PUBLIC FORUM.

Gaming the system

Re ``David and Goliath'' (Our Opinions, Nov. 28):

I applaud the Daily News for exposing the fraud, trickery, deceit and manipulation of the Los Angeles City Council. Measure R isn't about ethics; instead, the ethics issue was just a smoke screen for a serious power grab -- four more years. Here in Los Angeles, the Daily News and an active grass-roots movement, made up of people from both sides of the aisle, are fed up with the arrogance of power that permeates City Hall.

Playtime is over for the string of politicians playing musical chairs at the expense of leaving Los Angeles seriously behind the rest of the country. Instead of using Measure R to game the system for political power, officeholders should try for once to find some serious solutions to our education, gang, housing and transportation problems.

-- Jeffers M. Dodge

Los Angeles

Fire him

Re ``Fire chief feels heat'' (Nov. 28):

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Bamattre said, ``I've heard a lot of people calling for my head. There is no person who can ... implement these changes better than I can because I have nothing to gain by these changes.''

The arrogance of the man. Laura Chick's audit in January revealed that Bamattre failed to successfully implement the 1996 audit recommendations, and he had more than 10 years to do that job. Why should anyone believe he can succeed now before his scheduled retirement in February 2008? Fire him.

-- Chris and Eric Mattson

LAFD retired

Fallbrook

Fight it in court

Re ``Fire chief feels heat'' (Nov. 28):

Bravo to City Controller Laura Chick for saying, ``The worst use of taxpayer dollars is to be spending it on payouts, settlements and lawsuits that could have been prevented.'' Chick is telling us that our ``overworked'' and ``underpaid'' City Council would rather settle a lawsuit against the city than fight it in court even when the council members know they could win.

Let the city be sued if it's right. Then turn around and sue those who have sued us. That would certainly cut down on frivolous lawsuits.

-- Frank Barron

Van Nuys

Crossing the line

Kudos to the Rev. Jesse Jackson for devoting his broadcast to the diatribe by Michael Richards, who played Kramer on the ``Seinfeld'' television show. His challenge to the entertainment industry to curtail racial slurs is to be commended. However, I believe he crossed the line with his request to the public not to purchase the seventh season of ``Seinfeld.''

Michael Richards was only one member of the ``Seinfeld'' production, and his behavior should not define the rest of the actors, writers or crew.

-- Cathy DuVall

Winnetka

It's not funny

Re ``Black leaders issue call in wake of slur'' (Nov. 28):

The racial slurs uttered by Michael Richards pale in comparison to the language used on Russell Simmon's ``Def Comedy Jam'' on HBO. After just a few minutes, African-American so-called comedians performing on this show think it's funny to call each other the ``N'' word, not to mention other racial slurs.

As a white male, I am appalled and cannot understand how this is funny, and I am sickened at how quick and often these comedians use such language in an attempt to get to a laugh. If black leaders are asking for a stop to this, they need to start from within.

-- Kevin McCarthy 

Westlake Village

Justice

Re ``No charges in cop shooting of tot'' (Nov. 29):

Domestic-violence calls for police officers are the most dangerous and unpredictable. The dangers are what's going through the person's mind and what's in the person's system, such as alcohol, illegal drugs or both. Officers have been killed by suspects in this type of call, but there's no investigation or lawsuit, and it's a one-day news story. In the Jose Pena tragedy, little Suzie Pena would be alive today if her father had not been under the influence and suicidal, shooting at the police and using her as a human shield on his lap.

The mother of the tiny victim and wife of the suspect can only see dollar signs by suing the officers involved. She should be in jail -- for having allowed little Suzie to be near Jose Pena -- and not receive a dime. That would be justice.

-- Mary Lou Holte

Van Nuys

Act small, be small

``Consenting to failure'' (Our Opinions, Nov. 28) illuminated a very important point about the Los Angeles Unified School District. Right now 29 states with much smaller student enrollments than LAUSD's enrollment are entitled to set their own standards and accountability measures; yet, we continue to act like a minor player in spite of our region's vast academic resources and expertise.

The more this district attempts to conform to extrinsic rules and standards, the more it will fail. If LAUSD officials want the district to continue being a big one, they should act like it's a big district, leading California and the nation with a new and better model for the 21st century.

-- Louis Pugliese

Valley Village

Janssen responds

Re ``Ceding responsibility'' (Our Opinions, Nov. 27):

There are three cities in Los Angeles County that have fewer than 1,000 residents, and each has a mayor. There are more than 1 million people who live outside the 88 incorporated cities in the county -- and for whom the Board of Supervisors serves as city council.

Not only does the county provide municipal services to those residents in unincorporated areas; it also provides municipal services, by contract, to more than 40 incorporated cities. Does it really seem irrational for the county to similarly have a mayor?

-- David Janssen

Chief Administrative Officer 

Los Angeles County

A fair profit

Re ``Renters beware'' (Your Opinions, Nov. 28):

I am not a believer in letting government intrude into private enterprise or usurp private property rights. The City Council cannot tell retailers what to charge for their merchandise. If you can't afford Nordstrom, you don't go there. You don't ask Nordstrom to reduce the price to Kmart level just for you.

Apartment owners and developers do not make investments of millions of dollars to provide charity. Investments are made to provide the investor with income. When rents are suppressed below full-market rate, the owner does not realize equally suppressed overhead. Annual expenses increase disproportionately to the amount owners are allowed to raise the rent-controlled rates. Apartment owners and developers have a right to a fair profit on their investment.

-- Jacque Lamishaw

Winnetka

Go with Alarcon

Having been involved in the San Fernando Valley since 1972, both within the community and the political arena, I've seen good community people and politicians come and go.

When a community has a chance of getting a person, such as Richard Alarcon, who knows and cares about the community and has the experience of being a state senator and a city councilman, residents of the community would be much better off getting him than getting an inexperienced person for the council.

-- Al Dib

Sylmar

Baldo blows it

I am writing regarding the Nov. 26 ``Baldo'' cartoon, written and drawn by Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos. The cartoon depicted two of the characters in the strip -- which I only occasionally read, by the way -- glowingly admiring extensive and colorful graffiti that had been painted on the sides of freight cars on a passing train.

What was the point of this cartoon? Doesn't it glorify defacing private property? Do we need a cartoon, apparently geared to younger readers, that reinforces the idea that painting graffiti is acceptable? What message is it sending to your young readers?

-- Craig A. Smith

Sylmar