Santa Monica Freeway Repairs
* In response to “Santa Monica Freeway to Reopen on Tuesday,” April 6:
A skeptic might believe the “fix” was in the day C.C. Myers Inc. signed on for the Santa Monica Freeway repair. That same skeptic might speculate that Myers is well-schooled and very bright and knew how long this job could take, thus penciling in a “little extra” for himself--with the help of course from state officials (who would never accept one dime from Myers for their champagne chests).
Never mind the cost of the repair was double what Myers bid, officials praise his early completion. An ungrateful citizen might suggest that his “bonus” be kept because his bid was only 100% off. Or maybe the money should go toward quake relief! But no, Myers needs a bigger airplane! (Don’t we all?)
The end of the story: First Myers is canonized by the governor, then he flies away with his construction fee plus a $14.5-million bonus, then the citizens pay $30 million for a job that was supposed to cost $15 million. Great story, eh?
MIKE WALKER
Los Angeles
* The 10 Freeway, the world’s busiest freeway, should now be known as the 14.5 Freeway, the world’s most generous freeway.
ALAN DOCTORS
Pacific Palisades
* While Clinton Myers is contemplating how to spend his bonus money, perhaps he could give some thought to me. I’m the woman who was sitting in my car at a stoplight on my way to work at 8 a.m. March 24 and was rear-ended by one of his workers, who had been overworked into a state of somnambulation.
Personally, I wish he had risked getting a smaller bonus while being a more responsible employer.
JANE THOMAS
Los Angeles
* In response to “Wilson Gets Mileage Out of Rebuilt Freeway,” news analysis, April 7:
It is appalling that Clinton Administration officials are angry that Gov. Pete Wilson has been complaining for more than a year that the federal government is doing too little to assist California. They cite the fact that it was President Clinton who was responsible for speeding up the reconstruction project on the earthquake-damaged Santa Monica Freeway and without any cost to California taxpayers.
It appears that we must experience a natural disaster in order to obtain assistance from our President. Clinton provided the people in California with promises of help during his election campaign. This is the place where the Cold War with the former Soviet Union was terminated, and this is also the place which suffered the most due to loss of jobs and declining real estate values.
California did its job during the Cold War. Now it is time for President Clinton to fulfill his promises to provide business investment incentives and other programs to allow us to join the rest of the nation in recovery.
RAY ACKERMAN
Los Angeles
