Schwarzenegger’s powerful chief of staff; cameras and the Prop. 8 trial; Gridlock on the 110-5 interchange

Winners and losers

Re “Gov.’s chief power player,” Jan. 17

People like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, have lost their way. They care more about power and “winning” than they do about what’s right and what’s good for the state.

For instance, did Schwarzenegger and Kennedy cut funding for the Black Infant Health Program because it was a bad idea? No, they apparently did it because they wanted to hammer Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D- Los Angeles). If some black infant had to suffer because of it, too bad.

Maybe the state government would still be in trouble without this kind of behavior. But I don’t think it’s helping.

Jim Cody
North Hollywood

The Times reports: “Susan Kennedy loves to win on big issues and lets little get in her way. One observer calls her ‘scary smart.’ ”

How smart can she be if she smokes?

Eric Andrist

Valley Village

The world of Proposition 8

Re “Supreme Court, deeply split, bars footage of Prop. 8 trial,” Jan. 14

There is a certain, almost delicious irony that backers of anti-gay-marriage amendments and propositions fear being “outed” and “harassed” for their personal signatures on petitions intended to influence public policy.

Speaking only for this gay man who, for more than 50 years, has been beaten, harassed, discriminated against, ridiculed and more because of his public identity, I can only say: Welcome to the club.

Rudi Logan
West Hollywood

I was struck by the statement of Courage Campaign Chairman Rick Jacobs: “The five conservative justices are enabling Prop. 8 supporters to mask their radical views.”

Radical? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “radical” as “tending or disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions or institutions.”

So who is radical here: those who seek to change a tradition that is thousands of years old, or those who want to preserve it?

On both sides, we need to be careful with words.

Vladimir Bogorad
Van Nuys

Re “Expert: Gay, straight couples are ‘the same,’ ” Jan. 14

I was intrigued by this report on the Proposition 8 trial. But in truth the findings of the expert are really not relevant.

Let’s say there is indisputable proof that gay couples are happier, healthier, more monogamous and fertile -- it’s all irrelevant.

Same-gender marriage should be made legal simply because it’s the moral and ethical thing to do.

Rabbi Zach Shapiro
Los Angeles

Re “The marriage test,” Editorial, Jan. 15

The Times gets a round of applause from this woman. There are no criteria proposed in any other arena of marriage. Why should gays and lesbians be singled out? How can we look at any marriage and determine its worth from outside the union? We don’t, is the answer -- so why here?

I thank and applaud The Times for being bold enough to state what is missed in this debate too often: the premise that it is absolutely none of our business what a marriage consists of between the two parties involved.

Kelly McClanahan
Yucaipa, Calif.

Doing something about traffic

Re “Taking the road less costly to ease gridlock,” Jan. 18

Caltrans traffic engineers are first going to operate the expanded 5-110 interchange only on weekdays between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. This means drivers will have to watch their clocks and calendars so they don’t try to merge left into the new, second “dynamic lane” at, say, 2:55 p.m. or 7:05 p.m. -- or any time on a jammed weekend -- while they’re also trying not to rear-end or sideswipe somebody.

Later, the engineers will switch the extra lane off and on depending on congestion. It’ll be Christmas all year ‘round with lights blinking on and off.

The word “dynamic” always gets engineers all giddy. But I can’t be the only one who thinks Caltrans is imposing a complex hypothesis on simple reality. There will be even more confusion, and more accidents, as drivers try to time when to use that extra lane and when not to.

William LeGro
Los Angeles

The Times’ report on the dynamic lane Caltrans installed at the 5-110 interchange makes a deep point. There are cheaper, better options than adding pavement. Much new capacity can be harvested from better management of the road facilities we already have.

Electronic congestion pricing, high occupancy/toll lanes and LADOT’s wide-area adaptive signal control are also examples of relatively low-cost opportunities to increase both flows and level of service.

Combine these new technologies with the ambitious inter-jurisdictional coordination public authorities delivered after, for example, the Northridge earthquake, and we can quickly and substantially increase available traffic capacity.

We are much better off spending millions on better managing roads than billions on rail systems that cannot help us.

James E. Moore II
Los Angeles
The writer is director of USC’s Transportation Engineering Program.

Malpractice matters

Re “No overhaul for medical malpractice,” Jan. 19

Even Democrats admit that changing the medical malpractice system could be part of the cure for the healthcare system. But concessions are now seemingly off the table due to the influence of trial attorneys.

One approach that should be included in healthcare reform is to implement the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act nationally. The successful California model places a $250,000 cap on damages for pain and suffering.

According to a survey by the advocacy group Sick of Lawsuits, the people want the cure: 79% of Americans are concerned that frivolous lawsuits have made it harder to get affordable healthcare. If only our government would write a winning prescription.

David Houston
Los Angeles
The writer is chairman of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

If you could only have access to one, which would you rather have: a doctor or a lawyer? Having to choose may become a real possibility.

Theodore Corwin, M.D.
Westlake Village

On call too

Re “State limits HMO delays,” Jan. 19

I had a good laugh when I read the new regulations of the California Department of Managed Health Care that specify how quickly patients in HMOs must be seen.

I am perfectly willing to comply, as long as my calls to that department are returned within 30 minutes.

Furthermore, if I have an urgent complaint, I must be seen within 48 hours. Lastly, the head of the department must be available 24 hours a day in the event that I have a problem with an HMO.

Harold W. Seifer, M.D.
Lakewood

A mellow mayor

Re “Villaraigosa’s personal life is ‘at a great place,’ ” Jan. 17

Thank you for the informative and heartwarming article chronicling Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s home and social life.

All this time I have been worried about failing schools and the irresponsible manner in which our elected officials waste tax money. This “news” about the mayor makes it clear to me that my priorities are backward.

Please do not report on how the mayor plans on doing anything that may benefit Angelenos. As long as I know he is losing weight and his social life is on the mend, I will be content.

Matthew Duggan
Long Beach