PUBLIC FORUM : READERS SHARE THE WAYS THEY WOULD REFORM L.A.Responding to what is wrong with an antiquated City Charter would take more room than this paper would allow. Answering the second question - what is wrong with the city and what needs to be fixed - is a lot easier. Fire the City Council and a lot of the managers. The task then would be to fix some of the wrongs that the last council and managers instituted over the years. Start with removing the council's dictatorial powers. Change the ethics on how the city does business, its tax structure. Hold management accountable for its own inadequacies with the mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. of city funds. Put a stop to giveaways. Put an end to officeholder of·fice·hold·er n. One who holds public office. Noun 1. officeholder - someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust; "he is an officer of the court"; "the club elected its officers for accounts so council members couldn't buy votes from special-interest groups. Next, start with a gross cut in the salaries paid to the council members and managers. Trim the freebies that are thrown in, and then teach the elected how to be constituent-oriented by turning off the lip service lip service n. Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect: that is generated when calling your councilman's office. That would be a start. - Benjamin R. Laufer Sherman Oaks As a resident of 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. since 1957 and Woodland Hills since 1961, I would like to pass on some observations and advice to my fellow 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. residents. Our interests will clearly be best served by changing the charter to eliminate the stranglehold of the council, then making the Valley a separate city and voting in candidates who pay attention to our unique problems and requirements. For years we have poured our tax dollars into the city funnel without getting a proportional return. We have been treated as second-class citizens in just about every area. We must restore government responsive to Valley interests and citizenry. We must unite to vote as one body against any candidate or party that does not support Valley separation. - Judd C. Kramer Woodland Hills What ails L.A.? It's abject liberalism. The civilian retirement plan is ridiculous. At age 50 and 32.4 years service, workers can retire at 70 percent of their highest year's salary. I am retired from a large, integrated oil company. Retirement works roughly like this. At age 55 and 32.4 years service, retirement pay would be 36.45 percent of ``retirement'' salary. At age 60, it would be 48.6 percent. One would need 46.7 years of service to earn 70 percent. There is no retirement at age 50. An employee can resign at age 50 and receive a lump sum Lump sum A large one-time payment of money. , or begin receiving retirement pay at age 55 or later. There are no little extras to ``bump up'' retirement pay, such as unused sick leave, vacation and clothing allowances. What can be done to reverse the direction of this fiscal suicide? First, immediate spinal transplants to stiffen stiff·en tr. & intr.v. stiff·ened, stiff·en·ing, stiff·ens To make or become stiff or stiffer. stiff the backbone of all involved in the rip-off. Second, vote no on all city and state tax increases, regardless of how noble-sounding the cause. Any tax increases or new taxes will result only in increases in the already bloated salaries and benefits of city employees. - James H. Steger Camarillo In the last election as well as our coming election on Tuesday, there have been proposed amendments to the City Charter that relate to police and fire pension benefits. In our last election, the voters passed Charter Amendment D, which allowed widows of police and fire officers to be able to retain pension benefits in the event of remarriage Re`mar´riage n. 1. A second or repeated marriage. Noun 1. remarriage - the act of marrying again . The City Charter as it was originally written discriminated against divorced spouses of police and fire officers. Specifically, the discrimination occurs following the death of the police and fire officer when their divorced spouse is then cut off from receiving their half of the police or fire pension that they have contributed to throughout the course of their marriage in the form of community property. This is an egregious wrong that can be righted with charter reform as well as a charter amendment. - Glenda G. Warren Woodland Hills For your Public Forum on ``What Ails L.A.?'': What's missing? A sense of vision by the council or mayor. A sense of mission for the city. A strategic plan for the city. Leadership by the council and the mayor. An understanding of what is and isn't important to taxpayers and citizens. What we have: A sense that the philosophy of micromanagement This is about the management style. For the computer game strategy, see Micromanagement (computer gaming). In business management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of their employees, generally used as a pejorative term. prevails so that bigger issues can be avoided being addressed. A sense that the council and mayor would rather fight about turf issues than address real problems with real solutions. An unemployment rate that is considerably higher than the national average due to unreasonably high business taxes to feed a bureaucracy that probably isn't needed. - Kenneth Keller Valencia What is wrong with L.A. is: The City Council is made up mostly of unregenerate un·re·gen·er·ate adj. 1. a. Not spiritually renewed or reformed; not repentant. b. Sinful; dissolute. 2. a. Not reconciled to change; unreconstructed. b. Stubborn; obstinate. liberals who prefer ``people's republics'' to free markets and seem positively proud of their ignorance of free markets and the American entrepreneurial spirit. As long as the council appears hell-bent on driving private enterprise out of the Southland, don't expect to see job growth improve or many start-up companies take root soon. As for getting our people off welfare, government at all levels should resist the impulse toward feel-good meddling med·dle intr.v. med·dled, med·dling, med·dles 1. To intrude into other people's affairs or business; interfere. See Synonyms at interfere. 2. To handle something idly or ignorantly; tamper. that only saws off the lower rungs of opportunity's ladder for the poorest and least qualified among us. What's wrong with L.A? In short: too much government. - Patricia Parker Los Angeles We in Los Angeles live in a continual malaise that surrounds us much like our smog. Taxpayers of many years are fleeing, leaving an inoperative Void; not active; ineffectual. The term inoperative is commonly used to indicate that some force, such as a statute or contract, is no longer in effect and legally binding upon the persons who were to be, or had been, affected by it. City Council. Most council members refuse to function outside their own personal agendas: race and gender. America's unifying language of English is bastardized bas·tard·ize tr.v. bas·tard·ized, bas·tard·iz·ing, bas·tard·iz·es 1. To lower in quality or character; debase. 2. To declare or prove (someone) to be a bastard. by newcomers who refuse to learn what makes us ``one nation'' and somehow interpret it as ``racist'' if asked to learn it properly. New ``barrios'' arise each day, composed of illegals from everywhere, who continue to flood our borders without reprisal reprisal, in international law, the forcible taking, in time of peace, by one country of the property or territory belonging to another country or to the citizens of the other country, to be held as a pledge or as redress in order to satisfy a claim. . Propositions are passed and then halted by individual judges who know better than the public. Our schools are the 46th least effective in the nation, and our next generation of children will actually know less than their parents. Newscasts are so horrific with news of gangs, graffiti and drive-by shootings that we now build gates to fence ourselves in. The problems all begin in the home. Until we parents of all past cultures living in this county today take responsibility for our children and where they are 24 hours a day, we will continue to be mentally and physically crime infested in·fest tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: . Even for the optimistic, the sane of heart and mind, this is a scary time to be alive in L.A., for there seems to be no viable light at the end of the tunnel. To live in fear of those who are out of control, who have returned to jungle warfare Some of the information in this article may not be verified by . It should be checked for inaccuracies and modified to cite reliable sources. Jungle warfare , is not living at all. - Paul Vaughn Paul Vaughn is an American actor, most notable for his recurring role as "Paul" on ten episodes of the American situation comedy, Cheers. He also made guest appearances on television series including Fantasy Island, Three's a Crowd, and I Dream of Jeannie. Van Nuys Deregulating de·reg·u·late tr.v. de·reg·u·lat·ed, de·reg·u·lat·ing, de·reg·u·lates To free from regulation, especially to remove government regulations from: deregulate the airline industry. electricity I commend state Sen. Richard Polanco Richard G. Polanco, is a former California State Senate Majority leader and member of the California State Assembly. He is known for his significant efforts in increasing Latino representation in the California Legislature. for remembering all consumers in the new electric marketplace (``State's power 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. charged with complications,'' Opinions, March 27). Small business and residential customers actively supported AB 1890, the legislation opening the generation of electricity, because we believed a competitive market would offer true customer choice. Polanco summed it up accurately when he stated that California must create a restructuring model that is one of fairness, equality and true choice for all consumers. Racing to unbundle To sell components in a system separately. Contrast with bundle. the service portion of the industry, without setting specific guidelines and consumer protection measures, will signify to other states that we have not learned from the problems that occurred in the deregulation of the telecommunications industry. Small business applauds Polanco for recognizing the need to initiate a plan that remembers small business and residential consumers in the new electric marketplace. It took more than two years to develop sound legislation through which California's consumers could benefit from electric restructuring. We would be wise to ensure that last year's effort is solidly implemented before we move forward with a complicated issue such as unbundling A regulatory requirement that enables a competing service provider to purchase parts of the incumbent local exchange carrier's network in order to provide service to its customers. See ILEC. . - Betty Jo Toccoli President California Small Business Association Los Angeles In response to Polanco's commentary regarding electricity deregulation: It is refreshing to know that our elected officials are listening to the concerns of residential consumers and are responsibly addressing them. With a product and service as fundamental to consumers as electricity, it is essential to ensure a certain level of stability, quality and consumer confidence. Residential consumers should be concerned because that stability is now being threatened by power marketers pushing legislators and the state Public Utilities Commission to unbundle electric services before AB 1890 - the landmark legislation that unlocked electricity generation - has a chance to work. Consumers want to avoid the same confusion that was caused when phone services were fragmented. Bravo to legislators such as Polanco for hearing and acting upon these concerns. Only through legislation such as Polanco's, which would require strict consumer protection measures, will California demonstrate that it has learned from past mistakes made in other industries. All consumers - regardless of size - are entitled to the benefits of the new, competitive market adopted last year. - Virginia Jarrow President Consumers Coalition of California Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (rĭdŏn`dō), city (1990 pop. 60,167), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1892. Once a commercial port for Los Angeles, it is a residential and resort city with a protected harbor and an excellent marina. Comet may be a cosmic signal Much has been said as to possible meanings of the Hale-Bopp comet. I propose that it marks the beginning of the third millennium. Since many scholars believe that Christ was actually born in 4 B.C., 1997 contains the beginning of the third millennium. Also, it is believed that Christ was actually born in the spring. The shepherds were out watching their flocks - something they only did in the spring when lambs are born. Thus, most probably this spring is the beginning of the third millennium after Christ's birth. The Hale-Bopp comet's closet approach to the Sun, on April 1, was as good a signal as any. So happy third millennium. May it be the best one yet. - Rick Roome Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. |
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