PUBLIC FORUM ANALYZE THIS.

Re ``City immigrant office opening'' (Nov. 1):

City government's new Office of Immigrant Affairs will be ``analyzing where the city falls short to immigrants and developing a plan,'' a city councilman's spokesman said. What about analyzing where the illegal immigrants fall short on becoming legal citizens? What about analyzing where the money goes that our citizen taxpayers keep paying to run our city?

Is the information from the office staff about where to get free food, health services and other services? Why are we rewarding the undocumented? If they want to live and work here, why not do so legally? I don't get it. Senior citizens cannot afford increases in taxes.

- Betty Jenkins

Chatsworth

Airport expansion

Re (``Airport offers 10-year hold on terminal'' (Oct. 28):

Your Oct. 28 article regarding expansion of Bob Hope Airport at Burbank completely omitted the outrage that has been expressed by hundreds of residents. A newly formed grass-roots group, Burbank Voters and Taxpayers, is demanding the city honor its promise for a vote of the people before any airport expansion is approved.

This discretionary expansion plan provides no protection for the residents of Burbank, North Hollywood or Studio City. What has happened to voters' rights in this country?

- Carolyn Berlin

Burbank

Positive audits?

Re ``Audits of CRA call for reforms'' (Oct. 28):

I am quite sure that all of the citizens of Los Angeles appreciate Laura Chick's ``audits.'' It would be interesting to see the reaction of those same citizens if Laura were to report anything positive.

- Greg Field

Palmdale

Clearing up space

Re ``Proposition 66'' (Your Opinions, Nov. 1):

Michael Cunningham wrote, ``If the state would start honoring the death penalty, it would clear up space and money to house some of the 'three strikes' criminals.'' Good grief, Michael, how many tens of thousands of criminals do you want to kill? How crowded do you imagine Death Row is? What an extraordinary statement.

- Morris Schorr

Woodland Hills

Splitting the difference

Twice a year, we go through the hassle of changing the clocks. Every spring, people show up to work an hour late. They have the excuse that they forgot to change their clocks. Yet most of these folks remember to change the clocks in the fall. Heaven forbid showing up to work an hour early. Next spring, they should split the difference. Change the clocks half an hour. We would never need to do it again.

- Mike Kirwan

Venice

All about ratings

Re ``O'Reilly settles'' (Your Opinions, Nov. 1):

Ronald O. Richards feels, concerning the sexual harassment lawsuit against talk show host and Fox News anchor Bill ``No-Spin'' O'Reilly, that ``a man who was telling the truth would have never settled (out of court),'' especially in light of the fact that O'Reilly had immediately countersued, claiming extortion. Most people would heartily agree with Richards' assessment.

But to those familiar with O'Reilly's hardly self-effacing attitude, it may be becoming clear that perhaps O'Reilly not only kissed the Blarney Stone, but also that he swallowed it whole. That there was a 30 percent increase in viewership of his program after the suit became public comes as no surprise, for, after all, many people do chase ambulances and fire trucks to the scene of an accident.

- Stephen Pettine

Canoga Park

Government efficiency?

Re ``Job fund for LAPD proposed'' (Oct. 22):

Isn't ``governmental efficiency'' an oxymoron - especially in the city's neighborhood-prosecutor program, where lip service and a whisk broom are tools of the trade? Chatsworth's Neighborhood Council repeatedly warned the city about a property that invites a brush-fire disaster, so the neighborhood prosecutor and Los Angeles Police Department agreed to enforce a cleanup last June. A month later the cleanup was delayed until October. When the October date came, the cleanup was shifted to another location.

It seems the city attorney and LAPD decided to sweep the entire situation under a bureaucratic carpet and ignore the concerns of the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council. So much for adding more cops in the San Fernando Valley. Neighborhood prosecutors don't need them. They have plenty of lip balm and a good whisk broom.

- Jerry England

Chatsworth

People like us

Regarding those community leaders who are concerned that the home for homeless veterans will bring more crime to the neighborhood (``Help for homeless vets,'' Oct. 20):

I have visited the rehab facility of a family member. I personally saw these recovering addicted people, and they were people just like us - only addicted to a substance.

I don't see them as a threat to any neighborhood. They are trying to get better and deserve a chance to do that. The community leaders should be more concerned about the gangs and about the school kids who are getting hooked on drugs. Many communities have rehab programs located in neighborhoods with no risk of higher crime.

- Dorothy Harte

Burbank

Help for homeless vets

Re ``Help for homeless vets'' (Oct. 20):

New Directions has not only been a good neighbor to the surrounding Westside neighborhood, but in fact has had a very positive effect on those who have been served, reintroducing them into the mainstream and uniting them with their families.

As a 29-year resident adjacent to the New Directions facilities, and as an 18-year owner of a restaurant also adjacent to these facilities, I can proudly say we have hired some of those retrained, and we have worked with them on community events. The NIMBY attitude must stop in the Valley if we are ever to get our vets the proper help they need. I must protest those who now want additional hearings instead of standing up and offering additional support to help those who have served and protected our country.

- Jay Handal

President

West L.A. Chamber of Commerce

Why have laws?

Re ``The Underground Economy'' (Oct. 18):

Did anyone happen to notice a solution to the problem of ``the underground economy''? Wouldn't surprise me if nobody did, as it was in the 19th paragraph and only five lines long. Some things bear repeating: ``The answer is to stop programs that act as a magnet for immigrants and enforce employer sanctions.''

Paragraph 20 had only two lines summing up, ``We have the laws, but we have to have an administration that has the will to enforce them.'' Yes, we do have the laws, and apparently some people have permission to break them. ``Our goal is not prosecution,'' says Mayor James Hahn's aide. Then why have laws at all?

- Victoria Alexander

Granada Hills

Total gun control

Paul Hutchinson repeats the falsehood that ``total gun control'' causes fewer murders (Your Opinions, Oct. 20). Israel, Switzerland and other countries have very high rates of gun ownership but very few gun murders or crimes. In contrast, Australia and England have seen violent crime rates skyrocket since disarming their law-abiding citizens; somehow the thugs there didn't get around to turning in their illegal weapons, as ordered.

Finally, studies have shown that when legal, concealed carrying of firearms is made easier, violent crime rates drop - in the 37 states where such laws exist. In Los Angeles, of course, you have to have a title like ``LAPD counterterrorism chief'' to get a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

- Alan Tong

Encino