during his two terms as DA, he has demonstrated a high level of integrity. Given this demonstrated integrity and the level of scrutiny over anything he does as DA, I doubt The Desert Sun has to worry.

In today’s world, organizations often contribute to politicians who will have oversight of them. Teacher unions are one example. They donate millions of dollars to everyone from the governor to local school board members. The police union donations to Hestrin are miniscule in comparison.

Steve Scholl, Palm Desert

Don't remove statue; add context

The city of Palm Springs' plan to remove the Frank Bogert statue in front of city hall is wrong because it needlessly erases our history and thus deprives all of us a chance to learn from the past.

The right thing to do is to instead place an interpretive sign at the Bogert statue that teaches us about Bogert's involvement with the removal of people and their homes from Section 14 in the 1950s and '60s and why it was wrong.

So instead of just erasing history as if it never happened, we can turn visiting the statue into a positive teachable moment where people can learn about what must not ever be done.  After all, if we aren't given the chance to learn from the past, how can we make sure we don't repeat its mistakes?

So don't remove the Bogert statue — just place an interpretive sign with it so that we can all learn about our history for years to come and not repeat its mistakes.

Tom Reavey Jr.,  Las Cruces, New Mexico

Say no to Calvert, yes to progress

It is time to say no to the possibility of Republican Ken Calvert representing our valley in Congress. It is time to scream alarm that a Republican could send us backward to what I will call the dark days of Mary Bono representing us.

Some 12 years ago, many of us in the Coachella Valley rebelled and worked hard to gain and sustain a Democratic region with much more progressive representation.

In 2012, Democrat Raul Ruiz was sent to Congress.  Equality and much harder work was put into improving our environment, infrastructure projects, protecting a woman's right to chose, promoting protections for the LGBTQ community, and gaining access to a visible congressman engaged with us.

Ken Calvert does not reflect Coachella Valley values of inclusion and working together as communities to better us.

Vote for and promote Will Rollins for Congress and to re-elect Ruiz to keep lightness shining on us.

Rob Westwood, Rancho Mirage

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Re-elect Mike Hestrin as Riverside County district attorney | Letters