PUBLIC FORUM : HOLLYWOOD SECESSION.As interim president of Hollywood VOTE, I would like to thank the Daily News for its support of our initial efforts toward cityhood for Hollywood. Hurray for Hollywood, indeed. And hurray for the Daily News for its support of Hollywood. If only the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. gave the same support for Hollywood, there might be no need for our organization. Just last week, on Nov. 23, we filed our incorporation papers, following a meeting with Jeff Brain of Valley VOTE one week prior. Since then, we issued just one single press release and, within 48 hours, Hollywood VOTE's story went national. I can only attribute this to the fact that Hollywood cityhood is an idea whose time has come. I now believe that nothing, not even City Hall, can stop this idea from becoming reality. I challenge every citizen of Hollywood, be it the geographic or celluloid Hollywood, to join in our cause. I ask that Council members 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. and 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. , at the very least, support our call for a feasibility study "A Feasibility Study" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 13 April, 1964, during the first season. It was remade in 1997 as part of the revived The Outer Limits series with a minor title change. . Rather than suggest your constituents move to the desert, Ferraro, why not not join us in making Hollywood a better place to live in, to visit and to do business in? Truly, you can't be afraid of a study, can you? Or are you afraid of what we may find out? - Mitch Green Hollywood VOTE Hooray for Hollywood More power to Hollywood for their secession drive; I wish Chatsworth had the same type of gutsy people. But reading the comments of our L.A. city leaders, they really make the point for secession. Example, our erstwhile City Council President Ferraro made the statement, ``. . . they are just trying to get away from the problems we have in the city.'' True. He hit in right on the head. The city is a mess, fiscally out of control, with bureaucracy that won't quit, roads a mess, MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. , schools; in summary, name it. I am with Hollywood. More power to their efforts. - Charles Dusheck Chatswoprth Disturbing photo Re Clinton in Kosovo: What I find so disturbing in the Nov. 24 photo is the infamous draft dodger Noun 1. draft dodger - someone who is drafted and illegally refuses to serve draft evader defector, deserter - a person who abandons their duty (as on a military post) Clinton smiling in the middle of so many soldiers that have sworn to give their lives for their country. I guess it's one of those things that, if needs to be explained, probably wouldn't be understood. - Dan C. Larsen Canyon Country Mikels responds The Daily News editorial regarding the County of Ventura's financial situation (``Trouble in Ventura,'' Dec. 1) required response and clarification. The editorial challenged me, based upon a single comment from an interview that generated many comments and observations. I felt obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to inform the Daily News that I am well on the record as saying I have many concerns and intend to use assessments about the county's financial situation toward improving matters. My comments published in the local newspapers this week back me up. Former Chief Administrative Officer A chief administrative officer (CAO) is responsible for administrative management of private, public or governmental corporations. The CAO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, managing daily operations and usually reporting directly to the chief executive David Baker David Baker may refer to:
The issues are not, as Daily News editors assume without explanation, ``extraordinarily complex.'' Additionally, I certainly would not describe a county with a deficit projected to be $5 million this fiscal year as in ``ruin.'' We are not even halfway through this fiscal year, so there is ample time for the Board of Supervisors to address projections. Every single year the board revisits its budget more than once. This year the initial revisit occurred in October, and another budget revision is scheduled for January, as always. The board took preliminary action to address projections well before this week. When I assumed this office as a Ventura County supervisor in January 1995, the county had a projected $32 million deficit. The projected deficit was $16 million the following year. Every year we get conservative projections and every year we make adjustments and balance the budget. How soon people forget. What really is new? A projected $5 million deficit - about half of one percent of the county's overall budget - is much less than the challenges we've faced only a few years ago. My comment that so irritated the editors was not a ``blast'' at our outgoing CAO, but merely an expression of my frustration that Baker fled so hurriedly. He did not even speak with each supervisor, myself included. As I have said publicly, at the very least, he should have met with each supervisor and talked frankly about his concerns. I honestly believed Baker was precisely the kind of talent we needed to address short- and long-term budget concerns. This is why he always was my No. 1 choice among many candidates for the job. My frustration stems from the fact that I never had an opportunity to tell Baker that I truly understand his concerns, and agree with some of his assessments. I really wanted the opportunity to voice my recognition that we have significant issues and that I was, and still remain, very ready to support the CAO in our combined efforts to do whatever it takes to prepare the county financially for the years to come. - Judy Mikels Ventura County Supervisor Monopolization mo·nop·o·lize tr.v. mo·nop·o·lized, mo·nop·o·liz·ing, mo·nop·o·liz·es 1. To acquire or maintain a monopoly of. 2. To dominate by excluding others: monopolized the conversation. It seems that over the last few years there has been and continues to be an extraordinary amount of corporate mergers and takeovers. It also seems that these corporations are or are on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890, first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts; it was named for Senator John Sherman. Prior to its enactment, various states had passed similar laws, but they were limited to intrastate businesses. of 1890, enacted to prevent monopolies, keeping healthy competition alive to protect the consumers. Could it be plausible that someday soon these conglomerates could convince Congress to rescind the Sherman Antitrust Act? You bet. It would not be the first time big money has swayed Congress, nor the last. Could it be that we may find ourselves dealing with one bank, insurance company, automaker, supermarket, department store, drug and medical provider, utility company, computer maker, etc.? Looking further ahead, we may find ourselves with one state and one leader of the state supervising one police force. Monopolization is just one step from socialism and effects all facets of our lives. This is the very reason the Sherman Antitrust Act was enacted. Congress, by law, needs to scrutinize these takeovers and mergers much more diligently. - Louis Thompson Woodland Hills To the point I would like to sum it up as: 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. Unified School Dummies. - Jamie Jenney Sylmar Just enough Don Katona's letter in the Public Forum on Nov. 26 is correct. The slavery of the 20th century is industry's well-orchestrated effort to provide the masses with just enough income so that they will neither starve nor will they rebel. The reason that the wealthy of our nation do this (with government co-operation) is that they still need manual labor for such things as food services food services Hospital services A 24/7 department in a hospital that provides for the nutritional needs of inpatients–eg, those needing special diets, preparing meals and transporting them to the floor and, through the cafeteria, the hospital staff and , hotel services, blue collar manufacturing functions, crop pickers and all those other activities they do not want to do. The object is to keep the cost at a minimum. The middle class is a group of people who manage the resources of the wealthy. Their purpose is to interface with the laboring class. Their assignment from the wealthy is to maximize profits at any cost. Then the evolution of the computer age eliminated many of those jobs. The object is to keep the cost at a minimum. The government at all levels always supports the wealthy (despite what the Democratic Party tells us). Their primary purpose is to keep the masses happy by telling us that they support the philosophy of ``life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness''. - Don Evans Canoga Park Nuclear ready Re ``Cold War legacy persists'' (Viewpoint, Nov. 21): The writer cites the 10-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall then berates Ronald Reagan, the man most cited as responsible for it. Hartung holds that we should wean wean (wen) to discontinue breast feeding and substitute other feeding habits. wean v. 1. To deprive permanently of breast milk and begin to nourish with other food. 2. ourselves from our nuclear arsenal since the enemy they were created for no longer exists. Though the USSR USSR: see Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. disbanded, its weapons did not. If anything, we face more enemies who feel they have more to prove and less to lose. Elimination of nuclear weapons would require all world leaders For a list of heads of state, see . World leaders is a MMORPG. The game involves creating a state, joining an alliance and going into war. It is mostly played by players from Israel, China, USA, Britain, Brazil and Saudi-Arabia. to be enlightened at the same time, not just U.S. leadership. We should remember Neville Chamberlain's piece of paper. - Greg Harden Sun Valley Boy's death I wonder if the 16-year-old boy who was killed Nov. 20 by a female officer would still be alive if he had confronted a 6-foot tall, 185-pound male officer? - Frank G. Carlisi North Hollywood Lesson for politicians Dennis McCarthy's ``Volunteer brings bagels to Valley's needy,'' (Nov. 14) was truly enriching and should serve as a valuable example (although it will be ignored) to our politicians as to what can be done without their interference, bungling bun·gle v. bun·gled, bun·gling, bun·gles v.intr. To work or act ineptly or inefficiently. v.tr. To handle badly; botch. See Synonyms at botch. n. and bureaucracy. No time, nor money wasted, just a lot of good by sincere people without the what's-in-it-for-me thinking of our politicos. Then, your lead editorial ``Taxing our patience,'' (Nov. 14), what a bunch of malarkey ma·lar·key also ma·lar·ky n. Slang Exaggerated or foolish talk, usually intended to deceive: "snookered by a lot of malarkey" New Republic. . The ethics commission In the United States, an Ethics Commission is a commission established by State law to discourage dishonest practices by their public employees and elected officials. Almost all American states have such a commission. is obviously controlled by the City Council. How about a proposition that states only $500,000 maximum can be spent for any city or county office and that contributions are limited to the registered voters only, in either the council district involved or for city office, only by registered voters in the city of Los Angeles
cash in hand, finances, funds, monetary resource, pecuniary resource - assets in the form of money . Registered voters only can contribute. - Gary M. Schechter Woodland Hills CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: President Clinton on Nov. 23 surrounded by U.S. troops at Camp Bondsteel Camp Bondsteel is the main base of the United States Army under KFOR command in the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo. , Kosovo, the nerve center of the American operations. Associated Press |
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