Airing Both Sides of Murray Flap

We were impressed when we read The Los Angeles Times article about City Manager Sylvester Murray in spite of his use of the word orgasm, or his reference to the black reaction to the Sagon Penn trial.

After reading the complete transcript this Sunday (June 8) in The Times, and being saddened and sickened over the reaction to last week’s article during this past week, we feel compelled to write. This man has an understanding of our city, of our population, of our sensitive areas, and of our strong and weak points--yet he has only been here nine months. We personally hope he continues for at least another nine years, and we are proud to support him.

The City Council spent no small amount of time and thought in his selection last year, and we cannot believe all of the furor created by two rather personal comments, in what was a revealing, interesting interview. The Times is to be commended for its fine reporting. We only wish this complete transcript of the interview had been published days earlier so that the energy generated by last Sunday’s article could have been channeled into more productive activities.

As constituents of this city, we are tired of the taint that has already covered our various elected officials, City Council members and our former mayor. Mr. Murray has broken no laws, unless the First Amendment has been changed recently.

The City Council is to be commended for selecting a “first class” city manager, and now let’s get on with the business of running the city, together! Mr. Murray deserves a hurrah for his performance of nine months, a reminder (certainly not a “chastisement”) regarding his poor choice of words with the press, and the opportunity to continue to do what he was hired to do, manage our city.

MIKE WOFFORD

VIRGINIA WOFFORD

BILLY RILEY

San Diego