PUBLIC FORUM : EDITORIAL ON FERRARO `HARSH AND UNDESERVED'.Your words regarding City Council President John Ferraro John Ferraro (May 14 1924—April 17 2001) served as a Los Angeles City Councilman from 1966 until his death. Early life Ferraro was born in the working class suburb of Cudahy, California, just south of Los Angeles. (``It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to go; Ferraro has abused his powers as president of the L.A. City Council,'' editorials, Oct. 15) were harsh and undeserved un·de·served adj. Not merited; unjustifiable or unfair. un  de·serv . While John may disagree with Verb 1. disagree with - not be very easily digestible; "Spicy food disagrees with some people" hurt - give trouble or pain to; "This exercise will hurt your back" some of us at City Hall on matters of policy, there is one thing we agree on when it comes to the man: He is a person of high integrity. He serves his district selflessly, he loves Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and he has worked to make it a better place. We are saddened to see the Daily News denigrate den·i·grate tr.v. den·i·grat·ed, den·i·grat·ing, den·i·grates 1. To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame. 2. his record of service. Instead, his long record merits honor. - Richard J. Riordan Mayor Jackie Goldberg Jackie Goldberg (born June 16, 1937) is an American politician and teacher, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the California State Assembly. Council Member, 13th District Los Angeles DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection pay hike justified As members of the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners and Valley residents, we believe it is important to put the proposed salary increase for the general manager of the city's Department of Water and Power (DWP), into its proper perspective, now that we are facing the challenge of direct electric utility competition. Before recommending a salary increase to the City Council, we considered compensation levels paid to similar executive positions in both public- and investor-owned California utilities. Although the DWP general manager is a city manager, his responsibilities are more in line with investor-owned utility executives, who receive compensation four or five times the proposed salary. The Daily News should remember that the DWP is a city business, which employs about 25 percent of the city work force and has an annual budget of $3 billion. The DWP is the largest municipal utility in the nation and the third largest electric utility in California, with 1.3 million customers. When we considered that salaries of other smaller publicly owned Publicly owned can refer to:
With electric utility industry deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. ahead, we believe the DWP will need the best management talent available to ensure that the DWP can become competitive, while maintaining the reliable service and 25 percent lower rates all city residents enjoy. As city commissioners with a Valley perspective, our job is to provide the citizen oversight for city residents' multibillion-dollar utility investment. In that effort, we support salary investment for the general manager's position, which will ensure we continue the key DWP leadership necessary for the competitive years ahead. - Marcia F. Volpert Vice President Judy Miller Judy Miller refers to:
Member Water and Power Commission Los Angeles Blood donors needed I have just returned home from the Red Cross blood donation center in Van Nuys. My blood donation was in the form of plasma pheresis pheresis /phe·re·sis/ (fe-re´sis) apheresis. phe·re·sis n. Apheresis. pheresis any procedure in which blood is withdrawn from a donor, a portion (plasma, leukocytes, etc. . This was my 11th donation in this form. The Red Cross is having a poor showing of people donating in this fashion, and since I have donated using both forms during the past 30 years, I would like to tell possible donors about this comparatively new method. Plasma pheresis separates the plasma from other blood components and is retained while the other blood components are returned to the donor through the same needle. The blood is passed through a disposable, sterile system of tubing during the procedure. Your body replaces the plasma within 24 to 48 hours. The procedure takes about 45 minutes. I appreciate being able to make an appointment for donating and not having to wait around during busy periods. The Red Cross does a very good job of scheduling the plasma pheresis appointments. I am hoping that others will visit the Van Nuys Red Cross donation center and donate through the Plasma Pheresis method. - Albert D. Goldstein Chatsworth Rail vs. bus transit The continuing rail vs. bus dispute completely ignores the reality of transportation in Los Angeles. Los Angeles residents make 40 million trips each day, virtually all by automobile. Only 2 percent to 4 percent are made by transit. The result: The overloaded freeway system has failed badly and cannot be fixed - although apologists are still trying. Why are we automobile-dependent? The dynamic is circular. Because we lack adequate transit, commuters have no freedom of choice; they are forced either to purchase costly automobiles or depend upon inadequate bus service. Transit patronage is scarce because the marginal cost Marginal cost The increase or decrease in a firm's total cost of production as a result of changing production by one unit. marginal cost The additional cost needed to produce or purchase one more unit of a good or service. of automobile commuting is less than transit fare. Because patronage is scarce, Los Angeles must depend on inadequate public transit buses. We must be realistic. The only vision of the future must include high-capacity trunk rail lines served by feeder buses and supplemented by light rail trolley cars. If we are to be a world-class city we must shed the economic, social and environmental handicap of the automobile. - Stanley Hart, Chairman Transportation Committee Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Los Angeles Safire rebutted William Safire writes (``Clinton's Asia connection - the sequel,'' Opinions, Oct. 15) to lament the lack of public ``outrage'' over the ``scandals'' involving the president. He cites Whitewater as one of these scandals. The entire Republican Party and a dogged special prosecutor special prosecutor: see independent counsel. , who has lots of smart people working for him, have spent over four years and more than $25 million in taxes just for the purpose of gathering evidence that the Clintons did something wrong. Had they filed a single charge against the Clintons or made a single clear accusation with proof, perhaps there would be reason to feel outrage, besides the unsubstantiated, partisan insistence that there must have been some wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do . - J. Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. Encino Clinton praised Domestically, President Clinton has done a remarkable job on employment, the economy, legislation for seniors such as Medicare and Social Security, health care, civil rights and dozens of other issues. Bill Clinton has had the compassion and courage to stop the killing in the former Yugoslavia when no country or groups of countries in Europe could or would. His foreign policy in the Middle East, Russia, the Far East and Central America has all born fruit. With the possible exception of Franklin Roosevelt guiding America out of the Great Depression and leading us to victory in World War II, no president in recent history has worked so hard and accomplished so much as Bill Clinton. Why do we permit the Republicans to spend millions of dollars of the taxpayers' money on legal and administrative costs administrative costs, n.pl the overhead expenses incurred in the operation of a dental benefits program, excluding costs of dental services provided. to harass our president by the witch hunts of Whitewater, Travelgate and the likes of Gennifer Flowers? We are distracting and bankrupting the hardest-working first family we have ever had. Enough is enough. - Robert A. Felburg Port Hueneme Campaign finance reform Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. Lately I have been pleased to see a fair amount of media attention given to the issue of campaign finance reform. In ``County bill may be best bet for passage,'' Daily News, Oct. 6, I was appalled to read that individual companies have contributed up to $170,000 in some county races. No wonder voter participation has been so low in recent years. Our politicians are caught in a system that virtually forces them to accept mega-contributions with mega-strings attached. However, the Los Angeles County ballot measure discussed in the article would do little to overhaul the current system. The $1,000 contribution limits it sets are still well above what the average citizen can afford. Similar to the weak statewide initiative, Proposition 208, the L.A. County initiative merely imitates contribution limits already set at the federal level, limits that have done little to decrease the stranglehold that special-interest money has on today's politics. That is why I plan to vote yes on Proposition 212 on Nov. 5. Proposition 212 will set tough, low contribution limits of $100 or $200 for statewide races. It will also ban corporations from making campaign contributions. This has already been done in over half the states and at the federal level since 1907. With no current limitations on corporate contributions, California is nearly 100 years behind. Let's pass the only tough campaign finance reform initiative this November. Let's pass Proposition 212. - Karina Lund Los Angeles A new disaster: quake insurance Re the California Earthquake Authority Established in September 1996 by the California Legislature, the California Earthquake Authority is a privately funded, publicly managed organization that sells California earthquake insurance policies through participating insurance companies. : Fires, floods, earthquakes, smog, Rodney King, O.J. Simpson, car window shatterings - as if there weren't enough reasons to flee Los Angeles and especially the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , now we have the California Earthquake Authority trying to kick us out. How else to interpret the egregiously usurious usurious adj. referring to the interest on a debt which exceeds the maximum interest rate allowed by law. (See: usury) and unfair pricing structure recommended for inadequate quake insurance? After the Northridge Quake, insurance simply wasn't available - now it is simply unaffordable un·af·ford·a·ble adj. Too expensive: medical care that has become unaffordable for many. un . Big improvement. The truth is that every inch of California bears some earthquake risk. The science of earthquake prediction is still too immature to even hazard a guess as to vulnerability and timing of quakes at particular locations. Remember that before the Northridge Quake the mere existence of the fault that caused a 6.8 temblor was not even known. Therefore, the assignment of relative risks to varying ZIP codes requires not a computer but a crystal ball. So here's my suggestion: It would be far more equitable and affordable for everyone if the burden of financing an insurance pool for the state was shared equally by all insured. Figure out how much the state needs to collect each year to sustain the funds and charge all insureds a rate equally proportioned per $1,000 of coverage. Consider making a minimum level of earthquake insurance mandatory for all property owners, like car insurance, so that all parties at risk share in the responsibility of protection. Get politics and redlining Identifying text that has been changed in a word processing document by displaying it in a special color, for example. It allows the original author of the text or other users to see ongoing revisions. The term comes from manual editing where a red pen is used to mark up the pages. out of the equation and we could provide adequate and affordable insurance for all California property owners. - Jill Reiss Northridge CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: The Northridge Quake left Ventura Boulevard business es damaged. |
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