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L E T T E R S CREDIT: TIM TUNKS
Coronavirus by the numbers and local updates Compiled by Kamala Kirk Cases and deaths by neighborhood as of August 22: Culver City: 2,666 (deaths 111); Del Rey: 39 (deaths 1); El Segundo: 933 (deaths 9); Marina del Rey: 597 (deaths 4); Mar Vista: 2,621 (deaths 37); Palms: 3,146 (deaths 61); Playa del Rey: 155 (deaths 1); Playa Vista: 772 (deaths 10); Santa Monica: 6,030 (deaths 183); Venice: 2,394 (deaths 15); Westchester: 3,219 (deaths 52) Total Westside cases: 21,572 Total Westside deaths: 484
Total confirmed cases in LA County: 1,383,186 Total deaths in LA County: 25,071 Total new cases as of August 22: 2,781 Total new deaths: 10 Hospitalizations: 1,746 Positivity rate (seven-day daily average): 3.52% Total number of people tested: 7,921,699 (Source: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
Be sure to vote in this stupid but vitally important election Editor: A hundred years ago California added a recall provision for elected office holders so that crooks could be thrown out if they were discovered to be unfit office holders. Unfortunately, the provision was poorly crafted and the result is that our elected state governor could easily be removed and replaced by a candidate with a much smaller share of the votes. If governor Newsom gets less than 50 percent of the cast votes, he must vacate his office. Then whichever of the 47 gets the most votes will be our governor — regardless of their qualifications or whatever actions they’d promote. I can easily understand how many people have their own reasons not to love our governor, but that alone is no reason to vote “Yes, throw the bum out.” Even if you are a strongly partisan Republican
who looks upon this as the only foreseeable chance for California to have a Republican governor, you should not risk the future of our state by placing an unqualified person in the driver’s seat of the very complex vehicle California has become. In Texas and Florida, we have already seen culture wars produce nutty government opposition to sensible Covid mitigation. Voting “Yes” to replace Newsom without being entirely certain a fully qualified leader from the pack of 47 will replace him is the equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Even if one of the 47 could indeed do a better job (something I doubt with a high degree of certainty), how can you think your candidate will prevail over the 46 others? Even if you’ve carefully researched and picked the best of the 47 or if you’ve listened carefully to the radio and are convinced that your guy will “Own the Libs” better than anyone else, the Las Vegas odds are that someone else could well get the nod with their greater share of the votes. The deck is somewhat stacked against Newsom because without non-partisan sensible voters voting “No” in this election, an election that looks mighty stupid, Newsom could be ejected. If not enough sensible people vote by September 14 with their ballots marked “No”, there will be no telling what sort of untested person will be elected to exercise the great
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Vote for Best of the Westside 2021 PAGE 4 THE ARGONAUT AUGUST 26, 2021
