Readers React: Do Angelenos tolerate corruption at City Hall because the weather’s nice?

To the editor: I owe some gratitude to columnist Steve Lopez for squaring the circle and looking at L.A. City Hall’s rat problem, enabling us to identify the 10th of the plagues that make up life in Los Angeles.

These plagues are, in no particular order: earthquakes, fires, floods, mudslides, drought, the nation’s worst traffic, pollution, high taxes, ready-to-fall-into-the-ocean infrastructure and, finally, the crown jewel in the city tiara, corruption.

This combination of natural and man-made disasters is tolerated by the local denizens because they must endure only a few inches of annual precipitation and the heat provided by an incessant sunshine (combined with a concomitant phobia of the cold, defined as below 60 degrees Fahrenheit).

So, why am I out here? Ask my ex-wife.

Marc Rogers, North Hollywood

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To the editor: Kudos to Lopez for calling out the trifecta of corruption — Los Angeles, Democrats and City Hall.

Fumigating the entire building might take out the rodents, but it probably won’t get rid of the cockroaches at City Hall. So, let’s fumigate and simultaneously shrink the size of government so there is less of it for rats to infest.

Craig A. Nelson, Solana Beach

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To the editor: My wife and I both contracted typhus more than a year ago, most likely because of a neighbor of ours who is a hoarder and whose backyard is home to countless rodents and other critters.

After the disease was diagnosed and we received medical treatment, we contacted various city departments to alert them to the situation and to request action (cleanup or inspection) of the neighbor’s yard and home.

We were handed off from one department to the next and — surprise — in the end no one was responsible or dealing with such matters.

Now, with typhus possibly being linked to City Hall, the L.A. Times and other news outlets cover the situation extensively, carpets are being ripped out and a health crisis is being discussed. Funny how these things work as soon as city officials may be at the receiving end.

Yves Didier, Reseda

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