PUBLIC FORUM LEGACY OF PROP. 13.

Re ``Is Prop. 13 outdated?'' (June 6):

I was grudgingly in favor of 13 way back when, but thought it was flawed in giving landlords the same tax break as homeowners. And I think that history has proved me correct. Prop. 13 giving landlords such a big break made it popular to become a California landlord, with the outcome being a vast proliferation of substandard and marginally standard housing - including even a relaxation of planning limitations and building-safety codes.

This in turn has facilitated the population glut here in Southern California. And who are the only people to really make out when there's a surfeit of basically unenlightened people? Slumlords, real-estate speculators, sweatshop owners and drug dealers. Nice work, Howard, my man.

- Charles R. Hockett

Silver Lake

Local income taxes

Re ``Historic income tax bill OK'd'' (June 7):

So the passage of AB 1690 OKs California cities and counties to start levying their own personal income taxes. I'd rather have seen it on Page 1 or 2, rather than on Page 11, but you were right and I was wrong about what is newsworthy because no one will discuss it with me.

Well, I'm convinced and I hope it fails when it comes up in the state Senate in about a week or so. It arrived in the Senate on June 5. I'd like to see how our local politicians vote on it. I'll look for it in the obituary columns.

- Richard A. Smith

Van Nuys

Latino discontent

Re ``Latinos come out for Reza'' (June 11):

It was heartening to see the Latino community voice its discontent with LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer at the last board of education meeting. Romer's unilateral appointment of Sue Shannon at the expense of a fair, open application and selection process for Local District B superintendent once again put the needs of the overwhelmingly Latino community second to the whims of a superintendent who forces his own agenda without considering what is best for students and families.

Although Shannon apparently speaks Spanish, she doesn't have Maria Reza's extensive background and track record in this district. Romer needs to reverse this inappropriate appointment.

- Martha F. Ruiz

San Fernando 

Doing his job

Re ``Impeachable offense'' (Your Opinion, June 12):

Being mistaken is not an impeachable offense. Lying under oath - which is what Craig Lennon Kysar's hero, Bill Clinton, did - is. All presidents take actions that can potentially or actually cost American lives. The destruction of our national security apparatus and military under such paragons as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and the execrable Frank Church resulted in 3,000 innocent deaths on 9-11.

Jimmy Carter violated the Logan Act and negotiated a phony nuclear pact with the North Koreans which ensured that George Bush would now face a nuclear-armed nation headed by a madman. We may yet discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - or find they were smuggled into Syria prior to our attack. A serving of crow would then be appropriate for those who call for impeaching a president for doing his job.

- James F. Glass

Chatsworth

Bush, not Davis

They talk about impeaching Gov. Gray Davis for his supposed mishandling of the energy situation, but as usual, they place no responsibility on the Bush administration for its horrible handling of the energy situation and the fiascoes caused by their involvement with Enron and other alleged corrupt energy companies for what they were responsible for with our state energy situation.

The governor contends that at least $10 billion damage was caused by these mishandled dealings, but our courts decided to drastically cut the damage to suit these alleged companies. Please investigate the federal government's involvement thoroughly before one more word is written about impeaching the governor who is justifiably asking what wrongdoing has been done by the Bush administration.

- Raymond Margarit

Glendale

Taxing middle class

Re ``Not my words'' (Your Opinions, June 12):

Charles Sergis says he believes in ``fair'' taxes. Sorry to say, with the Republicans putting us on the road to trillion-dollar deficits, we need to raise taxes and most of them should be paid by the most prosperous people in our society. In a real democracy, the majority should dictate what is fair.

When President Clinton raised taxes in 1994, it was mostly the well-to-do who paid a lot more. He didn't ``fleece the middle class,'' As Sergis argued, unless you define middle class as making more than $200,000 a year. ``Higher taxes choke the economy'' according to Sergis. But the economy did very well under Bill Clinton.

- John Wisdom Dancer

Canoga Park

Tell-tale clues

Re ``Great contrast'' (Your Opinions, June 11):

There are telltale clues to a person's ideology. When someone says that Walter Cronkite didn't reveal his liberal handicap until this last announcement, it just means that he agreed with the viewpoint expressed for that last 20 years. It's the same viewpoint you get with the news on CBS, ABC, CNN and ABC. Boris Menart undoubtedly believes that he gets ``fair and balanced'' on those networks, as opposed to those big bad guys (the ``Goon Squad'') over at Fox. To paraphrase Boris, what a joke.

- Bonnie Blankenship

Glendale

TV's moral breakdown

Enough is enough. No more ``Survivor'' series and whatever else pops into producers' heads. Whatever happened to original thought? Is the almighty buck the only thing Hollywood cares about? I'd say yes.

Besides my disgust at Hollywood's ``anything for a buck'' attitude, my biggest concern is that our moral fabric in this country is being torn to pieces right in front of our eyes. Oh, sure, what's the big deal? Nobody is getting hurt, right? Wrong. We've become voyeurs of ethical and moral breakdown; it's become acceptable to watch lying, cheating and deceiving by participants to get the ultimate goal - which is usually money. The sad thing is, those who watch these shows have become so desensitized that values so twisted serve as entertainment.

- Michael Foxen

Canoga Park

Real then and now

``Right-wing conspiracy'' (Your Opinions, June 10) said that Hillary Clinton's ``blaming all the fuss (of the Lewinsky scandal) on the 'vast right-wing conspiracy' was not true.'' There clearly was one. Ken Starr expanded his investigation into Clinton's personal life after he failed to nail him on Whitewater (the job that the taxpayers were paying him to do).

Gerald Ford defended his own shameful pardoning of Richard Nixon by claiming that a trial of the former president would have distracted him from his duties as president. So why didn't he urge Ken Starr to investigate Clinton after he left the White House, as Starr's probe clearly was a distraction to the president? This obviously would have been in America's best interests. Alas, the ``vast right-wing conspiracy'' was as real as Clinton's adultery.

- Michael Neu

Woodland Hills

Total recall

Can it be? A miracle has taken place, and it seems to have happened to Hillary Clinton. She has been able to write a book. Well, OK, she was able to review a book written for her in which it is clear she has had a complete recovery of her memory.

It seems like it was not that long ago when she had to testify about some dealings that took place while Bill and she were in the people's house. When asked many questions, she answered most of them with ``I am sorry; I don't remember.'' Glory be. She is healed.

- Gary Lemon

Sunland

Tell me the truth

Tell me the sniveling liberals wanted us to be successful in Iraq. Tell me they want a robust stock market. Tell me they want a healthy economy. Tell me the truth: They don't give a damn about America when their greedy left-wing agenda isn't going full speed ahead.

- Frank Carlisi

Calabasas