A fight over weed removal fees, Mickey Kaus’ view on unions; a tax bill for a tiny eatery

A man and his weeds

Re “At one with nature but not the taxman,” May 5

I read the piece on Joseph Diliberti with dismay. Here is a U.S. Marine who wants to live on his own land surrounded by native chaparral with rattlesnakes as neighbors. It sounds like a rural area. If development came later, that’s not his fault.

Leave him alone. Dismiss any monies due. Also dismiss the property tax he tried to pay, as an apology from a government that arrogantly interferes way too much in our lives. We need more citizens like Diliberti, who serve their country but have the wisdom and courage of Henry David Thoreau.

Lynn Stewart

Palos Verdes Estates

Diliberti is refusing to pay the San Diego County bill for weed removal. The Times reports that it is “just as Thoreau refused to pay his delinquent poll taxes.”

I’d like to point out that Thoreau didn’t pay his poll taxes because he was protesting against the Mexican-American War and slavery, not weed abatement.

Joshua P. Kiok

Chatsworth

What keeps him awake nights

Re “A Greek tragedy for us?,” Editorial, May 5

Someone on The Times’ editorial staff finally has the intestinal fortitude to tell the truth. Not the whole truth, but it’s a start.

By acknowledging that the newly passed healthcare bill’s “cost savings” are a farce (the money is simply diverted to another group of people) you’ve shown some willingness to look objectively at the issue of fiscal responsibility. The patterns of deceptive accounting and overspending on entitlement programs, at both the state and federal levels, are issues every citizen should be aware of. We should be worried.

It scares me that our president and his ruling majority enacted a piece of legislation that will add billions in new entitlements while Medicare and Social Security are running out of money. It scares me that our national debt is approaching $13 trillion. It scares me that people who are speaking out on this issue — the “tea partyers” —are vilified as “anti-government.”

So, bravo to the editors. You took a small step toward upholding your responsibility to illuminate your readers.

Steve Morrell

La Crescenta

High-tech crime fighters

Re “Freeze, it’s the iPolice!” May 5

The report on the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, which investigate crimes against high-tech companies, seemed to me to be perilously close to an opinion item, and an outrageous opinion at that.

Apple Computer Inc. has every right to protect its intellectual property. We recognize and enforce that right because it’s beneficial to our society to reward and encourage innovation.

Apple is an admirable example of the success of this policy. Indeed, our prosperity in the U.S. depends to a great extent on respect for the law (including intellectual property law) and the competitive advantages that we gain because of it.

Bruno Vieri

Rancho Palos Verdes

The Times’ article on the ties between the REACT unit and private industry performs a valuable service by pointing out the larger issues and dangers of corporate influence within a police organization. Police units have been given their extreme powers based on a mandate to address the security of the general public, not to serve the interests of private corporations.

To place such power in the hands of businesses threatens our civil liberties at the same time as it diverts law enforcement from its legitimate public functions.

Carl Gunther

West Hollywood

Unions get too much blame

Re “ ‘50s unions in 2010,” Op-Ed, May 3

Mickey Kaus’ anti-union Op-Ed is laughably ill-informed.

Who is primarily responsible for the direction of public education or of the Detroit companies? Their governing boards. To ignore leadership and blame workers’ unions is as absurd as Kaus’ holding up Japan as a society in which companies and workers make snap decisions unbound by rules.

Evan Heimlich

Riverside

I certainly will vote Democratic in the primary, but not for Kaus.

Yet another attack on teachers and their unions and their pensions; it’s getting pretty boring.

Kaus clearly has no clue how much we public school teachers accomplish each day, and probably doesn’t want to know. Then who would be his whipping boys and girls?

Ann Bourman

Los Angeles

As a recently retired teacher and former local teachers union president, I appreciate, and mostly agree with, Kaus. To break out of our stalemate, it is important for Democrats to admit that some reforms and cuts are necessary, and for Republicans to admit that some taxes and fees must be raised.

I think it is important, however, to differentiate between teacher retirement plans and other public employee plans. . Teachers have to work a minimum of 30 years and reach age 611/2 to qualify for the maximum teacher pension, which is generally about 72% of their working income. Because most teachers don’t have lifetime medical insurance, many work until 65 to obtain Medicare. Teachers meet Kaus’ criterion for being paid less than equivalent private sector workers “in exchange for an understanding that they had job security for life.”

Yes, it needs to be easier to fire incompetent teachers, and the teachers unions should not block this reform. At the same time, teachers are vulnerable to capriciousness from administrators and parents. Due-process rights for job security must be preserved.

Carl Kim Allender

Glendale

When the tax board calls

Re “Tiny eatery’s big tax bill,” Column, May 5

Regarding Steve Lopez’s column about the Tasty China restaurant in Sun Valley:

Of course there may be mitigating circumstances we don’t know about, but this seems preposterous. The state Board of Equalization is shaking down businesses in my neighborhood. Hiring 300 auditors? When firefighters and police are being laid off and every other government service is closed on Friday?

No wonder trust in the government is at an all-time low.

Jeff Thompson

Shadow Hills

I read with deep concern about Tasty China’s audit and potential sales tax bill from the Board of Equalization.

The BOE provides efficient, low-cost ways for Tasty China and other small-business taxpayers to dispute these kinds of audits. None of these steps requires an attorney, and we offer assistance throughout, including sales and use tax classes in multiple languages and translation services during tax disputes.

In order to administer the sales tax law fairly to all types of businesses, the BOE conducts some randomized audits. Many more resources are directed to larger businesses. Moreover, the state has invested additional resources to seek out noncompliant businesses and other evaders. These programs do not apply to businesses with seller’s permits that file returns.

I am sensitive to businesses’ experience with an audit, particularly a first-time audit. In this case, I have directed BOE staff to inform Tasty China of its opportunity to dispute the tax bill and of its other rights.

Betty T. Yee

San Francisco

The writer is chairwoman, state Board of Equalization.

An explanation

Re “Ruling clips gov.’s wings,” May 5

I thought that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was acting in the public interest by refusing to accept a salary.

Now I read that he’s been taking thousands of dollars from a Chamber of Commerce front group. I guess we now know for whom he has actually been working.

Leon Schwartz

Altadena