Los Angeles Mayor’s Race

In response to your article (April 14) pertaining to mayoral ads and their criticisms, Assemblyman Richard Katz does make a valid argument regarding the motivation for last year’s riots. To raise the issue of the riots at this juncture is not demagogic; but rather encompasses the central issue of the campaign: How will we turn this city around, reinvigorate the economy and thereby resolve our spiritual malaise? Katz’s TV ad makes a critical point when stating that the riots were inevitable. When the infrastructure is collapsing, when public schooling is deteriorating, when there is begging on every street corner and countless businesses packing up for greener pastures, something’s got to give. Well, it happened, and all that was needed was an excuse.

Yes, it’s time to turn things around. And yes, Katz’s argument of creating jobs as a means to that end is a profound step in the right direction. Didn’t we learn from the Reagan/Bush lesson that problems merely don’t go away if we choose to ignore them?

HOLT ROCKMAN

Beverly Hills