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Former President Jimmy Carter will be remembered as one of the great American leaders. He dedicated his life to peace and justice all over the world, particularly helping the poor and the needy as well as being the voice of those who were ignored and discounted.
Despite his old age and health conditions, he continued his mission to help resolve international disputes on the basis of peace and justice. He contributed to the Middle East process, though I was disappointed because the Camp David Accords, which he achieved, excluded the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and freedom. He was hoping that the dividends of peace would push Israeli leaders to agree on freedom and justice in the Holy Land.
When he realized that Israeli leaders were not interested in real peace with the Palestinians, he wrote a book titled “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Amer AraimWalnut Creek
Re: “Why did the pier in Santa Cruz collapse?” (Page A1, Dec. 29).
In your coverage of the very sad collapse of 150 feet off the end of the half-mile Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, you focus on bird protection and a community group’s lawsuit as delaying needed repairs. This is inaccurate. Neither birds nor the lawsuit delayed the much-needed piling replacement at the wharf’s end.
In 2014, the city’s engineering report documented that 5% of the wharf’s 4,445 pilings were sufficiently damaged to require replacement. The city has had 10 years to replace those pilings. Work at the vulnerable end of the wharf started only this year after one of those pilings failed in the storm of 2023.
Our lawsuit, filed in 2022 in response to the city’s inadequate environmental review of its plan to significantly alter the historic wharf, specifically stated that all maintenance work, including pile replacement, could proceed without challenge during that time period.
Neither we — nor the birds — want to be made the scapegoats for this unfortunate event.
Gillian GreensiteSanta Cruz
