Letters to the Editor: California got rid of surplus ventilators and mobile hospitals? Outrageous

To the editor: Disposing of more than $200 million in what are now hard-to-replace pandemic response supplies in order to save up to $5.8 million annually is a political travesty deserving of as deep a public investigation as any other serious misdeed of this century.

This is a classic case of what happens when one party is in control of government — either party — and there is no effective loyal opposition to raise red flags and halt ill-advised, short-term financial Band-Aids that push the dire consequences into the future.

Maintaining good government is often not a sexy topic, and voters often fail to appreciate intelligent foresight over headline-grabbing, knee-jerk reactions. They do so at their own peril, as we see now.

If there isn’t a ventilator available for you, call your legislator and ask why.

Mike Post, Winnetka

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To the editor: Once again, we fail to maintain peak load capacity for a recurring problem. This time it is the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that epidemics occur from time to time and we should be ready.

The same failure to prepare affects California’s ability to deal with regular wildfires. If we maintained peak load capacity, we could keep 100-acre fires from becoming 100,000-acre fires.

This November, let’s hold all our elected officials accountable by voting for replacements.

William Hosek, Thousand Oaks