PUBLIC FORUM.

The same hypocrites?

Re ``Signature gatherers under fire'' (Dec. 16):

I almost choked on my raisin bran this morning when I read the reaction of some whining council members to the signature-gathering efforts to overturn the City Council's hotel-wage edict. Aren't these the same hypocrites who pushed Proposition R down the throats of misinformed and duped voters?

I signed a petition while waiting in line for my bimonthly chili dog from Pink's Famous Chili Dogs and found the person who solicited my input well-informed and not in the least misleading.

-- Tony Filosa

Los Angeles 

Pot calling the kettle

Re ``Signature gatherers under fire'' (Dec. 16):

To my amusement, I found way back in the Daily News of Dec. 16 what can only be described as the whining of three members of the most misrepresenting-a-measure council ever to have held office in Los Angeles. This is clearly a case of the pot calling the kettle black if one only remembers Proposition R that was foisted upon the citizens of Los Angeles by the same self-serving and disingenuous council that includes the three crybabies. Bill Rosendahl, flanked by Janice Hahn and Eric Garcetti, and the rest of the council members don't know what the truth is and never will.

I, for one, found the signature gatherers' explanation quite clear and to the point, but then the useless council members only understand that which enriches them and the special interests.

-- Richard M. Stuber

Sun Valley

Peddling dishonesty

Re ``Signature gatherers under fire'' (Dec. 16), ``Hotel fires 12 before `living-wage' launch'' (Dec. 9):

I voted no on Proposition R, and I hope the courts strike it down. I think the council members who supported Proposition R, yet voted against the ``living wage,'' should explain why they see themselves as more valuable than folks just struggling for simple respect.

Is it really any surprise that Proposition R backer and Sunshine Canyon lobbyist Harvey Englander is also behind the opposition to the living wage? Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the sole member of the council who opposed the fake reform of Proposition R, is right to call out the dishonest tactics being used by opponents of the living wage. The same group that has trashed on my neighbors in Granada Hills for years has no compunction about peddling dishonesty to the rest of the city.

-- Charlie Carnow

Northridge

Food-stamp fraud

Re ``L.A.'s food-stamp scandal'' (Dec. 11):

The Los Angeles food-stamp scandal is a big deal. Food stamps should help those who are in need, but there are those who take advantage of this help. I know, for a fact, many people are taking advantage of the help they are receiving by selling their food stamps and buying unnecessary items to live a luxurious life.

People are afraid of getting food stamps because they believe they will be accused of fraud. Workers shouldn't feel pressured to issue benefits to the poor. There are people who really need the help who are not receiving it, and those who are getting the help may take advantage of it. I believe there should be an investigation regarding the fraud in the food-stamp program.

-- Jacqueline Duran

Littlerock

Councils not failing

Re ``Key city reform failing'' (Dec. 16):

I was one of 80 people who participated on the weekend in the discussion about the University of Southern California's study of the city's neighborhood council system.

There were two main points that the USC researchers and the attendees made: The city needs to give the neighborhood councils a better chance to succeed by collecting best practices, providing meaningful training, showing them the best ways to encourage people to get involved in government -- something that the city itself may not be too skilled at, given the turnout at city elections and attendance at its meetings.

The report did not conclude that neighborhood councils are failing, but rather that they need to do better in many aspects in order to gain more credibility and thereby more political power. It was a report that left all of us with optimistic feelings.

-- Greg Nelson

Retired general manager

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

Don't be fooled

Re ``BFI responds'' (Dec. 11):

The district manager of BFI wrote that the Daily News unfairly misrepresented BFI's role in the local community. And yet he has done the same. This large amount of money was not donated to the community. It was to pay fines and mitigations that were ordered from BFI. Most of it was not even in the community most affected, Granada Hills. The Community Amenities Trust Fund Committee has not met in a couple of years and knows nothing about the projected $100 million he refers to. Has some new committee been formed without the community being informed?

Don't be fooled by plaques saying ``donated by BFI,'' as these millions of dollars were not gifts. The Daily News correctly stated that BFI has engendered bad will from the community.

-- Mary Anna Kienholz

Granada Hills

Anti-depressant rant

Re ``Anti-depressants'' (Dec. 17):

Randall Wise states: ``An anti-depressant deadens a person's ability to experience both the sorrows and the joys of life.'' As one who practiced psychiatry for 30 years before retiring and who often prescribed anti-depressant medication as a part of treatment, I believe Wise is wrong. Someone who has the condition we call clinical depression, in fact, experiences the deadening of emotions, especially of pleasure, that Wise ascribes to medication used to treat the condition. It is one of the major diagnostic features of the disorder.

It remains debatable if some patients are worsened by anti-depressant medication or if their condition, which commonly includes suicidal thoughts/urges, worsens because it is ineffective. Often, changing medication or dosage brings relief. I would hate to see Wise's anti-medication rant discourage those who would benefit from proper medication treatment.

-- Alan Pollack, M.D.

Woodland Hills

The money spigot

Re ``L.A.'s future is on the line'' (Dec. 15):

Two points in your article: There is always hope when the money spigot is turned on as far as the politicians are concerned. God forbid they set priorities for the communities' well-being by reining in expenses and putting the money into infrastructure, roads, bridges and buildings.

Southern California gets low marks for wages only if you look at the private sector in comparison to the public payroll. Estimates are the public employees get one-third to three times the pay of private workers when total benefits, free health care and generous pensions are taken into account. I would have hope in repairing my aging home and local streets if I could get a bag of money as well.

-- Michael N. Cohen 

Reseda

Airport tree issue

Re ``Still exists'' (Your Opinions, Dec. 15):

It's hard to believe this author's letter calling the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport anti-Semitic and racist for the Christmas tree issue. First fact is that in the letter the rabbi sent to the airport about the menorah, the rabbi threatened to sue if the airport didn't add it to the tree display. A threat of a lawsuit. That's real spiritual, charitable and giving of him: Put it up or I'll sue.

The real issue is the rabbi's blackmail threat of the lawsuit. And now Pauline Roth wants an apology as she cries racism. Is that how it is? Lawsuits and shouts of racism if you don't get what you demand? SEA-TAC Airport did the right thing, and it would be better for all if the rabbi and Roth found something more constructive to do with their time in the spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah.

-- Howard Barr

Burbank