Letters to editor: Gorell off to bad start; the minority is ruling; affirmative action
Inauspicious start for Gorell
During his first six months in office, Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorell has taken credit where none is due, ditched local campaign limits, and is being investigated by the FPPC for violations of state law.
He pushed for a vote to end a public health emergency order despite Governor Gavin Newsom already announcing months before that the order would expire.
He led the charge to abandon local campaign contributions and dramatically increase the amount of special interest money that can flow into his re-election account starting now.
And because Gorell underreported the fair market value of office space during his primary and general election campaigns, the matter has been sent to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Some honeymoon.
Joan Edwards, Westlake Village
The minority is getting its way
Re: Lloyd Forrester’s June 12 letter, “Amendment attempt is a waste”:
Mr. Forrester makes a good point: 30 states are pro-gun; five of those states (Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota) have a population of less than 6 million people. They are represented by 10 senators. California has a population over six times greater than all five and is represented by two senators.
This is why the minority can get their way in both enacting laws and electing our president. The majority of people in America want something done to alleviate the problem with guns in America but as you can see, it will never happen.
Morris Scoggin, Ventura
Welcome change in admissions?
The Supreme Court often releases controversial opinions before going on summer recess. This term will be no different, as the two affirmative action cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina will be released in just a few weeks.
The predicted outcome would overturn decades of established practices in an effort to end “reverse” discrimination, but most agree little will change after the decision. Schools will simply pivot, changing the names of practices of what are in effect quotas, and continue the status quo to prevent the public shame of having only Asian and white students.
It is similar to what schools did in the South and suburbia nationwide after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Ventura County has its own history with forced integration, but that is another story.
As the tone of this letter suggests, I believe the decisions will be a favorable change to the admissions landscape, regardless of implementation. Court observers often reference Chief Justice Roberts’ 2007 line “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” which despite its naivete rings true. Bias, conscious or otherwise, will always exist in human societies, but one way to tamp down its effects is to remove government coercion from the equation.
I hope, however foolishly, that a downstream effect of the decisions will be an decrease of racial guilt promoted by public and private schools alike. White and light-skinned people of color ought not carry cultural shame for decisions made by their ancestors generations ago. The sins of the father are not passed to the son.
Elwood Lake, Camarillo
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters: Bad start for Gorell; minority is ruling; affirmative action
