Emergency Aid for Scoreboard Raises Hackles

* One has to wonder about the priorities of our governor and local leaders when they declare a state of emergency in Orange County because of $3 million to $4 million of quake damage at Anaheim Stadium. Let Anaheim impose a short-term quake repair surcharge on parking at the stadium, and declare instead a state of emergency for California’s markedly decaying schools, universities, and libraries.

KAREN D.PYKE

Mission Viejo

* Why am I not surprised by the greedy action the Anaheim City Council took over the loss of the Jumbotron scoreboard during the Northridge earthquake? By trying to get state and federal disaster relief funds to repair a professional sports scoreboard, the City Council, Supervisor (Thomas F.) Riley, Governor (Pete) Wilson, and ultimately, the President, have demeaned the suffering of the real earthquake victims.

No matter how much “priority” they claim they want to be given the real earthquake victims, it is just wrong to use state and federal disaster relief money to replace an elaborate sports scoreboard. Any money that would be spent on scoreboard replacement should go instead to such necessities as school and hospital repair. I wonder what the taxpayers in Northern California, San Diego, or the Midwest think about us using their disaster relief money to replace a scoreboard. As a resident of Anaheim, I am ashamed of this “theft” by my City Council, Board of Supervisors chairman and governor.

HAROLD SCHAFFROTH

Anaheim

* What is it about easy money that corrupts normally decent people?

The city of Anaheim is no more a quake victim than I am. Applying for relief to restore Anaheim Stadium’s round-heeled scoreboard is an irresponsible, opportunistic grab for a free lunch that cheapens the suffering of the real victims of this disaster.

When a close friend’s car was burglarized years ago, he dabbled in insurance fraud, explaining it was his “right,” somehow, to lay a false claim against his years of premium payments. The incident changed the way I felt about him forever.

Anaheim’s grab for state disaster relief smells of the same species of fish.

The swooning scoreboard was the only significant damage in the county. Could it be that it was defective as built? If so, the appropriate action is against the builders, not the states’ overtaxed relief fund. Accountability demands that the buck stops here, not in Sacramento. The relief is not infinite in nature and there are more than enough genuine victims of the quake.

T.J. RYAN

Placentia

* Here is a good way to solve the problem of the collapsed scoreboard of the big A.

Let the athletes--who use the stadium to earn megabucks--chip in to pay for the repairs. After all it is for their benefit--and since they all earn more than common sense would dictate, they could pay for it easily and monies that should go to those in real need could be allocated properly.

L. ZIVITZ

Fullerton

* I am disgusted and embarrassed that the Orange County Board of Supervisors has declared Orange County a “disaster area” for the sole purpose of siphoning off precious federal money to repair a high-tech scoreboard at Anaheim Stadium.

They have made the people of Orange County look like greedy, self-serving opportunists. If Orange County is a disaster area, it is not due to earthquake damage, but to their misguided action. They should do the right thing, and withdraw their declaration at once.

WILLIAM AMNEUS

Santa Ana