He's the bestIGNACIO DE LA Fuente is hands down the best member of the Oakland City Council. He consistently gets a bad rap from people in Oakland who really know very little about what is going on downtown.  

Kudos to the city's finestI JUST READ the article Matt O'Brien wrote about the police and the firefighters voluntarily offering to defer raises ("Cops, firefighters accept lower pay," May 1), and I'm thrilled to see such cooperation among our city's public safety officers and the city staff.  

THE ADULT DAY care program for frail seniors in the Tri-Valley is scheduled to be closed. On June 30, the lease for use of the Livermore school district's property on Sonoma Avenue in Livermore by the Friendship Center program expires.  

Finding excitementTHE LEAD story in the May 8 Local section reports that Steve Huang, Marina Food CEO, said he hopes to make something more exciting than just a nursery at the Navlet's site in Warm Springs district of Fremont.  

MONEY FOR PUBLIC education should not be cut. That is not to say that school boards, community college and California State University boards of trustees or the University of California Board of Regents have always spent their budgets wisely.