1990: A RETROSPECTIVE : QUOTE . . . UNQUOTE

“For 115 years, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has been an exclusively all-white, male club . . . now that club membership is open to everyone.”

--Marc Rosenbaum, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, reacting to a federal judge’s ruling that the board violated the Voting Rights Act by drawing district boundaries that discriminate against Latinos. Four prominent Latino candidates are running for a newly carved seat in a primary election scheduled for Jan. 22. (6/5)

“This will send a signal: even in Los Angeles, the people are beginning to realize they must change their way of travel if we are to have a livable planet.”

--Neil Peterson, executive director of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, on the opening of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Blue Line light rail service. (7/13)

“So many bullets, so many bullets. Things here can be just like in El Salvador. You can be in your house and they attack you. It’s just the same.”

--Maria Mindala Aguilar commenting after her husband, Juan Alberto Joya, was killed in a confrontation with gang members outside his apartment in the Pueblo del Rio housing project. (8/8)

“They looked suspicious and they didn’t say anything to me. They just shot me.”

--Fernando Castillo Jr., 12, who was shot in the leg when five suspected gang members tried to steal his $8 mask and Halloween candy. (11/2)

“The time to act is now. Every drop of water we save now will be available for next year, or for a future year.”

--S. Dell Scott, one of Los Angeles’ eight representatives on the 51-member Metropolitan Water District board, commenting before the MWD board ordered mandatory water rationing for agencies serving Southern California. (12/12)

“I wouldn’t advise going back in yet. The bay is becoming a toxic cocktail. It’s like injecting poison into one’s bloodstream.”

--Bob Sulnick, executive director of the environmental group American Oceans Campaign, commenting after county health officials reopened most of the Los Angeles County beaches that were closed after nearly 8 million gallons of sewage surged into Santa Monica Bay. (2/21)

“The alarming fact that it takes 10 to 15 minutes longer than last year to make almost the exact same commute should be enough to convince even Pollyanna that we need to address the problem immediately.”

--From a Commuter Computer report showing that Southland traffic jams are worse than ever. (5/24)

“I’m feeling flush at this point. Stars are sexy. They give us entree, like a skeleton key to power.”

--Michael Bell, organizer of a rally against malathion spraying, commenting on the power of Hollywood to turn a mere protest into a cause celebre. (1/27)

“It really wasn’t a pretty house, but my God, the guest list!”

--Phyllis Lerner, president of the Beverly Hills Historical Society, commenting on the demolition of Pickfair, the legendary 42-room estate of early film stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. (4/20)

“What is Thanksgiving or Christmas when you’re living in a box?”

--Rick, a homeless man who planned to spend his Thanksgiving helping out at a downtown Skid Row mission. (11/22)

“This is ridiculous. You can’t even sit alone on the beach? . . . I think it’s pathetic.”

--Lily Djusic, 23, reacting to news that a USC student was raped in plain view on an open stretch of Santa Monica Beach in broad daylight. (5/12)

“That’s a lot, but as near as I can tell she was only struck three or four times. My only response is that (the deputies) fired until they felt the threat level was reduced.”

--Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Brown commenting after deputies fired 26 times at a woman who allegedly had shot and wounded her former finance and then waved a handgun at deputies. The woman was slain. (1/12)

“I thought my wife was just cooking dinner. She’s always burning something.”

--Resident Bashir Mahmud recalling his first impression of the fire that ultimately destroyed or severely damaged half of the 120 units in his West Covina apartment complex. (9/17)

“This is not the opera, it’s the NFL. You can’t expect people to just sit there and politely clap and say ‘Jolly good! Jolly good!’ ”

--LAPD Lt. Alan B. Kerstein, who supervises officers at Los Angeles Coliseum events, commenting on police attempts to curb fan violence at NFL football games. (10/8)

“I doubt that anybody in the past 50 years has been attacked by a model airplane.”

--L.J. (Nick) Nicolary, pilot of the 192-foot-long Goodyear blimp Columbia, grounded after a small, remote-controlled aircraft crashed into its side. (10/2)