Opinion: In Wednesday’s Letters to the editor
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
In Wednesday’s Letters to the editor, we hear from readers about endorsements for the March 3 elections.
Some readers objected to our endorsement of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for a second term, questioning his record and his commitment to Los Angeles.
Manny Rodriguez, of West Hollywood, writes:
Did I miss something? I read The Times’ endorsement of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa twice to try to get your point. The accomplishments The Times desperately touts are the least we expect from a mayor. Keeping a good police chief and replacing a fire chief are not noteworthy but rather typical and expected. The billions-of-dollars ‘subway to the sea’ makes you wonder if there is any modern thinking at City Hall at all. Los Angeles needs and deserves better.
Eagle Rock’s Jeffrey Stewart complains that
The fact that Villaraigosa will not rule out a run to be California governor means that he absolutely intends to run for that office. When he was my city council member, he promised his constituents that the position was not a mere steppingstone to higher office and that he would finish his term. However, as soon as he smelled a better opportunity with a vulnerable Mayor James K. Hahn, he was out the door. We need a mayor who is fully committed to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Antonio Villaraigosa is completely and passionately committed to only one thing -- Antonio Villaraigosa.
Former LAPD veteran (and Monterey police chief) Carlo Cudio takes exception to LAPD Chief William J. Bratton’s endorsement of City Councilman Jack Weiss for city attorney:
It is not appropriate for emergency services personnel to be seen favoring one politician over another. Police officers, particularly, need to be unbiased. Any thoughtful police executive, including Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, should instinctively know that it is inappropriate to endorse a candidate -- unless, perhaps, that police official was brought up in an East Coast ‘pay for play’ environment. As police chief of Monterey, I often was asked for political endorsements and never had trouble refusing, thanks to my upbringing with the Los Angeles Police Department. Ethical standards are apparently changing at my alma mater. Sad.
But Murray Levin, of Sherman Oaks, disagrees:
Not only is it the chief’s right, but it is his duty as a public figure to weigh in on one of the most important elections in the city -- especially when he perceives that the stakes are high.
Puzzlement over Republican governors who refuse stimulus money and Obama’s pledge to reduce the deficit, and a take on using fingerprints as evidence, too.