Letters: Aisha Wahab's BART anger is campaign theater

"The frustration around the Irvington BART station is understandable, but what rings hollow is the sudden outrage from Aisha Wahab, who has been absent from the regional transportation conversation until launching a campaign for Congress. For years, BART's structural funding problems, service cuts and capital delays were well known, yet there was no public leadership on these issues from her. Now, in the middle of a high-profile race, state official business is being repackaged as campaign messaging."

"Calling out BART after the fact, without having done the hard work of coalition-building, regional coordination or advancing long-term transit funding solutions, looks less like leadership and more like political grandstanding. Using official letters and legislative stature to generate headlines may score short-term attention, but it does not move projects forward. Residents deserve serious, sustained advocacy on transportation, not last-minute positioning designed to boost a political profile."

"I encourage anyone who hasn't listened to the Feb. 3 congressional hearing on ICE and Border Patrol tactics to please do so. Three American citizens, Marimar Martinez, Aliya Rahman and Daniel Rascon, testified before this joint session and spoke about abuses ICE and Border Patrol used on them. It was chilling. Martinez and Rascon were immediately castigated as being domestic terrorists. Sound familiar? Yes, the same lies spread by this administration."

Sudden outrage over Irvington BART station delays is framed as campaign-driven rather than rooted in sustained regional leadership. Aisha Wahab is criticized for lacking prior public engagement on BART’s longstanding funding problems, service cuts and capital delays, and for failing to build coalitions or pursue long-term funding solutions. Using official letters and legislative stature to generate headlines may attract attention but does not advance projects. A separate testimony from a Feb. 3 congressional hearing recounts alleged abuses by ICE and Border Patrol, noting that Marimar Martinez was shot five times and had seven holes in her body, with an agent reportedly texting, I fired five rounds and she had 7 holes.

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