PUBLIC FORUM.

Seal of approval

Re ``Costly L.A. county quintet'' (Sept. 18):

Thank you for keeping us apprised of the supervisors' expenditures, but most of all for using the late Kenny Hahn's county seal in the article. This is an age in which organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have been successful in redefining American history to exclude as many of its Judeo-Christian underpinnings as possible through frivolous lawsuits that drain taxpayer funds.

-- Maureen C. Wiggins

Lake View Terrace

Zev responds

Re ``Super-sized pols'' (Sept. 19)

I was disappointed that your editorial took a shot at the expenditure of $66,509 for ``decorating'' my office.

This is simply not true. A simple inquiry from your reporter would have revealed that last year the county consolidated several departmental field offices into a single, one-stop county center in Calabasas.

The departments of Building and Safety, Public Works and Regional Planning, as well as the Fire Department and my own district office, previously scattered all over the western part of the county, were merged into one location. It saves the county and the public time and money by being centrally located. As a result, citizens no longer have to travel long distances to pull permits for their new homes, remodels or new businesses. Such efficiencies have traditionally been supported by the Daily News.

The expenditure in question was my office's share of making the move to the one-stop center. This investment was absolutely appropriate, fiscally sound and in the public interest.

-- Zev Yaroslavsky 

Supervisor, 3rd District

County of Los Angeles 

Undue burden

The presence of unregulated cannabis clinics has led to police interference in legitimate, pharmaceutical commerce and has posed an undue burden on legal recipients of the drug. Seedy clinics may be community eyesores, but the results of crack and meth sales -- corpses -- are slightly more irritating. Police opt to arrest the sedate, easy targets. This unwarranted diversion of resources does not have our moral interests at heart. Regulation of the clinics would put police where they need to be.

-- Tyler Dosaj

Valley Glen

Religion by sword

Pope Benedict XVI spoke last week in Germany in an attempt to draw Muslims into a rational, religious dialogue rather than resort to religious terrorism. The speech, quoting a 14th century emperor reacting to the violent military invasions by the Muslims, aroused fury throughout the Muslim world. It developed into actual violence in several countries: Some Christian churches were burned, and a nun was murdered in Somalia, and the pope's life has been threatened by radical Islamic clerics.

This irrational response by many Islamic leaders is just one more example of how Muslims follow the example of their prophet by spreading their religion by the sword.

-- Gary Curtis

Van Nuys

Political paradox

How can we be trying to transport democracy to the Middle East when our own is eroding at an extremely fast pace?

-- Karen Jackson

Valley Village

Waste of time

Re ``Lawmakers block efforts to help kids'' (Sept. 16):

Research in first- and second-language acquisition has shown us that we acquire language when we understand what we hear and read, not when we don't. If Senate Bill 1769 is not passed, English learners will be forced to sit through several hours a day of incomprehensible instruction. This is a waste of time and money -- and a cause of needless frustration for children eager to learn English.

-- Stephen Krashen

Los Angeles

Too long to wait

The ban on using hand-held cell phones while driving is long overdue, so why will it take so long after it was signed by the governor to take effect? Distracted driving is the top cause of crashes. So why wait until nearly two years to enforce this law? It makes no sense.

-- Pamela Franklin

Granada Hills