Bernson, Water and Development

As a past president of the Reseda Community Assn. and zoning and planning chairman for some years, I and my fellow board members tried to fight overdevelopment in Reseda and other parts of the Valley. Our many efforts to preserve the quality of life were often hampered by the very council members elected to serve the needs of the community and further exploited by the media.

So it’s election time again and all these incumbent council people who can’t remember what it feels like to work for a living are tugging and pulling at the pens of reporters and the pockets of contributors. Somewhere in their campaigns for reelection is lost the constituent who supposedly holds the power in his or her vote.

I am appalled at the one-sided coverage of Councilman Hal Bernson by the L.A. Times. Daily we are subjected to extensive articles promoting Bernson’s brand of politics and adventure.

While we in Reseda combat Mayor Bradley’s call that all parts of Los Angeles must accept mixed use in their downtown business areas (specifically low- to moderate-income housing above storefronts--of which Reseda has more than its share), the communities in Hal Bernson’s district have conveniently evaded this mandate. Granada Hills has no recognizable downtown area. Northridge has the college, the fashion mall and the fully developed Reseda Boulevard strip--so where’s downtown Northridge? Quaint western little Chatsworth downtown is being squeezed to death by massive residential and commercial development of its surrounding hills.

The Los Angeles Times owes its readers and the voters some space allotted to the contenders. I have seen little coverage of the five or six people running against Bernson or, for that matter, against other incumbents (how about Joel Wachs, incumbent of 20 years?). Give us a break--give the contenders equal time while you daily barrage us with the Hal Bernson philosophy on conservation techniques.

MILENA MILLER

Reseda