PUBLIC FORUM THE POOR RICH.

Well, all of the supporters of Gov. Pete Wilson's deregulation scam should be ecstatic with the results. We were bamboozled into believing that, with deregulation, we would save hundreds of dollars annually and have the option to choose our energy supplier, much as we have been able to choose our long-distance phone providers.

The only thing they didn't tell us was that all but the municipally owned utilities, like the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, were going to sell off their generating capabilities, turn the profits over to parent companies and then cry bankruptcy. Again, the rich take care of their own.

- Ross Bacon

Simi Valley 

Not high enough

I bet Gov. Gray Davis sleeps well at night in the 10,000-square-foot governor's mansion while the peon taxpayers pay his energy bill. To hell with the taxpayer. How about a 50 percent rate hike? Davis appoints three commissioners to the Public Utilities Commission, and it's a done deal.

The real solution? A 100 percent hike. Then all the people who can't afford it can move away. That will create the supply for the rest of us who can afford it. And with the additional supply and the decrease in demand, the rates will come back down. And they're the same people who are getting all the free health care from the county hospitals - again at the expense of the peon taxpayer. When they move away, that should help reduce all the traffic and gridlock.

- Melvin Perlitsh

Tarzana

No vacancies

I think I have a helpful suggestion to reduce energy consumption. Enforce our immigration laws. This would drastically reduce our energy needs, reduce urban sprawl, cut down on air pollution, save water, etc.

There are millions of illegal aliens here and not enough resources for all. The lifeboat is full.

- Matthew Gordon

Los Angeles

Standing room only

California consumers are again being victimized. We have for years endured the highest prices in the nation at the pump and had water shortages, being told we must cut back. Now we have the highest natural gas and electricity rates in the nation, again being told this will force us to cut back.

Where is the outcry from our two U.S. senators, and why have the local and state politicians been so silent? Instead, they continue to approve the building of huge housing developments and other expansion. Immigration, both legal and illegal, into our state continues unchecked. When do we realize that this state is full?

- James Dubois

Simi Valley

Intentional agenda

Re ``Diversity reigns,'' (Editorial, March 30):

Your breathless and approving puff pieces and editorial on diversity, aka multiculturalism, are all quite proper and politically correct. As a simple matter of fact, these articles and the editorial presage a disaster, a calamity. Our rulers refuse to control our borders, and they ignore illegal immigration.

The impact - on the welfare rolls, disease, crowding, education and crime - is barely mentioned; it's politically incorrect and insensitive to do so. A nation that cannot - or will not - control its borders ceases to be a nation. The latest received wisdom - that diversity and multiculturalism are unalloyed good - is part of a quite intentional agenda whose aim is to convert the United States into another Bosnia.

- James F. Glass

Chatsworth

Beyond words

Re ``Must be maddening,'' (Public Forum, March 29):

I am almost without nice words for the attitude of Phyllis Sherman- Raschke in suggesting that the ``disasters in schools'' are because of the teachers, that teachers ``aren't very bright'' and that their attitude must be disheartening to ``a disturbed child who can expect no help of any kind.''

What an outrageous slew of slams for one of the lowest-paid, hardest- working and most important professions in society. It's the job of the parents to impart upon their children a desire to learn and become a functioning member of society and to teach them manners, etc. While some teachers might be better than others - just as in any other profession - the audacity to say they aren't too bright is simply despicable.

- Terri Andrews

Castaic

Not their style

Re Phyllis Sherman-Raschke's letter, (Public Forum-March 29):

How can anyone malign our teachers in this way? Does she have children? Did she send them to school? Did she go to school at any time?

Where on earth did she get those stupid statistics? Teachers don't have time to be officious and selmportant; they're too busy trying to teach. Phyllis, did someone teach you? Really? Look in the mirror.

- Charlotte E. De Graeve

Sylmar

Not my vote

I disagree with your endorsement of Laura Chick for city controller. Our city's services and safety have further deteriorated during her tenure on the City Council.

She allowed a $30 million overrun on the Democratic convention. She said nothing and did nothing when her cohort, Mike Hernandez, was arrested on drug charges, and yet she had time to vote the Boy Scouts of America out of town. She does not deserve our vote.

- Michael Guetzow

Woodland Hills

No issue

I recently watched Antonio Villaraigosa's campaign ad on television. Among other promises, the announcer stated that Villaraigosa will protect a woman's right to choose.

Since when in Los Angeles has this been a problem since Roe v. Wade? And when exactly did the mayor of Los Angeles take on the role of protector of abortion rights? Has the public become so naive that candidates freely create issues to garner votes from the unthinking?

- Steve McCombs

Chatsworth

Say what you want

Los Angeles City Council members have once again proved themselves to be cowards and liars. In another attempt to subvert the Bill of Rights, they voted to ban small inexpensive pistols, and they vow to ban bullets.

They would deserve some modicum of respect if they would simply state that they want to change the Constitution and ban all gun ownership. Decent people can hold opposite positions on this issue, but the incremental subversion of our constitutionally guaranteed rights is outright deceitful. Thank God for term limits.

- David Kell

Van Nuys

Police work hours

The recent Daily News editorial correctly identified the threshold issue in the discussion of a compressed work schedule for the Los Angeles Police Department. We must determine if it would facilitate public safety, which is, after all, the department's primary mission. Fortunately, the computer- aided dispatch system installed nearly 15 years ago has captured literally millions of transactions as each unit handles calls, stops suspicious persons and conducts crime prevention meetings. Those transactions follow distinct and predictable patterns and are the foundations for our current deployment formula.

The compressed work schedule report prepared in the mid-1990s, under then-Chief Willie Williams, contained no analysis of these dispatch numbers, but that is precisely what is needed. The numbers are the numbers, and the study needs to take an objective look at historical and predictable service demands to ensure the full impact of the compressed work schedule issue is crystal clear. From there, probable outcomes could be identified and an informed decision made after an open and honest analysis of public policy.

While police morale is certainly important, our sworn duty to protect the people of this city must take precedence.

- Bernard C. Parks 

Chief of Police

Los Angeles