Sounding the alarm over high compensation to Valley Children’s executives | Opinion

On Valley Children’s compensation

I wish to extend my thanks and congratulations to Erik Galicia for his excellent reporting, Marek Warszawski for his opinion column, and the Fresno Bee Editorial Board for its stand on the outrageous salaries, additional compensations and real-estate loans to the administrators of Valley Children’s Hospital.

Additionally, I’m pleased to see that Fresno City Council is pressing the state to investigate the administrative salaries and offshore investments. The hospital is located in Madera County, not Fresno County, and neither the Madera City Council nor the Madera Board of Supervisors seems to be either informed or concerned about the issues.

These same elected representatives seemed to have been ineffective in preventing the Madera Community Hospital from being shut down about 16 months ago. So, it’s nice to know that we have neighbors who care.

Jim Glynn, Madera

Redirect CEO pay to help families

I read about the $5 million-plus salary for Valley Children’s Hospital CEO Todd Suntrapak and the million-dollar salaries of five vice presidents mentioned in Marek Warszawski’s March 25 article in The Bee.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno for many years has had a monthly collection of food for the families that travel distances and stay in the rooms of their children in the hospital. The food is for families that cannot afford to eat in the hospital cafeteria.

I tried to contact Mr. Suntrapak about this issue, but noticed that his email is not listed anywhere on the hospital’s website. I then called the hospital, and they told me there was no way to contact him.

Opinion

I was going to suggest that the hospital needs to start changing its priorities — from exorbitant leadership salaries to helping the people who cannot afford to purchase food and that he should respond to my letter in The Bee.

I also read that assets at Valley Children’s have increased from $430 million to $1.9 billion during the CEO’s tenure. Perhaps some of that money could be used to feed the families that cannot afford food in the hospital?

Stephen Sacks, Fresno

Missing out on solar

We enrolled 135 Tulare and Kings counties’ neighbors in a community solar and storage pilot program that helps us weather our extreme summers.

Unfortunately, the California Public Utilities Commission has proposed to reject electric bill relief we need from these projects.

We first learned about community solar the same month our neighbors had electricity bills running from $300 to $600. We signed people up to get 20% off monthly electricity bills (in addition to basic CARE/FERA discounts). Adding community solar-based discounts is what brought us meaningful savings.

Giving California communities this access is a real way the state can meet our climate and energy needs. Sadly, there’s still too much utility bureaucracy and too many accessibility barriers standing in the way. We could have reached twice as many people in the same time frame if California utilities designed the programs with consumer access as a priority.

The CPUC proposal undermines widespread community solar-and-storage adoption and helps perpetuate ongoing issues in utility-administered programs, which limit access. It doesn’t allow room for education on its benefits by us residents, or trusted organizations.

As summer approaches, we urge the commission to reconsider its stance on community solar, and we call on our legislators to champion this solution.

Melynda Metheney, Visalia

Prayer for pizza

Clovis parents are so concerned their children will be indoctrinated by listening to the Good News and eating pizza?

Do they realize how they are being indoctrinated daily by Tik Tok and other social media? Getting pizza and listening — heaven forbid.

Bob Parkman, Fresno

On expiration dates

Kudos to Save Mart for offering food near their expiration dates (The Bee, March 21).

As a dumpster diver during my childhood as a refugee, and as a physician who administered medications in emergencies after their expiration dates on the high seas with the patient’s knowledge, congratulations to Save Mart.

The disposal of perishable foods and medications calls for legislation for periodic review and adjustment of the expiration dates of these valuable resources.

Dr. Andre Minuth, Fresno

Men, stop staring at girls

Ah yes, spring has sprung! Flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, the temperatures are rising, and grown men at Fresno Unified School District are telling our underaged daughters not to wear tank tops, lest the sight of their bare shoulders inflame the passions of other grown men.

They are children and they are allowed to be comfortable. If grown adult men are made uncomfortable by the sight of bare children’s shoulders, perhaps they should no longer be working at a school.

And if a bared shoulder is enough to distract your entire class from the lesson you’re teaching, maybe you should get better at your job.

Kathleen Osle, Fresno

Trash rates in Fresno

So how’s that trash service privatization by Fresno city council members and past and present, mayor!

When the mass of the city’s budget goes to the Police Department, everything else suffers if we don’t increase their budgets.

I’m not against the police — don’t defund the police — fix the funding of our city’s maintenance. If we do not undo this mistake and fund our services properly, what are we doing?

This isn’t Fresno — our roads are trash, you will ask us to continue Measure C.

Get ready Fresno, if we don’t get rid of term limits and elect people who want to make Fresno the best little city in America, over what’s-my-next-job politicians.

I challenge the mayor and council to fund these departments equally, fiscally responsible, get rid of term limits or at least debate it without calling everyone names.

The pay scale of council members and the mayor are a like what is it now over 100 grand. No pay till fixed. Then no back pay. Fresno deserves better.

Dana Bobbitt, Fresno

General Plan approval was wrong

For those of you who do not know, the Fresno County Supervisors has approved an update on the county’s General Plan and EIR with minimum public opposition.

By law the county is required to reveal all known, significant, negative impacts created by the General Plan for the environment and health of county residents.

While the supervisors were aware of the harmful impacts of the 2042 General Plan, they chose to ignore them and plow ahead. The decision to not address these impacts were reflected in a public comment on the EIR submitted by the Sierra Club’s Tehipite Chapter, Central Valley Partnership, and the League of Women Voters.

The changes in this General Plan include reverting back to a time of limitless sprawl into our foothills and farmland regions, with more freeways. Additionally there would be an expansion of housing developments and shopping centers on the outskirts of the county instead of focusing on infill and community housing. All of these factors counteract any attempt to curtail climate change impacts.

To reiterate, the General Plan’s EIR does not provide information on the environmental harm that the 2042 General Plan would cause in Fresno County, nor does it provide any enforceable mandates.

It should be noted that two new projects included in the new 2024 General Plan are the 700-acre Kings River conversion of John Harris grazing lands, and a large property north of Copper River have been designated as “study areas” (meaning that this is a way of skirting responsibility, allowing developers to step in).

With this information, we as residents of this area need to be mindful of any upcoming projects and make our voices and concerns heard to the Fresno County supervisors.

Brenda Markham, Fresno