PUBLIC FORUM : READERS DENOUNCE `RIDICULOUS' SEWER BILLS.I've been reading letters from your readers complaining about the fact that they are being charged slightly more for sewer discharges than their water consumption. They've nothing to complain about as compared to my bill: 15 hundred cubic feet of water for $25.02 but 36 HCF 1. (operating system) HCF - Host Command Facility. 2. (architecture) HCF - Halt and Catch Fire. for sewers at $82.04. How ridiculous. Only a governmental organization could get away with this kind of fraud or even have guts enough to even try to justify the action. - Ted Simpson Woodland Hills I found ``Down the drain'' in the Daily News' April 6 issue about sewer overcharging especially interesting and timely. On reviewing my L.A. Municipal Services This article or section deals primarily with the United Kingdom and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. bill for the past two billing periods I notice an intriguing anomaly in the sewer service charge. Bill issued Feb. 2, 1998: water usage, 10 HCF; sewer usage, 14 HCF. Bill issued April 1, 1998: water usage, 9 HCF; sewer usage: 13 HCF. I would really like to know how it is possible to put 140 percent of the water consumed down the sewer. We do not truck in water to put down the sewer. Will somebody from the sanitation bureau please explain this? - Gary F. Weber Tujunga Re the comments in Public Forum on April 10 about the charges for water that goes down the drain: I made a call to the Bureau of Sanitation because I was paying more for the water going out than what comes in and is used. Spending 10 minutes on the phone, it was clear that I was talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to a department puppet reading a script on what to say to an irate customer who calls. I asked what about the water that goes on my lawns. I was told to install a second meter, at my cost, so I could see how much water is used on my lawns. - Benjamin R. Laufer Sherman Oaks Thank you, El Nino, for showing how much we are being overbilled for sewer charges. The only difference in our water usage is how little we water outside this winter. My family's water usage is down from 44 HCFs last year to 29 HCFs this year for the periods ending Dec. 10, 1997, and Feb. 11, 1998. However, we are being charged sewer charges on 43 HCFs due to the ``new, more accurate formula'' based on last winter's water usage. Thank you, El Nino, for proving that the sanitation bureau is only guessing at how much water goes down the drain. Sign me up for the class-action lawsuit. - Vicki Turnipseed Higgins Sylmar UC minority enrollment In response to Richard Cohen's column (``Schools can't do without an ethnic mix,'' Opinions, April 8) regarding the demise of affirmative action affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. on college campuses: 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. laments the fact that, with affirmative action, ``campuses . . . looked more or less . . . like California itself; African-Americans and Hispanics had a healthy representation'' and that, ``if race is not taken into account, we will have elite institutions that are not representative of the nation as a whole.'' The object of a college education is not to be ``politically correct'' but to prepare the individual to be educationally equipped to begin his or her occupational life in the real world. What employer will continue to keep on his or her payroll an employee who cannot perform the job? It is one thing to embrace a society that is composed of a multiplicity of racial backgrounds and another to ``lower the bar'' in order to help people who are not equipped to deal with higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. to be there ``just because it looks good.'' Cohen said, ``I would like it if merit produced the sort of society most of us want, but if it doesn't, maybe it is not yet time to junk affirmative action.'' I disagree. Merit will produce physicians, scientists, educators, accountants, etc., who are qualified to do their jobs, and that is what society requires - not just ``the right racial mix.'' - Terri Andrews Castaic Cohen says schools can't do without an ethnic mix, so now he's back to supporting affirmative action. Why isn't he advocating an ethnic mix in sports? The L.A. Lakers have one white and 11 African-Americans on their 12-man squad. Where are the Hispanics, Asians and whites who make up the majority of the population? Let's leave ethnic mix out of the equation and go on ability in all things. - Howard Knudson Van Nuys So the end of affirmative action has led to a decrease in minority enrollment at the best universities. Did anyone not anticipate this - including minorities, who have applied in smaller numbers - probably because they recognized that they would not be accepted under the new and more objective selection criteria? As a white male who was not qualified for UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , but was for CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge , I can say it's fine with me if UCLA, Berkeley, etc., are full of Asians if they are the best and the brightest. There are plenty of midlevel mid·lev·el n. The middle stage or level, as in a series, course of action, or career. colleges where midlevel high school kids can get a solid education - and have a better chance of graduating. - Terry Quinn Van Nuys Pols and polls Our form of government, which is not technically a democracy as we have been led to believe, but rather a republic, a representative democracy with checks and balances among the three branches, is being perverted per·vert·ed adj. 1. Deviating from what is considered normal or correct. 2. Of, relating to, or practicing sexual perversion. by the almighty opinion poll. The so-called Republicans in Congress are not expected to pursue impeachment impeachment, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow. proceedings if the opinion polls don't show support for them. The facts and doing what is right, apparently, will not weigh as heavily on their decision as will the possibility of a lack of support from the populace. In a republican democracy, those in elected office and in the judicial system are supposed to consider the facts and then call on their inner morals and convictions to come up with decisions. Consulting the polls constantly and keeping a finger on the ``pulse of the nation'' is not the way our Founding Fathers intended our government to operate. Governance by opinion poll is nothing more than mob rule, and will lead to the erosion of our freedoms, leave minorities unprotected from the whims of the majority, and eventually lead to the destruction of our nation. - Jeff Sloan West Hills Demonizing liberals Reply to Thomas Sowell's article, ``Nazi methods alive and well in America,'' Opinions, April 3: Sowell claims that Hitler and Goebbels are having their revenge on the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. by showing liberal journalists and academics how to poison the well
Poison the Well (commonly abbreviated as PTW or said PT-Dub) are a hardcore band from Miami, Florida currently signed to Ferret Music. of political discourse. The liberals, he argues, used the same tactics as the Nazi dictator and his propaganda minister in stopping Robert Bork's appointment to the Supreme Court and were almost successful in doing the same to Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist and has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. He is the second African American to serve on the nation's highest court, after Justice Thurgood Marshall. . Now this same group, he claims, is trying to demonize de·mon·ize tr.v. de·mon·ized, de·mon·iz·ing, de·mon·iz·es 1. To turn into or as if into a demon. 2. To possess by or as if by a demon. 3. Kenneth Starr's investigation of the president and are again using the same Hitler-like tactics. Demonizing one's political opponent in American politics did not originate with Hitler and Goebbels, but, unfortunately, has a long tradition and history in this country. Sowell is correct about one thing: the well of political discourse in America has become poisoned. But to claim that there is some unholy alliance  This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved. between two dead Nazis and liberals only further pollutes the political waters. - J.W. Cameron Burbank Tobacco fights back It was gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. to see the tobacco industry finally come out of its state of apathy that has permeated the industry since being attacked and assaulted by a money-hungry Clinton administration Noun 1. Clinton administration - the executive under President Clinton executive - persons who administer the law . The billions of dollars that the Clintons want to finance all their child care and child health programs were to be totally financed by a cowering cow·er intr.v. cow·ered, cow·er·ing, cow·ers To cringe in fear. [Middle English couren, of Scandinavian origin.] tobacco industry. The choice of smoking or not is strictly a personal choice, such as having a cocktail or not is also a personal choice. Illnesses due to alcoholism are not blamed on the alcohol companies nor are they subjected to enormous lawsuits, even though many traffic deaths are the direct result of drunk drivers. Illegal drugs are doing more damage to our youths than cigarettes, but there is no financial gain in the prohibition of drugs. It is a crying shame that this administration is concerned only with the bottom line of private enterprise, which is the almighty dollar Almighty dollar is an idiom often used to satirize an obsession for material wealth (the phrase implies that money is a kind of deity). The phrase is commonly attributed to Washington Irving, who used it in the story "The Creole Village", which was published in the November 1836 . - Adelle Sternberg Sherman Oaks Valley rail funds Like many other 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. organizations, the Northridge Chamber of Commerce is very concerned about the financial stability of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the bleak outlook for any meaningful Valley transportation improvements from this source. We are also concerned that the 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. apparently has deliberately thumbed its nose at a state law that required specific money to be set aside for the Valley portion of the Metro Rail project. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D. Edelman. is now sponsoring an initiative to remove the Valley from under the MTA's control, and we applaud this action. However, we have a gnawing feeling that the requirements for the set-aside will disappear through the cracks when the initiative passes. Valley residents should urge Yaroslavsky to draft his initiative to include language that will capture and preserve these funds for the benefit of the Valley. Since the Metro Rail tunneling is no longer financially feasible, through no fault of the Valley, it seems only fair that we should have been allowed to spend the funds for other transportation projects that will benefit Valley residents. - Walter N. Prince Chairman Transportation Committee Northridge Chamber of Commerce Northern Ireland The problems in Northern Ireland between the Catholics and Protestants can be described with one word: stupidity. - Jack Wollard Sunland CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO A reader's bill shows how sewer service exceeded water consumption. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion