Rebuttal to Developer

I viewed the letter by Michael B. Kaiserman (Times, March 3) with great skepticism.

But since Mr. Kaiserman is a developer, it comes as no surprise that he should attempt to discredit me and the Beverly Wilshire Homes Assn. This type of sabotage is used by developers against community activists all over the city whenever activists succeed in preventing or minimizing insidious overdevelopment.

His criticism of a slush fund of $250,000 he purports to be for “Diana Plotkin and four of her friends” discloses the extent of his ignorance. The money has been used to set up an independent environmental foundation, which has allocated funds for some of the traffic studies, attorney fees and geology reports that must be performed to protect the Beverly-Fairfax area and other neighborhoods from developers.

Mr. Kaiserman contends that “Diana Plotkin runs her group in a secretive, dictatorial way denying her own neighbors the right to participate in important decisions affecting their neighborhood.” Yet Mr. Kaiserman says he has attended our meetings. So much for secretive, dictatorial ways!

If not for the increasing numbers of committed unpaid volunteers such as myself, our neighborhood will continue to be overwhelmed by excessive development. The community has felt frustrated and concerned enough to skyrocket the membership of the Beverly Wilshire Homes Assn. over the past few years in order to combat the real threat to their way of life.

I’ve proudly committed the past eight years to protecting the welfare of my community and keeping them informed. Where has Mr. Kaiserman been?

DIANA PLOTKIN, president

Beverly Wilshire Homes Assn.