PUBLIC FORUM.

Wasting our time

Re ``Council snubs public views'' (July 27):

When the time comes to vote for City Council members to retain their seats, or, worse, to extend their terms, I hope we all remember how representatives of our community were treated at Tuesday's hearing regarding the trash fee the council wants to impose on property owners.

Disallowing citizens their allotted time to speak so Jackie Goldberg could have her five minutes on an unrelated subject says much about the contempt and disrespect shown by the council members. Could it be that no matter what our objections, they have no impact, so why waste time listening to us? Shame on the council. If they are voted to stay in office, shame on us.

-- Yolanda Fintor

Northridge

Fed-up ratepayer 

Re ``DWP admits its system is a lemon'' (July 26):

Ron Deaton doesn't see this as a massive deterioration of the system ... of course it is. Since the City Council has been siphoning off a quarter of a billion dollars a year from ratepayers to dump in that bottomless pit called the general fund, it is a given that repair and maintenance without maintaining infrastructure contributes to eventual deterioration. By taking this surplus yearly, they knew that they would have to ``pay the piper'' sooner or later.

So, our rates are going up to cover this obscenity instead of using the surplus to replace transformers, etc. It's long overdue to declare a moratorium on planned raises, raids on the surplus by the City Council, and any unnecessary expenditures, such as public-relations firms.

-- Diane Newton

Northridge

Bonds not a good deal

Re ``Council puts housing bond on fall ballot'' (July 27):

The table on property taxes included in Thursday's paper is really an eye-opener. For those of us who haven't been reassessed for a while, our taxes aren't so bad. But the homeowners who are forced to pay at the new inflated rate are paying through the nose. No wonder the city and state have new money they are so excited about.

Voters really need to stop blindly voting in bond issues. It greatly increases our debt in the future, the interest on the money kills us, and bond moneys are never handled appropriately. It is an all-around loser for homeowners. The politicians always try to make it look like a good deal for us, but it isn't. Do not vote for any more bond issues!

-- Karen Jackson

Valley Village

Answers would be cool

Re ``Heat's on at DWP'' (July 25):

While everyone at the DWP wants to blame something or someone else, I personally would just like some simple answers. I have been without power since Saturday at 3 p.m. Every time I call the DWP for status, I get a different answer on when power will be restored. Frankly, I know they cannot provide an accurate answer to this question.

What I would like to have answered is (and I ask every time I call): How do they prioritize the repair of the outages? Where is my outage in the priority queue (how many outages are in front of me)? Is the number of outages decreasing or increasing? However, those that answer the phones at the DWP are not privy to such information and apparently we the consumer should not be either.

-- Alva Powell

West Hills

Here it comes 

So get ready for the next DWP rate hike. More money for transformers and other infrastructure items. Even though there really are plenty of funds buried in their coffers somewhere. Just like most of the city's other government entities. Whenever there's any major public issue, the prevailing solution from all of our ``highest paid'' government ``geniuses'' is there isn't enough money, i.e.: trash fee, present DWP rate hike, Baca's sales-tax campaigns.

Wouldn't it be amazing if they would all show us their books? What a scandal that would create.

-- Dave Petterson

Sherman Oaks

Mayor's track record

Not long ago, the mayor said that the DWP needed to be held accountable and that he, the mayor, would ensure that accountability would be established. I wondered how the mayor, without any knowledge of the workings of the DWP, would fulfill that commitment. Judging by the current electrical power disruption and associated loss of human life, it would appear the mayor has failed.

Now the mayor is on another course with plans to take over the LAUSD. Once again I ask myself, without any knowledge of the workings of the LAUSD or his having any technical experience with such an enterprise, would the commitment he made be fulfilled.

-- Mike Middleton

Santa Clarita 

Working for us

In reading Thursday's Opinions, it appears that most people in the city are dissatisfied with the level of services provided by the city and the cost of those services. Since it's all about city services and the money that provides those services, I would forget about the services and deal directly with the money.

I would propose a charter amendment that would change the way elected officials are compensated. The amended charter would require a yearly vote of the people on the total compensation package for the mayor and council. This simple solution would allow the people of Los Angeles to regain control of their city. The voters (employer) not special interests should set the compensation level of the elected officials (employee).

-- Gus Smyrnos

Newbury Park

Stage 2 jets

Re ``High price to pay'' (Your Opinions, July 27):

In his zeal to champion business factions at Van Nuys Airport, Martin M. Cooper says that if Stage 2 jets are banned, it will result in the loss of 1,159 jobs at the airport. Not 1,100, not 1,200, but exactly 1,159, an amazingly precise figure for a facility employing 10,000 workers. Full-time employees will not be discharged as Stage 2 jets are retired any more than Hertz will fire its employees when new cars come on line.

Cooper refers to ``a problem that a judge says doesn't exist.'' Well, not quite. What Judge Samuel D. Reyes ruled in May 2000 was that further restriction of airport noise could not be applied as long as a program existed for soundproofing homes in the impacted area.

-- James Wildman

Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council

A wee suggestion

Perhaps the department of streets and roads could divert a bit of material that is used to create an excess of ``speed bumps'' to filling potholes? I appreciate that speed bumps are useful; however, it's the same material either way. Might it not be a bit more efficient to reduce one and increase the other? We do not require speed bumps every block or so.

-- Margy Lee

Northridge

Welcome to blue

Re ``The truth'' (Your Opinions, July 26):

Ralph Smathers wrote that I am shortsighted (I'm actually nearsighted) for not recognizing that the primary goal of the U.S. invasion of Iraq was not to bring democracy to the Iraqis but ``fighting WW III against 1.3 billion Muslims.''

On the contrary, that is exactly what we on the left have been saying for three years. Welcome to the blue states, Ralph. And speaking of this all-out war on Muslims, has anyone told Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Muhammad Ali? Filthy Arab terrorists.

-- Denis Feehan

Simi Valley

World War IV

Re ``No justification'' (Your Opinions, July 27):

I am bewildered by Howard Barr's opening sentence, ``The war the Israelis started in Lebanon is wrong.'' I seem to recall that the conflict started when rocket attacks and kidnappers crossed into Israel from Lebanon. Since when is it wrong to defend yourself?

If the Cold War was WW III, then WW IV is the fight we are currently waging against terrorists and people like Howard ought to wake up.

-- Matthew Schaaf

Granada Hills