PUBLIC FORUM : NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

Re the LAUSD/Belmont scandal:

You have clearly pointed out how little respect and interest state Sen. Richard Polanco, the Los Angeles Unified School District and schools Superintendent Ruben Zacarias have for our children or the people of Los Angeles. It is infuriating how successful Latinos immediately turn to ethnicity when their positions are threatened. In the article ``How LAUSD's dream became a nightmare,'' (June 27) the Daily News pointed out that Polanco blames the LAUSD staff for the Belmont fiasco.

This is the same Polanco who last week who made an ethnic issue out of extending Zacarias' contract. In private industry, if a leader cannot perform, he is ousted, period.

In the final analysis, nothing will be done about getting the children or the people of Los Angeles their just due after the Belmont scandal dies down. The LAUSD's arrogance and political shenanigans will continue. Zacarias will walk away with $200,000 of our tax money and Polanco will continue to threaten.

It is further unfortunate that Angelenos can expect no action from the district attorney who failed to convict a notorious killer. He also will fail to move a finger to bring justice to Los Angeles in the Belmont scandal.

- A. Costas Purcel

Northridge

Next comes the raise

I have read several articles where the LAUSD plans to do a study if it would be feasible to abandon construction on the Belmont Learning Center site due to unsafe levels of methane gases.

Why do they need to do a study, why not just admit that they screwed up? There are people who should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The other morons on the LAUSD should resign. Proposition BB, which was flaunted and touted as the savior of L.A. schools, was nothing more than a ploy by the LAUSD administration to construct a shrine to their pathetic overinflated egos.

Proposition BB was passed with the intent that our dilapidating schools would be repaired and air conditioning would be installed in our overcrowded, overheated classrooms. Well the air conditioners have been installed but most of them don't function properly due to inadequate electrical wiring.

I ask, why doesn't our district attorney prosecute? Better yet, why not hold off payment until the work they are contracted for has passed inspection. I guess after a big screw-up like this maybe the LAUSD better award themselves another pay raise.

- Ronald Cruz

Sylmar

A fond farewell

Re ``Eyes wide open'' (Editorial, July 2):

How wonderful to be a servant of the people and retire. Richard Alatorre, under federal investigation for making sure all his friends received contracts, and receiving special favors from contractors while in office, has left our City Council and has been given a $100,000-a-year position with the State Unemployment Appeals Board.

We need honest people on the State Unemployment Appeals Board, not a person under investigation or one who takes the Fifth Amendment in a lawsuit regarding alleged wrongdoing at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. State Sen. President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, could have found a better role model for this position than his friend Alatorre.

We do not need friends in these positions, we need honorable, honest people doing the job their position calls for. We have too many ``friends'' in politically appointed positions now.

- Gilbert Smith

Encino

No more planes

I live near LAX and am completely against any expansion due to the further devaluation of property values because of added noise.

We appreciate your arguments for a further look at using other facilities, such as the former El Toro Marine Corps air base in Orange County.

Adding a fifth runway to the north side of LAX (as proposed by Mayor Riordan) will decimate the quality of life for many residents of Westchester and Playa del Rey. I don't care how quiet they tell us the new engines are - the noise and reverberations at our house now are deafening.

- Harvey Geiss

Westchester

Don't want to be L.A.

When I moved my family and myself to Palmdale a dozen years ago, there were two main reasons. The first, because there was affordable housing (something L.A. and the San Fernando Valley sorely lacked) and secondly but most importantly: It was not L.A.

There are those of us who don't want to turn Palmdale Airport into a big international airport, with 747s roaring over our heads on a regular schedule with the noise, traffic, etc., that comes along with it. Maybe we don't want bullet trains racing through here, along with all the noise, traffic, congestion, etc., it would cause.

There are those of us who like the small-town atmosphere (such as it was), with peaceful evenings and living in a place where we can see the stars at night. We like not having smog and being able to drive across town without a signal at every corner. We enjoy not being influenced by the ``Big City.''

The last thing we need or want is to be like L.A. or the Valley.

- Bruce M. Herder

Palmdale

Entertainment hypocrisy

Re ``Directors Guild votes to oppose `intrusion,' '' (Daily News, June 27):

Jack Shea, president of the Directors Guild, is quoted as saying, ``Our mission is to both ensure that the First Amendment rights of our members are not trampled upon by overzealous legislators and also to raise the consciousness level of the entertainment community with regard to the social responsibility of filmmakers.'' A quote at once both conciliatory and defiant, from an industry that glorifies violence, is touted as a great step forward, even though it is 50 years in coming.

How compassionate. How forward-thinking. Now, take the same quote and make a few changes. ``Our mission is to both ensure that the Second Amendment rights of our members are not trampled upon by overzealous legislators and also to raise the consciousness level of society with regard to the social responsibility of gun owners.''

This second quote embodies the principles espoused and practiced by the National Rifle Association for 128 years. The Directors Guild is glorified while the NRA is vilified. Can you spell hypocrisy?

- Frederick R. Galdi

Woodland Hills

Illegal NATO aggression

Once again, Clinton is on his political spin campaign, justifying the illegal NATO aggression in Kosovo. Clinton said, ``Slovenia is the model Balkan state for standing up to Milosevic and the Serbs.''

Milosevic never cared about Slovenia. Neither do the Serbs. If there were a Serbian community with deep ancestral roots in Slovenia, Slovenia would not have walked away from Yugoslavia that easily. Slovenia is, and always was, a pure Slovenian population. That's why there was no interest in stopping the seccession of Slovenia in 1991, because there were no Serbs there to protect.

However, in the former Yugoslav republics of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbs have lived and ruled these areas for many centuries. Furthermore, not only does Kosovo have ancient Serbian roots, but also Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian Orthodox religion, culture, folklore and civilization as a nation. Just because an illegal immigrant population evolves to become the majority in a particular area does not constitute the right to steal and take over.

- George Bozic

Valencia

Street vendors gotta eat

Re ``Pushed over the edge?'' (Public Forum, June 28):

One should not forget that street vending, in locations like downtown Los Angeles, provides low-cost meals for those who cannot afford to go to a restaurant. They also are a convenience for those who have to eat on the run.

It is the illegal vendor who makes it bad for the ones who are legal. Being a legal vendor is great for those who are on a fixed income or somebody who wants to stay off welfare. Best of all, it gives a sense of pride to be one's own boss.

Legal operators have to pay for a health operating permit, business tax registration, commissary expenses and are subject to ``on-the-spot inspections.'' The bottom line is to get the illegal vendors off the street.

Instead of making it tough for all street vendors, we should take advantage of the situation and set up an emergency task force.

If we are going to make any changes in the law, it should include a magic number, limiting how many food cart permits would be allowed and the designated areas. A lot of time and energy went into former Councilman Mike Woo's Task Force on Street Vending. Let's not waste that energy.

- Mort Diamond

Canoga Park

Alcohol ads target young

I am wondering why the same people who lobbied so hard to get tobacco ads off TV, radio and newsprint media, because they were aimed primarily at children, haven't raised the same hue and cry about alcohol ads.

I have noticed that most of the ads that you see on TV for beer, etc., are showing young people at a party, ball games, etc.

If you check, you will find out more people die from alcohol-related accidents than from smoking, not to mention lost time from work because of alcohol-related problems.

Would you rather be on a dark, two-lane road at night, and have a car coming toward you with the driver having just finished smoking, or finishing a six- or 12-pack?

- Robert L. Doney

Simi Valley

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Photo: California state Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, at the Capitol.