Museum Just a Luxury

I would like to respond to the article Aug. 21 (“Gallegly Tries to Save Oil Museum”) regarding the closing of the Unocal Museum in Santa Paula.

It is unbelievable that Rep. Gallegly regards a mere building to be more important than the loss of jobs. Unocal for the last year has been terminating employees by the hundreds under the guise of having to pay down the debt that they incurred beginning with the proxy fight with T. Boone Pickens in the mid-1980s.

As stated in the article, Unocal spent at least $2.5 million on refurbishing the building for its 1990 centennial celebration. The Santa Paula building is not a working asset of the company, but a corporate luxury that it can no longer afford. Now, because of Unocal’s poor management and planning, loyal and dedicated employees are being sacrificed to save money.

SHEILA O’CONNOR

Ventura