MILLENNIUM PLANS

There actually is a nationwide program to enlist interest in the millennium and in producing concrete community improvements (“The Great Millennium Kiss-Off,” by Frances Anderton, March 9).

Last year, the National Assn. of Counties inaugurated Community Countdown 2000, a program that brings together civic organizations, civic-minded individuals and county officials to meet the community challenges as the year 2000 arrives. Certainly, there will be fireworks and bells on that occasion, but we plan to leave a legacy of achievement for future generations.

We are working with all California counties to launch efforts, based on suggestions of local citizens and officials. The next time you review the millennium scene I know you’ll discover Community Countdown 2000 projects that will last long after the fireworks fade.

Larry Naake, Executive Director

National Assn. of Counties

Washington

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Contrary to Anderton’s assumptions, the Cultural Affairs Department, the mayor’s office and the City Council have, in effect, been preparing for the millennium celebration since 1990. That was when the department’s Cultural Master Plan evolved into an extensive region-by-region planning process aimed at decentralizing our bureaucracy, restoring a sense of community identity and enabling residents to be more active in governing their own cultural resources. We will inaugurate our new regional arts councils during Gateway L.A. (the tentative name for our millennium celebration) as a new paradigm of neighborhood-responsive government, on every level, in the 21st century.

As Anderton’s article seemed to emphasize a party theme, here is a brief synopsis of ours. Gateway L.A. will be based on the theme “City of Creativity, Gateway to the 21st Century.” We’ll kick off the celebration with the upcoming “A Very Special Arts Festival” in late May 1999, highlighting the talents of people with disabilities. Over the next 14 months, there will be staggered special events and festivals all over the city, through the end of June 2000, all of which will offer opportunities for cultural tourism.

The climax, of course, will be New Year’s Eve, when there will be street parties scheduled throughout the day in all our regional centers, a star-studded gala event at either the new Disney Hall or another prominent facility, a finale of the downtown skyline light show and the traditional fireworks displays.

The year 2000 tweaks the imagination. Los Angeles is full of artists, inventors and dreamers, and we urge everyone to get involved in the creative process. Suggestions can be sent to Millennium, Cultural Affairs Department, 433 S. Spring St., 10th floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013, faxed to (213) 485-2600 or e-mailed to cador@earthlink.net.

Adolfo V. Nodal, General Manager

Cultural Affairs Commission

City of Los Angeles

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A sensible way to celebrate the year 2000 would be to complete the construction and repair of L.A.’s classrooms. Education should be the first place to spend money; the sorry state of our school facilities must be corrected.

Virginia Gregory May

Rancho Mirage

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Thank goodness Los Angeles isn’t planning yet another party at taxpayers’ expense. In case Anderton didn’t notice, we don’t have two cents to rub together. We can’t afford to give our police a raise, but I bet we’d expect them to patrol yet another fiesta that we always seem to find money for.

Susan Tellem

Marshall Thompson

Los Angeles