Japanese Investors Purchase the Riviera County Club

The story states that Riviera Country Club members are “troubled because they’ve lost one of Southern California’s landmarks, a symbol of Hollywood’s golden era and a place steeped in American sports tradition, to foreign investors.”

I find it curious that the tone of the article where one member is quoted as saying, “It’s almost un-American selling it to the Japanese,” infers that the new owners will somehow automatically corrupt the Riviera in spite of their assurances to the contrary.

Now that the owners have sold, some members are crying that this is un-American! What is more American than the spirit of free enterprise? The owners, who acquired the land, risked building a golf course in the 1920s, fought to keep it going through the Great Depression and war years, and nurtured it to its present greatness, and who now have accepted an offer, are condemned by a group of members. Don’t they have a right to a fair return on their investment? When a premium offer is made for Riviera, aren’t they as owners entitled to realize a decent gain?

Los Angeles Councilman Marvin Braude is quoted as saying, “I’m very disappointed that the people of our community could not find a way to preserve the ownership of the club. It sends a big signal to all of us that if you want to control something, the best way to do it is to buy it.”

Yes, Mr. Braude, I agree with your concept, and I wonder, as one of many public owners of Laaco, Ltd. why these concerned members did not buy a share of the club from 1926 to the present like I did.

CARLTON M. ROGERS

Arcadia