PUBLIC FORUM NO CHECKS OR BALANCES.One of the main reasons I was for seceding from the ``over the hill gang'' was the City Council. They are essentially a dictatorship. There are no ``checks and balances,'' and no real authority for the mayor. The ``Neighborhood Council'' established, with some pressure, is a royal farce. They are not voted in; I do not know who my NC is; they have no authority (except to make noise). In summary, they are useless. Total control of our way of life and money is in the hands of the L.A. City Council dictators. Now the new Valley gang will follow the same pattern, dictators with no check and balance. Our federal government, by the Constitution, has checks and balances. Even our laughable state has checks and balances. Change, or forget my vote. - Charles Dusheck Chatsworth Taximony The taximony that the new Valley city would have to pay to the old city of Los Angeles
James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California and the City Council. The city's reduced property tax revenue has been offset by underserving the Valley compared with revenue from the Valley. At least after secession, the taximony would decline by 5 percent annually, until it disappears after 20 years. Both sides should learn from the experience, and grow. - Victor N. Viereck Residents for Independence North Hollywood They owe us I was appalled when I heard that following the possible secession we who live in the 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. would have to pay alimony alimony, in law, allowance for support that an individual pays to his or her former spouse, usually as part of a divorce settlement. It is based on the common law right of a wife to be supported by her husband, but in the United States, the Supreme Court in 1979 to the city of Los Angeles. I think that if we have to pay alimony we should be allowed to sue to recoup child support for all those years we have paid increased taxes with none of the benefits (retroactive). - Ajarrah ``Jeri'' Rehn Reseda Monuments to egos So, a consortium of millionaires thinks 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. should have a new football stadium provided we taxpayers make them a 20-year loan of $100 million or so and that the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga loans them $150 million. Obviously, the City Council is not finished building monuments to their egos with taxpayer money. I will lay a bet and give odds that less than 25 percent of our citizens have any interest in a new stadium. And I'll double that bet that only a tiny fraction of our citizens will be able to afford the cost of tickets plus parking fees. However, 100 percent of Los Angeles taxpayers will pay the bill for this project. Think how far that $100 million would go toward correcting our deplorable streets and sidewalks and improving police protection. - Sid Conkwright Van Nuys Set some priorities I understand that in the year 2015 we will be sending a manned rocket to the planet Mars. This project has been going on for years and by the year 2015 I believe it will have cost us over a trillion dollars. We want to know if there is life on Mars Scientists have long speculated about the possibility of life on Mars owing to the planet's proximity and similarity to Earth. It remains an open question whether life exists on Mars now, or existed there in the past. . We will be searching for water where we might find some sort of life like mold on a rock or who knows what. The scientists are saying knowledge is priceless and that's why we are doing this. You can't put a price on knowledge. Yes, some knowledge is priceless but there are priorities. I would have spent that one trillion dollars trying to find ways to make the blind see, to make the deaf hear, to make the lame walk, etc. Finding mold on a rock on the planet Mars is my last priority. - Stan Niedwicki Woodland Hills It's the economy Told you so. It seems that California is not the only state whose income from state and federal tax revenues are not what was anticipated. The tax cuts by President Bush left far less money to give back to the states, plus when people don't work they don't pay taxes. So we're in a quandary. The tax rebate tax rebate n → devolución f de impuestos; reembolso fiscal tax rebate n → ristourne f d'impôt tax rebate I received went into my bank account. I did not help flourish the economy. People ask for raises in the work force to keep up with inflation, and government needs more income as well. Last year a box of eight doughnuts cost 99 cents. This year it is $1.29 or $1.39 for the same doughnuts, and that's on sale. Don't blame Gov. Gray Davis for the shortfall, it's a sign of the times A Sign of the Times was a 1966 single by Petula Clark. Written by Tony Hatch, the uptempo pop number juxtaposed Clark's driving vocals with a powerful brass section. She introduced the tune on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 27, 1966. . - Stanley Gold Stanley P. Gold is the President and CEO of Shamrock Holdings, which manages Roy E. Disney's investments. He was a longtime member of the Walt Disney Company's board of directors (1984; 1987-2003), before he and Roy Disney resigned to publicly campaign to oust then Chairman Michael Van Nuys Says Palestine This is in response to the argument that there is no such country as Palestine. The Webster's Universal Dictionary, unabridged version, copyrighted 1936, lists Palestine as a country, 10,000 square miles in area, with Jerusalem as its capital. - Anne Hall Granada Hills Mean spirited It is totally mean-spirited and irresponsible for the Democrats to imply that the president or anyone else knew about the 9-11 attack and did nothing about it. To even suggest that there was prior knowledge of this event and no one took action is unconscionable Unusually harsh and shocking to the conscience; that which is so grossly unfair that a court will proscribe it. When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to the dictates of conscience. . We are told that the government receives threats daily from many sources; many are crank cases, most with not enough information to pursue or act on. The public is not informed, nor should it be. The public's ``right to know'' is not sacrosanct sac·ro·sanct adj. Regarded as sacred and inviolable. [Latin sacr  s . I am
confident that if anyone from the president on down had any idea of the
terrorist plans for 9-11, proper action would have been taken.
- Margot Trasatti Sherman Oaks Every little thing You can tell this is an election year. The Democrats and our liberal media are latching on to every little thing to discredit our president. Could anyone think that anyone would stand aside and let thousands of people be slaughtered if they knew such a thing was going to happen? Did no other president have his picture used for fund-raising or other various reasons? I seem to remember seeing many posed pictures of the Clintons dancing on the beach or some such rot and I also know that LBJ had a photographer constantly at his side for pictures. Come on, Democrats. You are rather transparent. It all smells like ``The Sweet Smell of Politics!'' - Francis Adams Francis Adams is the name of:
Glendale A half-century later Most Public Forum letters commenting on the 9-11 World Trade Center and Pentagon suicide bombings echo President George W. Bush's response (``Don't blame me, I was out of the loop.'') Sound familiar? I wonder what the reaction fo former World War II ``Give `em hell'' President Harry S. Truman For other persons named Harry Truman, see Harry Truman (disambiguation). Harry S. Truman (May 8 1884 – December 26 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as vice president, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. would have been? Truman, the first president I ever voted for, would have responded, ``The buck stops here.'' What a difference a half-century makes. - Louis Robins Van Nuys Pathetic politics The Republican National Committee has been sending out photos of the president to donors who give $150 to the party. One of these photos was taken on Sept. 11, and shows the president aboard Air Force One, speaking on the phone to Vice President Cheney. The Democrats, grasping at straws to try and undermine the president's popularity before the midterm elections, have taken issue with the choice of photograph. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard "Terry" McAuliffe (b. 1957) is an American business and political leader. He served as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001-05. He currently serves as Chairman of the Hillary Clinton for President exploratory campaign committee. calls it grotesque, and Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore says it's disgraceful. Perhaps Gore thinks we've all forgotten the photos of him raising money illegally at the Buddhist Temple - and McAuliffe thinks a night in the Lincoln Bedroom The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom on the second floor of the White House, part of a guest suite of rooms that includes the Lincoln Sitting Room. The room is named for Abraham Lincoln and was used by him as an office. is a more appropriate reward for party donors. - Stephen Bonds Van Nuys Local control The long-awaited determination regarding the reuse of El Toro El To·ro An unincorporated community of southern California southeast of Santa Ana. Founded in the 1890s, it is mainly residential. Population: 62,685. has finally been made by the Navy. Barring any shenanigans shenanigans Noun, pl Informal 1. mischief or nonsense 2. trickery or deception [origin unknown] by distant special interests and their government lackeys, the base will not become an airport. I think it's now time for L.A. area government officials such as James Hahn, Mike Gordon For other persons named Mike Gordon, see Mike Gordon (disambiguation). Mike Gordon (born June 3, 1965 in Sudbury, Massachusetts) is a bass player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. , Maxine Waters Maxine Waters (born Maxine Moore Carr on August 15 1938) has served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing the 35th District of California (map). and Jane Harmon, etc., to accept what the Navy has decided and what federal law has always mandated. The base property will rightfully be returned to the control of the Local Reuse Authority; the key word being ``local.'' This is not now and never has been a ``regional'' issue. El Toro is no more L.A.'s business than the building of a fifth runway at LAX or expansion of San Pedro harbor is ours. - Douglas K. Blaul Trabuco Canyon Act now on CO2 I've seen letters saying that CO2 is not a pollutant or it's just being used as a buzzword A term that refers to the latest technology or a term that sounds catchy. If not a flash in the pan, new technologies become mainstream. For example, Java was a hot buzzword in the 1990s, but should remain a major topic for decades. to promote the global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. theory. One explained that CO2 is what plants use to produce oxygen. A true statement, but as with anything in nature balance is the key. Throwing more CO2 at a plant does not make it produce more oxygen. In fact, too much CO2 slows the plant's ability to produce O2. Another stated ``CO2 has been classified as a pollutant to force out SUVs and trucks.'' Well, if you don't believe that CO2 is a dangerous pollutant, try locking yourself in an airtight room and see how long you last trying to breath CO2 after all the O2 is gone. If we don't do something now I'm afraid our grandchildren may not live to regret it. - Kevin Marsh Lancaster Double-standard parking I find it interesting that it is wrong for full-sized vehicles to park in compact spots but it seems to be OK for compacts to park in full-size spots. I park in a parking structure where one side is compact and the other side is full size. Most of the time all full-size spots are taken (most with compacts), and very few of the compact spots are taken. When compacts park in compact spots there may be spots left for full-size to park in full-size spots. Two times I have had notes on my car, but you don't see notes on compacts. - Don Gustafson Burbank |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion