PUBLIC FORUM OUSTING WRONG ONE.Re ``Riordan, Broad plotting to oust Tokofsky in '03'' (Nov. 16): I appreciate the Daily News keeping concerned taxpayers, like myself, informed about politicians' plans to oust LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) board member David Tokofsky. I watch some of the televised board meetings. Tokofsky and Julie Korenstein's participation represents my views and concerns. Last week Superintendent Roy Romer Roy R. Romer (born October 31, 1928 in Garden City, Kansas, United States) was the 39th governor of Colorado and served as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2001 to 2006. replied to Tokofsky's request for more information on an issue, ``If you don't trust me, you ought to fire me.'' What a great idea. - Martha Akin Reseda Losing kids Re ``Runaway charged in Santana killing'' (Nov. 22): Gee. The 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. Department of Children and Family Services ``lost'' more than 740 children entrusted to their care. And now one of these lost children has been charged in a cold-blooded murder. I'm waiting for the news conference where these public workers whine that it's not their fault since they are so understaffed and underfunded un·der·fund tr.v. un·der·fund·ed, un·der·fund·ing, un·der·funds To provide insufficient funding for. underfunded adj → infradotado (económicamente) . Yet the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services is one of the main agencies that always finds the time to place hundreds of thousands of innocent people's names on the Department of Justice Index - Schindler's List in reverse. - Larry Shepherd Van Nuys Not compassionate ``Homeless `dumped' downtown?'' (Nov. 19) made me wonder, if these people are really homeless, then why does it matter where they are released? Providing convenient services to comfortably maintain their status is cruel, not compassionate. These street-dwelling addict/panhandler/mentally ill folk should be offered help only toward improving their lives, not keeping them in place. At the least, this would weed out the vagrants. Society would benefit almost as much as the homeless. - David R. Gee Van Nuys Hahn's trip I am having a hard time with this trip to China and Japan by our mayor of Los Angeles. Crime at its highest, especially murder, and the mayor goes on this trip. And who is paying for this trip? If it is for tourism, that won't go anywhere because he would first have to clean up the crime everywhere in Los Angeles, including 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. . Hahn's trip to China and Japan is questionable. Hahn is acting as if he's the president of the United States The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. instead of a first-term mayor. Here we are, being threatened by Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden: see bin Laden, Osama. with another attack possibly on American soil and possibly on the brink of war with Iraq, and our mayor is nowhere near Los Angeles or the San Fernando Valley. One-time mayor? Most likely. - Mary Lou Holte Van Nuys Give him a chance Re ``Anguish of animals'' Nov. 18): Year after year the same voices criticize L.A. City animal control no matter who's in charge. This department is a work in progress after decades of being ignored and neglected by governing officials, but it's definitely moving in the right direction. New General Manager Jerry Greenwalt inherited many problems from an unrealistic predecessor. Dan Knapp made idealistic promises he couldn't keep, such as ``no-kill'' in shelters taking in 70,000 surplus animals yearly. Knapp started programs without comprehensive plans for future funding: e.g., the spay/neuter mobile van and new animal shelters without staffing. Let's give Greenwalt a fair chance to bring as much reality as possible to our communal goals for the animals of this city. - Phyllis M. Daugherty Director Animal Issues Movement How slow was it? Re ``My three sons'' (Nov. 17): I do not want to be rude about someone whom most people revere Revere, city (1990 pop. 42,786), Suffolk co., E Mass., a residential suburb of Boston, on Massachusetts Bay; settled c.1630, set off from Chelsea and named for Paul Revere 1871, inc. as a city 1914. almost to the point of hero worship hero worship n. Intense or excessive admiration for a hero or a person regarded as a hero. hero worship Noun admiration for heroes or idealized people Noun 1. or sainthood (Dennis, mom and apple pie apple pie typical, wholesome American dessert. [Am. Culture: Flexner, 68] See : America ), but how much more self-righteous and saccharin saccharin (săk`ərĭn), C7H5NSO3, white, crystalline, aromatic compound. It was discovered accidentally by I. Remsen and C. Fahlberg in 1879. Pure saccharin tastes several hundred times as sweet as sugar. can Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Must have been a very slow day, Dennis. Hope there are not many more of these. - Eileen O'Neill West Hills People of substance Re ``Doesn't make sense'' (Your Opinion, Nov. 22): I've had a couple of questions in my mind for a long time. First, who were the people who originally voted to annex the San Fernando Valley to L.A.? Was it the citizens of the Valley, or was it a citywide vote? Secondly, why is it that voters who do not own property have the right to vote on issues that affect property taxes and assessments? I seem to remember from my civics civics, branch of learning that treats of the relationship between citizens and their society and state, originally called civil government. With the large immigration into the United States in the latter half of the 19th cent. classes (of long ago) that the country's founders envisioned that voters would only be people of property and substance. It's a puzzlement puz·zle·ment n. The state of being confused or baffled; perplexity. Noun 1. puzzlement - confusion resulting from failure to understand bafflement, befuddlement, bemusement, bewilderment, mystification, obfuscation . ... - Arthur Carden California City Riordan could have To complement B.E. Beiner's opinion ``Why Simon Lost'' (Your Opinion, Nov. 13), I'd add that Bill Simon William Edward Simon, Jr. (born June 20, 1951), best known as Bill Simon, is an American businessman and politician. In 2002, Simon campaigned unsuccessfully for Governor of California as a Republican against Democratic incumbent Gray Davis. lost because of his strict pro-life/anti- abortion views. Quasi-Republican Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. could have garnered votes of most pro-abortion supporters as well as votes of Democrats disgusted with Gray Davis. - Syl Molinari Woodland Hills Lessons not learned Democrats apparently learned nothing from their 1994 defeat in which the National Rifle Association National Rifle Association (NRA) Governing organization for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols. It was founded in Britain in 1860. The U.S. organization, formed in 1871, has a membership of some four million. Both the British and the U.S. took credit for removing more than a dozen Democrats. At that time Democrats were endangering jobs in the manufacturing, distribution and sale of guns. And now they're endangering the jobs of millions in the defense industry, the prescription-drug industry, the health insurance companies, the oil companies, the gun industry, the tobacco industries, and tax consultation companies. In political battles, protecting the jobs of certain voters always takes preference over the good of the nation. What good are Medicare-prescription drugs, clean air and water, balanced budgets, affordable health care, equitable taxation, world peace, avoidance of deadly additions and livable wages if your job is in jeopardy? - Fred W. Coble co·ble n. 1. Nautical A small flatbottom fishing boat with a lugsail on a raking mast. 2. Scots A kind of flatbottom rowboat. North Hills Liberal source It seems that John Lynch (Your Opinion, Nov. 17) overlooked the actual sources of the values I attributed to California - the history of its earliest days. Gold miners put together some common-sense rules for governing the environment that would form the basis of law. I doubt if they felt that ``fair compensation for hard work'' meant ``forcing an increase in the minimum wage on employers resulting in thousands more hard-working Americans laid off.'' Or that ``respect for the environment'' means ``letting wacko environmentalists pursue their dream of destroying capitalism.'' Finally, Lynch doubts that ``democracy for all free Americans'' is the Democratic liberal's goal. In fact, by definition it is our very essence - liberty and democracy within a nation of law and order. - Rick Kellis Woodland Hills They started it Bleeding-heart Cellestine Hannemann (Your Opinion, Nov. 17) seems terribly distressed about ``our 10 years of almost daily bombings over Iraq.'' Dear lady, the bombings you speak of are reactions to actions. Iraqi gun crews are and have been desperately trying to blow young American boys out of the sky and into smithereens smith·er·eens pl.n. Informal Fragments or splintered pieces; bits: The fragile dish broke into smithereens. . Of course you prefer our fliers to drop flowers, but until flowers are fired upward, bombs are going downward. - Edmond Henry Mission Hills Piece of cake If Saddam says no, it'll be the same old war. Self-propelled artillery, armored tanks and carriers. We will start in Kuwait using a few small divisions, drive into Baghdad with air and ground troops destroying anything that gets in the way. The population of Baghdad has at least 1 million Shiites and 1.5 million Kurds and Turkomans, of which half of them hate Saddam and are ready to start an uprising. Our troops, along with the British, can roll into the city in their armored combat carriers and tanks ready for any resistance that may be left. With a few small divisions along the south and the west borders under air support, we can mop up and secure the city. In the end, it will be the U.S. and the British precision air power that wins the war. - David Ayling Sherman Oaks |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion