PUBLIC FORUM SOUND FAMILIAR?

The power companies want to raise our electric rates because of an alleged shortage of electricity. They want us to cut back on our power usage, tell us to turn off our holiday lights and are conducting rolling blackouts. For those who think this sounds familiar, remember the alleged water shortage several years ago? Officials at the Department of Water and Power said they had to raise our water rates because of a shortage of water and mounted a massive campaign to get us to use less, which we did. Then, DWP officials said the department was not not making enough money because less water was being sold, so they raised our rates again to make up the difference.

The decision on the electricity rate hikes is up to Gov. Davis. Let us hope he is not too busy spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars the power companies have contributed to him to worry about us.

- John R. Schlank

Granada Hills

The real new millennium

As a person who can count from 1 to 100 and, therefore, from 1901 to 2000, I take this opportunity to wish all your readers a very happy new year, a happy new century and a happy new millennium.

The ballyhoo that transpired last year was only for the people who cannot count so well. Those who can and who do something as simple as keep their checkbooks correctly, for example, know that the 20th century and the second millennium will not end until midnight this Dec. 31. So from all of us - and there must be a few - to all of them - and there are lots - a happy new millennium.

- Richard J. Warren

Van Nuys

Still here

It seemed to me that in this world Western civilization believed that we collectively would be wiped away with the end of the millennium - that this was in fact a promise from God. It did not happen. Now the fun begins: Our so-called experts must try to explain why it didn't.

- Dick Denne

Toluca Lake

Voter intent, indeed

In his Public Forum letter Dec. 25, David Holland naively infers that the Republicans manufactured an election result that failed to reflect the intent of the voters. He then states he did not vote for either major party candidate.

Well, David, the only ``manufacturing'' going on in Florida was when the election boards hand-examined all the ballots like yours and determined - by the rest of your voting pattern - that you truly intended to vote for Al Gore. Voter intent, indeed.

- K.C. Caracci

Sun Valley

Enough whining

Will the Democrats ever stop whining? Seems after eight years of dividing the country with a president who will go down as the leader of one of the most ineffectual petty administrations, they thought it would be lost forever.

This Democratic fiasco didn't solve one of the major problems facing our nation even though for the first four years it had a majority in Congress. Stand back now, you crybabies, and watch a real leader take this country into the 21st century and with honor!

- Edgar J. Zick

Glendale

Very last thing

One has to chuckle when listening to the talking heads pontificating about the desperate need to reform or fix the election process. Widespread voter fraud is as traditionally American as hot dogs and apple pie. We can only imagine how many officeholders, past and present, were voted into their jobs by dead people, imprisoned felons, repeat voters or noncitizens.

It is even funnier to hear them chide the pols for not spending more money on new voting equipment. Get real. It's not the money. The very last thing any politician wants is a uniform voting system that is honest, accurate, efficient and tamper-proof. Election reform? Don't hold your breath.

- J. Donald Adams 

Sylmar

Staunch American

Vice President Al Gore did his best to make abortion the main issue during the debates with President-elect George Bush. Well, he got exactly what he asked for.

I cannot comprehend how liberals can whine that every vote counts (in Democratic counties only); yet not every life counts. And, no, I am not a staunch Republican. I am a staunch American. I base my votes on which is best for America and not just my pocket. I would have preferred Alan Keyes, who represents and believes in our Constitution and seems to be cut from the same cloth as our Founding Fathers.

- Stanton Olsen

Palmdale

Least we could do

We are now beginning to start counting about 40,000 ballots in Florida that have never been counted. If this count shows that Al Gore did get more votes than George W. Bush, then this would prove that he actually was elected president of the United States by the people.

Even though he wouldn't be allowed to serve as president, I think it would only be right to call him President-elect Al Gore. That's the least we can do to rectify a big mistake.

- Stan Niedwicki

Woodland Hills

What's fair?

I respond to James Fenwick (Public Forum, Dec. 18) by asking what is fair about calling for a recount in three counties where Al Gore won. Could it be because you were certain to find Democratic election officials likely to grant Democrats' requests on flimsy grounds?

What was fair in asking Katherine Harris for an extension of the deadline prescribed by law? What was fair about the Florida Supreme Court's stepping in and transferring the discretion that the law gave to Harris to themselves? Finally, what was fair in the order to recount statewide apart from any Florida law?

- Ken Grissom

La Crescenta

Infamous Supreme Court

The 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in Bush vs. Gore will be viewed in history as one of the court's most infamous decisions. The majority clearly violated the one-person, one-vote concept by not counting the Florida undercount. This was a slap at democratic self-government. With Gore winning the national popular vote, the court should have used utmost care to make sure the next president was truly legitimate.

For the first time the Supreme Court itself - under activist conservative judges - has literally chosen the next president. This notorious decision will forever damage the image of the court as an impartial institution, with installation of George Bush by the Gang of Five reminiscent of a coup d'etat.

- Wayne F. Madura

Reseda

Noise, tension, violence

Am I the only one to notice that the police shooting of the actor with the look-alike gun took place at a loud party? Will the mayor, council members and police chief ever get the point? There is a connection between noise, tension and violence. They follow one another. We are daily punished in the city by loud parties and by cars with loud exhausts and nonexistent mufflers, blasting music that is often vile. The police do next to nothing. The mayor says nothing.

The shooting was, of course, a tragedy. The next tragedy might be avoided by some neighborliness regarding noise and some violence by the police. Little things add up.

- Joe O'Brien

Panorama City

Look in the mirror

We all can complain about the energy crisis and blame it on the environmentalists, but the real problem is our apathetic refusal to conserve energy and our failure to quell our burgeoning overpopulation. How many people actually share rides or even occasionally use public transportation? Do you turn out the lights when you're not using them?

Our global human overpopulation is responsible for hunger, poverty, water and energy scarcity, global warming, urban sprawl, animal extinction, high gas prices and more. You can blame the greedy Arabs or the filthy environmentalists, but the real problem is right in your mirror. Unfortunately, nature's only defense against human sprawl is to create natural disasters and lethal viruses.

- Carolyn Doswell

Studio City