PUBLIC FORUM DOWNEY'S WAR.

Robert Downey Jr. will be sent to a drug treatment center - again. After six months, he will return to Hollywood (to work) and once more the drug-related cycle will resume. Hollywood is a concentration of big and fast money, (salaries from $25,000 a week jumping to $750,000) three to six months' work for $7 million to $20 million, and of big egos, biggest insecurities and biggest stress.

A perfect combination for drug pushers to peddle their devastating merchandise. Hollywood is like a kennel infested by fleas. Take one dog out to be bathed and cleaned. Return the cleaned, flea-free dog to the kennel and what happens? The dog gets reinfested. And that is the tragedy of Robert Downey Jr.

- Dante F. Rochetti

West Hills

No sympathy

Wow, what a surprise ... Robert Downey Jr., arrested again. When is this bum going to straighten out his life? I'm sure there is a ton of people with less money and resources than Downey who beat drug addiction all the time. I have no sympathy for him and say thumbs up to David E. Kelley for giving this ingrate the boot.

- Mariela Hahn

Castaic

Nonelected bureaucrats

I'm trying to understand spiraling energy costs. My taxes go to pay the salaries (and expenses) of nonelected bureaucrats who put so many restrictions on the construction of new gasoline refineries that none has been added in the past 20 years or more. In addition, these same nonelected ``regulators'' have, in their infinite wisdom, insisted on the inclusion of ``additives'' to our gasoline.

In both instances, these decisions have increased the cost of fossil fuels to the consumer. So here we are, paying these nonelected bureaucrats to limit the supply of a critical necessity in California, so we can pay more for it. Oh, boy, talk about our tax dollars at work.

- John Holt 

La Canada Flintridge

Utility tax cut

Re ``Council warned to salt away this year's windfall'' (May 1):

Concerning the $125 million more than expected from sales and utility- users tax, I am a 70-year-old retired person getting by on a limited income and the city users tax on my gas bill has increased from $3.82 on 54 therms used in December 1999 to $6.08 in February this year, an increase of 59 percent for the same amount of gas used to heat my home.

Coupled with the never-ending sewer charge of $22.79 per month, it comes to $300.60 for the year, and that is at the minimum use of gas and water for one month. That is 70 percent of my annual tax bill. I support Mayor Richard Riordan's proposed $10 million temporary tax cut in utility-users tax for natural gas.

- John Bunte

Sunland

It's embarrassing

Re ``Feds stiff banks on credit cards'' (May 2):

It is disgusting and embarrassing to the U.S. government that its employees cannot control their personal traveling debt. We Americans are expected to honor our creditors and pay ``as agreed'' when we accept the obligation of credit cards, yet employees in many prestigious departments are allowed to charge their travel costs and not repay them. So the banks write them off.

As everyday citizens, if we don't pay, the banks come after us and our credit is ruined. This is totally unfair to us as citizens and even morally wrong for the employees to know they can get away with it. Again, the government is too lax and waste is evident. Why can't the payments be deducted from their grossly high pay checks?

- Jackie Roose

Woodland Hills

Belmont bid process

I read your editorial ``Rigged bids'' (April 27), which troubled me greatly. It suggests that Superintendent Roy Romer used his discretion to shape the Request for Proposals regarding the Belmont Learning Center in favor of building, rather than disposing of the property. That suggestion is wrong.

The Education Code of the State of California requires that before a school district may sell property to private parties, it must first offer that property to various public and nonprofit entities. The RFPs could not ignore that procedure. As a result it was not possible to seek definitive bids for the sale of the property at this time.

The school board was aware of the Education Code's requirement when it approved the superintendent's preparation of the RFPs. No one should be surprised at this result, least of all a newspaper of your caliber.

- Harold J. Kwalwasser

General counsel

LAUSD 

Price of petrol

Last week I was in Arizona. In Tucson, regular unleaded gas at either Texaco or 76 stations was $1.51 a gallon. At stations such as Circle K it was $1.41. Off I-10 in the desert it was $1.62. Can it be that there are more refineries in Arizona than California.

- Richard Promen

Tarzana

Solar energy 

Re ``Solar panels could pay off'' by Dale Maharidge (Viewpoint, April 29):

Maharidge wants the state to raise $30 billion in bonds for 30 million solar panels? That's $1,000 for each 100-watt panel. Each panel (won't be sun-tracking at that price) effectively generates electricity for an average of six hours per day.

In a year, this will generate $22 per panel based on a typically quoted rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour (which is approximately what I pay to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power). This $22 won't even come close to paying off the interest on the $1,000 cost. Having Peter, the taxpayer, pony up a thousand dollars (plus interest) to buy Paul a solar panel to run a 100-watt light bulb for six hours a day is ludicrous. Subsidies only means that someone else is paying for the losses.

- Alan von Arx

Northridge

Veterans know

Re the inquisition of Bob Kerrey:

Children have been used as combatants in many wars. How old do you have to be to pull the pin from a grenade? In Korea, my war, one of the tactics used by the Chinese and their allies was to send children running up a hill carrying weapons as far as they could before being killed by our fire. They did not fire the weapons. Their experienced troops would then run up the same hill unburdened by the weight of weapons, picking them up where the dead children lay.

Many of these kids were younger than those whom I later taught as an elementary school teacher. Every veteran knows how he feels. Enough is enough. Bob Kerrey has enough of his own demons. He doesn't need any media slime to add to his misery.

- Paul Wasserman

Northridge

No object lesson

Ever notice that true-life crime stories in the past played out like Greek tragedies? Present-day Hollywood crime stories are buddy pictures. True-life crime stories in the past had a tragic-figure criminal dying in a fusillade of bullets. Modern-day entertainment has these incredible shootouts and there is nary a police officer in sight.

Criminals in crime dramas in the past were totally paranoid, looking over their shoulders, fearing and sometimes seeing a police officer walking by once they crossed over the line into criminality. Where is that in present-day shoot-'em-up fantasies? Only the innocent suffer these things while the bad guys nowadays hardly give it a thought. The kid who killed the ice cream lady can totally enjoy feel-good modern Hollywood entertainment, for there is no object lessons contained in them.

- Rikio Matsunami

Los Angeles 

Music to their ears

Re ``Fondness for music older than humanity, research says,'' (April 26):

Gee. Now I understand why whenever I play my old vinyl records and albums, my cats will sometimes hop upon the entertainment center and, well, enjoy getting an earful of music that brings joyous memories to their hearts and mine, too.

- Sophia Sherman

Van Nuys