Response to “The Tragic Loss of Charlie Kirk” (Sept. 12-18)
While I agree that this senseless act of violence was both tragic and unacceptable, there seems to be some confusion about the character of Charlie Kirk. Kirk was a racist and often attacked the transgender community. No one should be murdered for exercising their freedom of speech, but let’s be honest before we bestow sainthood on a man who is undeserving. .
I question why this outrage and adulation was absent after the assassination of Melissa Hortman, her husband and their dog.
Melody Grandell
Watsonville
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PVUSD Trustee Joy Flynn should resign
The people of Aptos were lucky to be represented by Kim De Serpa on the PVUSD school board. Her replacement has been a major disappointment. Joy Flynn was appointed to the board to replace De Serpa. Since then she has not served us well. She embarrassed herself and our district by making antisemitic comments at a board meeting. These comments were right out of Nazi and Ku Klux Klan propaganda. She refused to vote to censure Trustee Gabriel Medina who also made antisemitic comments but also behaved in a way that was disrespectful to other board members and staff, and continually violated the Brown Act. At a most recent board meeting she showed her ignorance and lack of commitment to her office by failing to prepare for the meeting and was called out by Superintendent Contrares. In the critical Sept. 10 meeting she revealed that despite the fact that the district would be spending millions of dollars of taxpayer bond money, she did not know what a bond was. Being a school board trustee is hard work and requires time and effort. It does not seem that Trustee Flynn is prepared to take the time to do her job properly.
Most offensive to me personally is her refusal to meet with me to discuss these issues. She absurdly claimed that it was somehow a safety issue even though I suggested a zoom meeting or just a phone call.
I have met with several other trustees, and members of Congress and the state legislature in the past. This is the first time that I have been told by my representative that she is not required to meet with me, so she won’t. Is she really afraid of me physically or is she afraid of showing how ignorant and incompetent she is? If you have watched the board meetings it is obvious that it is the latter.
Trustee Joy Flynn is an embarrassment to the people of Aptos. She is not fit to serve on the PVUSD board of trustees.
She is careless in her correspondence with her constituents, making spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. What lesson do we give the students and parents when a school official doesn’t care enough to proofread her letters?
The board made a mistake in appointing Joy Flynn to be our trustee. It would be better for her, and for us if she stepped down now to avoid further embarrassment to herself and the board. It is painfully clear that she is not suited for this job.
Gil Stein
Aptos
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What country do we live in?
I was driving home this evening and was delighted to see a flag pole on a front yard with two flags on it. The bottom one was the State of California flag which pleased me to see as being from the state we live in. But then as I looked up the pole to the flag on top, I felt very insulted, since rather than it being the flag of our country, the United States of America, it was the flag of Mexico. I would ask the person with the flags out front, why are you living in this country if the Mexican flag means so much more to you than this country’s flag? This is not Mexico, it is the USA. How about we respect the country we are both living in and either display our country’s Stars and Stripes or maybe no flags at all. Seriously, if that flag of Mexico means that much to you that you must fly it and over our state flag, then why don’t you go to the country it stands for and means so much to you. I would not go to any other country to live and fly the USA flag. How about a little respect?
Bob Wiser
Watsonville
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WWII-era Nazi leaders’ silencing of dissent seems familiar
A friend of mine was a Marine Corps lawyer during World War II, and he participated in the Nuremberg Trials—which sentenced many Nazi leaders to death after the war was over. He sent me a copy of a news article from the New York Times, dated Feb. 4, 1939, just before the war started.
Hitler, who had been appointed to lead Germany, was beginning to crush dissent, and this article describes how Hitler’s Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels destroyed the careers of five comedians because they criticized Hitler.
The Headline: Goebbels Ends Careers of Five ‘Aryan’ Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime
The lead: Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels today ended the professional careers of five “Aryan” actors and cabaret announcers by expelling them from the Reich’s Chamber of Culture on the grounds that “in their public appearances they displayed a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism and therewith caused grave annoyance to party comrades.”
Sound familiar?
Don Eggleston
Aptos
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No on Measures B and C
Santa Cruz’s Measures B and C, on the November 2025 ballot, promise housing and climate solutions but deliver only new taxes and minimal impact. Measure B’s $150 parcel tax and 1.5% transfer tax on $2M+ sales won’t build the thousands of affordable units needed in America’s priciest rental market. Measure C’s $50 parcel tax and 1% tax on $4M+ sales split funds thinly between housing and wharf repairs, diluting both. Neither tackles our core issue: restrictive zoning and red tape stifling development. These taxes burden residents facing a $20M city deficit, risking higher rents without guaranteed results. We need bold reforms—upzoning, faster permits, and private investment—not punitive fees. Vote no on B and C to demand real solutions that make housing abundant and affordable, not just another tax grab.
Mike Lelieur
Santa Cruz Republican Party Chairman
