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Impact of cuts to Medicaid on community members with disabilities
I am writing to express my deep concern over the potential cuts to Medicaid, which would devastate individuals with disabilities and the public schools that support them. My son, Jacob, has a rare disability called Trisomy 9, similar to Down syndrome.
Thanks to public education, he was never hidden away or isolated — he was part of a thriving, inclusive community in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. His presence in school taught empathy and compassion, benefiting not just him, but every student and educator he encountered.
Now, as an adult, Jacob lives in a special needs community in Pleasanton, where he and his peers depend on Medi-Cal to survive.
Medi-Cal is not just about healthcare — it funds critical support services like the Regional Center system and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), which allow people like Jacob to live independently and with dignity. Without these programs, thousands of individuals with disabilities would face devastating consequences.
Furthermore, Medicaid funding supports essential school-based services like speech therapy, nursing care and behavioral support, mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Cutting Medicaid threatens these programs, jeopardizing the futures of countless students with disabilities.
This issue is personal to me. As a child, I had a neighbor with Down syndrome whom I never knew existed — because there were no special education programs in schools back then. Today, we are at risk of returning to those days. The Trump/Musk administration has openly disrespected and targeted people with disabilities, from mocking a disabled reporter to using slurs as insults. Now, they are pushing Project 2025, a plan to dismantle the Department of Education and defund special education altogether.
We cannot let this happen. Protecting Medicaid means protecting Medi-Cal, the Regional Center system, IHSS and the fundamental rights of individuals with disabilities. We must demand that our lawmakers defend these critical programs and stand against any effort to undermine the progress we have made.
Jacob, his friends and millions of others like them deserve better.
— Julie Elfin
Demanding transparency is not ‘intimidation and bullying’
Matthew Gray’s letter to your editor last week left me confused how someone could so deftly talk out of both sides of their mouth. Demanding government transparency is not, as he writes, “intimidation and bullying”.
What a fatuous idea.
Examining how the government spends our money is every American’s right. To suggest that making the city’s spending publicly available is akin to “handing the arsonists in the community gasoline and matches” is hyperbolic nonsense that erodes his credibility.
Further, Mr. Gray is wrong about the city having “no obligation” to turn over this information. Government spending is not “confidential”.
Mr. Gray claims releasing the general ledger will “open a political issue out of every single line item” … So what? Spending is political; that’s politics: competing ideas about how to best use community resources. It is puzzling that Mr. Gray believes this discourse is destructive.
This attitude is essentially “Shut up and just let these bureaucrats spend your money however they want.” He also notes that budget conflicts are “ripping our city apart”. Does that mean people have differing ideas about prudent spending? Oh no! How dare they! Clearly, Mr. Gray prefers the calm current of autocracy to the tempestuous waters of liberty.
Anyone raising a stink is creating “division along with discord” that does not “align with the virtues that make Pleasanton great”. What a bankrupt statement. Having courage to fight for what is right is exactly what makes any community great.
Saying the city needs a “smarter budget” because of a “catastrophe” is meaningless without context. How did we get here? What can we do better? Only drilling into the details, by knowing where each dollar goes, makes these questions meaningful. The idea that we just need to move forward is a peculiar position. Apparently. Mr. Gray hasn’t heard the aphorism “those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it.”
Mr. Gray implores residents to “hold our elected leaders accountable by expecting service to the community before anything else”. I wonder how he believes this is possible when bureaucrats operate in the shadows. Perhaps he trusts bureaucrats. I don’t.
— David Alexander
Donate a wheelchair
The international disability ministry Joni and Friends is hosting a wheelchair collection drive on March 22 at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Will you help us spread the word so people who want to give know how?
Worldwide millions of people are in need of a wheelchair, and 80% of those people live in developing nations where wheelchairs are unavailable or unaffordable. As a result they are often isolated, rejected, and ignored by their community. Area residents can help change this by donating their used wheelchairs!
Every wheelchair donated is the opportunity for someone to experience the dignity of mobility. Joni and Friends accepts used manual wheelchairs that will be restored to like-new condition, then delivers them to high-need countries, custom fitting them to each recipient’s unique needs through our Wheels for the World program.
Do you have a used manual wheelchair that is no longer being used? Donate it to Joni and Friends on March 22. It can change the life of someone living with a disability and their family!
Donatable items: manual wheelchairs of all types and sizes, walkers, crutches and canes.
Contact Joni and Friends Bay Area by phone at 925-361-8672 or by email at bayarea@joniandfriends.org.
— Dawn Megli
About hopes for racing at fair in 2026
I don’t know if it will help the argument, but 2026 will mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the fairgrounds race track. Here are the supporting articles:
“Mr. Joseph Nevis is about to lay out and grade a one mile race track, forty feet wide, about a quarter of a mile west from Pleasanton. When completed it will make one of the finest tracks in the State, as the land is said to be peculiarly suited to the purpose.” (Local Notes From Pleasanton-Livermore Enterprise Sept. 30, 1876)
“Mr. Joseph Nevis has had a grader at work on the Pleasanton Race Track for the past eight or ten days, and expects to finish it as soon as possible. When completed it will be one of the best mile tracks in the State. Mr. N. is having yearly tickets printed which for $5 entitles the holder to the privilege of the track with a team of one or two horses for the purpose of training, except when the same is in use for racing or is out of order.” (Local Notes From Pleasanton-Livermore Enterprise Nov. 25, 1876)
The Thompson & West Atlas of 1878 has a sketch of the Nevis racetrack showing that it is the one which became the ACF racetrack.
— Ann Pfaff-Doss
Zelenskyy blew up the peace deal
President Zelenskyy committed one of the biggest blunders in diplomacy history, especially considering his war torn country is on the eve of destruction where hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have died and will continue to die until peace is secured.
The U.S. and Ukraine were minutes away from signing the economic partnership agreement last week when Zelenskyy blew up the deal by being disrespectful and combative in the Oval Office. This economic partnership was the stepping stone to end the war and secure peace.
Zelenskyy was supposed to be coming to the U.S. to ask for help. Instead he used the public meeting to be disrespectful and pick a fight with the U.S. Major blunder. Zelenskyy must now apologize, restore the diplomatic relationship and sign the economic partnership agreement. The war must stop and peace must be restored in Europe.
— David Ott
Swalwell must take bold action to protect our health and future
I am writing as a resident of Pleasanton. I’m calling on Rep. Eric Swalwell to continue to prioritize our health, climate and future. This includes:
* Stopping efforts to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate and clean energy policies. These policies will put us on a path to cut climate pollution 40% by 2030, create 9 million jobs, and lower energy prices; we must preserve them.
* Blocking the Trump administration and unelected billionaire Elon Musk from cutting vital government programs and staff to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.
* Resisting attempts to eliminate various environmental protection laws.
These issues have a huge impact on us here in the Bay Area. Climate change is here, and we can choose to face this together as a community, or wait for inevitable disasters to catch us unaware. We must work to make our community stronger and more resilient in the face of climate change.
I urge Rep. Swalwell to protect people in our community over corporate polluters. We need you to fight for us!
— Lydia Roberts
