PUBLIC FORUM NEVER HAPPEN.

If the people of Los Angeles get to vote whether the Valley should be allowed to secede, it will never happen. By the time the politicians who are against secession get through brainwashing the people of Los Angeles - saying that if they lose their ``cash cow,'' the Valley, their standard of living will decrease - none of them will vote for it. If there are any Valley residents who think otherwise, I own a bridge in Brooklyn, N.Y., that I'd like to sell them.

I think that it is unfair for the residents of Los Angeles to have any say in this matter. The only ones who should get to decide whether the Valley should secede are the Valley residents. Only we should get to vote for or against secession - nobody else.

- Sol Swidler

West Hills

Loss is not real

I don't believe the city of Los Angeles will lose $193 million from power sales to other utilities. In fact, I would venture that the cost to produce that power was less the one-10th of that amount.

The Department of Water and Power attached itself to an overpriced, manipulated wholesale market. Not that I blame it, mind you. But to say it will lose that money is misleading. It just won't reap an obscene profit.

- Billy Sottile

Lancaster

Political spinmeisters

Some years ago, because of a drought, we were asked to conserve 10 percent on our water consumption. The concerned citizens, with a concerted effort, reduced consumption by 30 percent.

What happened? The utility lost water revenue, so officials increased rates, which have never been reduced. Now a different approach has been adopted by our political spinmeisters. Rates were raised, and then the public was asked to conserve. Do we need more businessmen in office as opposed to career politicians?

- Richard Promen

Tarzana

MTA service

Re ``MTA report cites improvement'' (April 5): I vehemently disagree that service has improved. On the contrary, it has become a very unpleasant experience to ride most lines.

I have seen drivers do many outrageous things, such as leave passengers at stops in the pouring rain as they're running up - with no umbrellas - to catch it. Often, drivers slam on the brakes coming to stops, and I saw an elderly man fall down because of this. On top of this, I have seen many drivers get smart and rude with passengers for no apparent reason. And I have seen and heard of several incidents caused by overly aggressive drivers.

- Dale Singletary

North Hollywood

Not a good start

This must be the new era of military readiness that George W. promised us on the campaign trail. So far we've had four separate military plane crashes and a submarine joyride, sinking a ship. Now we have the Chinese government holding Americans servicemen hostage, and one of our $1 billion surveillance planes is being inspected and soon to be confiscated. In his first two press conferences on this terrorism, ``W'' called for calm, then ran from reporters and hid in the Oval Office.

Also, what happened to the crack team of foreign policy retreads - Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney - who were supposed to guide this novice president through such crises? As in the fairy tale, we now see that this emperor has no clothes.

- Gerry Wyatt

North Hollywood

School bullies

I rarely had a day in junior high school when I wasn't forced to endure constant bullying, teasing and name-calling: ``Hey, fatso,'' or ``Hi, four-eyes.'' When I didn't react to my tormentors, they resorted to physical assaults - such as pushing, punching, poking and writing on my clothing with a pen - to try to get me to fight.

I sought help from the teachers, then from the school principal. I was told: ``You are old enough to fight your own battles.'' Well, when I did just that, I was suspended for fighting in school.

The repeated occurrence of violence in school is a predictable result of many factors, but first and second on the list are incompetent and apathetic parents and incompetent and apathetic school administrators and teachers.

- Tony Nathanson

Encino

Money and free speech

To obtain a quick understanding of just how ludicrously unconstitutional the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill is, just try a simple word swap. Every time restrictions on the freedoms of political parties are mentioned, substitute the words ``newspaper companies.''

Every time restrictions on the freedoms of interested, activist citizens groups, such as the Sierra Club and National Rifle Association, are mentioned, substitute the words ``TV companies.''

What would be the media reaction then? How can we stand still for a limit on political speech at all, much less 30 or 60 days prior to an election? Apparently a large number of congressmen see this as an incumbent-protection measure.

- Michael J. Bell

Moorpark

Not like the holocaust

Re ``Starts small'' by Bob Schultz (Public Forum, April 4):

It seems that whenever members of an organization try to exclude someone they prefer not to have in their organization, it is compared to the Holocaust. I hardly think members of the Boy Scouts of America have any intentions of murdering homosexuals. They simply don't want gays as Boy Scout leaders. Why is the freedom to associate only with whom we wish always labeled as improper discrimination?

When I was in college 50 years ago, the organization I wished to join did not choose me - members thought my family was not rich enough - and I declined to join the group that did pick me because members' lifestyle differed from mine. Was this discrimination on either side? Should I have likened it to the Holocaust?

- J.G. Margolis

Granada Hills

Human character

Re ``PETA pitiless when it comes to humans'' (Opinion, March 30):

It is interesting that, in attacking People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Jeff Jacoby defends vivisection. I respect what George Bernard Shaw said about vivisection:

``You do not settle whether an experiment is justified or not by merely showing that it is of some use. The distinction is not between useful and useless experiments, but between barbarous and civilized behavior. Vivisection is a social evil because if it advances human knowledge, it does so at the expense of human character.''

- Alex Randis

Northridge

And he's armed

Recently the people who make prunes decided that the word has a bad connotation for some folks, so now they will call them ``dried plums.'' What's next? ``Smokey'' as the name for the bear?'' What about ``drugstore?''

Stanford University's Indians are now ``the Cardinal.'' Will this be offensive to the clergy or the ornithologists?

I'm worried about my old alma mater, Canoga Park High School, the Hunters. Our mascot is a little fellow dressed in buckskins - oh, dear. He wears a coonskin hat. Worst of all, he's sighting down a rifle - a flintlock rifle, of course. You can see him on the gym building on Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

- Loyal Bruno

West Hills

Boy Scouts

Re ``Starts small'' (Public Forum, April 4):

Bob Schultz makes the point that ``it is not the fault of public officials that the Boy Scouts might have to curtail their programs receiving public support. It is the fault of the Boy Scouts. If they agree not to discriminate, then there is no problem.''

Of course, logic works both ways. If male and female homosexuals agree not to practice objectionable sexual activities, then there is no problem. Additionally, it is clear that homosexual activities preceded those of the Boy Scouts by several thousand years. Thus, there may be a cause-effect relationship. Absent homosexuality, and the Boy Scouts would not be discriminating against homosexuals. But then I'm not being politically correct, am I?

- Max L. Huber

North Hills