Marvin Braude

In your Oct. 11 article summarizing the highlights of Councilman Marvin Braude’s career, I found it ironic that you did not mention what may have been the most significant vote he ever cast.

In 1978, Los Angeles was bidding to host the 1984 Olympic Games. The bid required City Council approval and was a subject of intense controversy.

Eventually, the council approved the Olympic bid with the bare minimum number of eight votes in favor. The eighth and deciding vote was Braude’s; he made up his mind only the night before, knowing his could be the decisive vote. The resulting Olympic success is well-known to everyone who lived here during the games.

I doubt that Braude ever cast a vote that meant more to the reputation and self-esteem of the city than that one did.

DAVID SIMON, President

Los Angeles Sports Council

Councilman Braude will retire with a $67,000 per year pension (Valley, Oct. 12). His pension is far great than private-sector company workers in L.A. get. The 2.16% per year of his salary multiplied by the number of years of service is much greater than the average of 1% to 1.5% for the private sector.

These outrageously large pensions are in addition to other large benefits received by city workers and paid for by all our taxes.

In an age of fiscal responsibility, keep L.A. solvent with a better and more equitable pension system for all of L.A. workers. This could be accomplished by tying city workers to the average pension rate for the 20 largest L.A. corporations, and tying the salary used for the pension base to the average worker’s salary over his last five years of employment. By so doing, there will be plenty of the money needed for more police, teachers and firemen as well as a reduction in everyone’s taxes.

SY LEVINE

Topanga