Permits to Clear Flood Control Channels

Re “Thicket of Rules Fuels Flood Fears,” Oct. 12: Should we feel sorry for a county agency that cannot follow the rules? One that cannot submit a complete and timely application for a permit? No. Get with it, L.A. County Flood Control District employees. Live by the same rules the rest of us comply with day in and day out. Read the instructions.

For the myriad agencies that create overlapping, contradictory and incomprehensible rules, you can help too. If your own comrades in government cannot figure out the system, how do you expect anyone else to? Simple rules lead to better understanding and compliance. And whatever happened to “one-stop permit shopping”?

Government’s good intentions do go awry. Rarely do policy, procedure and practice meet real need. We must protect wetlands. Any other developer operating in California long ago learned to mitigate loss of wetlands. In fact, the California state Resources Agency has a wetlands conservation banking program for Southern California. Does the county know that? Do bureaucrats ever talk with each other? If I remember correctly, “no net loss” has been the law of the entire U.S. since the Bush administration. Maybe L.A. County didn’t know that. Or tried to lobby for yet another exemption from the law.

By the way, while the county Flood Control District officials are complaining about the other agencies’ rules, I sure hope they will take a look at their own rules.

PETER H. ST. CLAIR

Pacific Palisades

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I was surprised to read that even weeds have friends. The issue is the cleanup efforts of Los Angeles’ flood control channels. Lewis MacAdams (letter, Oct. 12) wrote, “Public Works and the Army Corps of Engineers are demanding the right to permanently clear-cut every living thing in the river,” in an emotionally charged plea to save the weeds from being cut down.

If it is going to rain this winter like it did the last time California experienced such a pronounced El Nio effect, doesn’t it makes sense to clean up the flood control channels before the rains come? Regardless of the coming rains, the weeds are going to grow back. They always do--just ask any kid who has helped out with weeding the front lawn.

MIKE BLOIS

Culver City