Bee Opinionated: Deception in southeast Sac + Queer history not a relic + Pride’s allies
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Hello, this is Robin Epley with The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board, back with the best of California’s opinion journalism over the last week.
“The ultimate leapfrog development project in rural southwest Sacramento County should be officially dead by now. Instead, it clings to life based on a false promise of environmental sensibilities under a new name on a new website. Call it the same old Cordova Hills Project. Or call it by its new name, Braden. But let’s call it one of the worst development decisions ever made by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.”
Last week I dove into the deep and varied topic of a housing development that’s been dividing Sacramento for nearly a decade, exposing it’s ties to a recent election measure and decrying its greenwashed marketing for a new generation who is susceptible to sustainable promises.
Opinion
The town of “Braden” is one of the first three phases of the large development plan known as Cordova Hills, situated on nearly 2,700 acres in southeastern, unincorporated Sacramento County, near the corner of Grant Line and Douglas roads.
Two other parts of the development, subdivisions known as “University Village” and “Ridgeline Village” have also been approved, according to the county’s planning department. They have not yet begun to build but recently, the development company reported to the county that they would seek tentative map approval and shift their focus to the “town center” area now called Braden with its nearly 8,000 new homes.
“Building beyond the fringes of existing communities creates longer trips in cars and greater emissions, all contrary to mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” I wrote. “Regardless, Sacramento County Supervisors have delayed the adoption of its Climate Action Plan for nearly as long as Cordova Hills has been in development, ensuring that developments approved before the adoption of the climate plan would not be subject to many, or even most of, its requirements.”
Cordova Hills has been a part of Sacramento County’s political past, I wrote, but it doesn’t have to be a part of Sacramento County’s future. Sacramento County still has the power to kill this project, which would be the best outcome for everyone, and especially if you truly care about climate change.
Breaking the Rules
“Museums like the Crocker are becoming a valuable, financially accessible haven for queer representation as classrooms around the country have come under fire amid anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.”
Opinion summer intern Brain Zhang opined last week on Americans’ propensity to only be comfortable appreciating queer sexuality as relics, or as he put it, “as pieces of history behind glass protectors or propped up in the center of the Crocker Art Museum” — which is currently hosting an exhibit titled “Breaking the Rules,” starring the work of the late, gay artists, Paul Wonner and William Thilophilus Brown.
While any form of representation is important for a marginalized community, he wrote, it’s important to not that museums are delivering a counter narrative to current school legislation that seeks to hinder those stories from being told, but also that “sexuality, its oppression, and LGBTQ+ people are not just history that belongs in museums.”
“It is very clearly not art that offends, but rather the non-traditional romance, the newness of queerness to some straight people — the very real and present love stories — that make them uncomfortable. This is a problem, because this is not a question about education anymore, it’s a question about acceptance, which pervades every aspect of how a human being is treated by others.”
“We find it so much easier to appreciate through the lens of critique and contemplation about a work’s meaning than through direct respect toward a living, breathing person,” Zhang wrote.
Op-Ed Roundup
“Is Trump ineligible to run for president? Here’s what California’s top legal mind says” by Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of and a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law.
“If (Donald) Trump is convicted in federal or state court of the crimes with which he has been charged, he should be deemed ineligible to run for president. Even if he is not convicted, there is a compelling case that the Constitution bars him from ever holding office again.”
“Some Asian leaders decry ‘stereotypes’ in Bee headline about Sacramento DA Thien Ho” by Jinky Dolar, President of OCA Sacramento - Asian Pacific American Advocates, et al.
“The word “dictator” is often used to describe communist leaders around the world, most notably from the People’s Republic of China. The choice to combine and use these words when referencing an Asian man shocks the conscience.”
“California assemblyman and veteran calls out those profiting from opioid addiction” by Republican Assemblymember Devon J. Mathis, who represents the 33rd Assembly District, which includes the communities of Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties.
“We have high standards for our military, making us the greatest in the world. Our mission is not accomplished until big pharma and companies like McKinsey are held to the same standard of accountability that our military members hold themselves to.”
Opinion of the Week
“A frightening consequence of (Lauri) Carleton’s murder now, in the face of these increasing attacks, would be if it causes potential allies to take a neutral stance or refrain from continuing the necessary cultural conversations around these topics.” — Brian Zhang and I wrote last week about the killing of a southern California woman over her display of a Pride flag and what allyship truly means to those of us in the LGBTQ+ community.
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Just a reminder: Halloween’s only nine weeks away!
- Robin
