Joel Wachs and Arena Deal

Re “Sports Arena Is a Winner for City and Taxpayers,” editorial, Oct. 10: Maybe it’s been so long since a local elected official went to bat for the voters that you don’t recognize the behavior. Does Joel Wachs’ stubbornness in the face of peer pressure from the City Council, mayor, cardinal and The Times look like “grandstanding” to you? Maybe you should get out of the luxury boxes, and check out the view from the bleachers. Looks like a home run from here.

It is disturbing that the sight of a guy trying to respond to his constituents’ wishes looks suspect to The Times. So what if he’s running for mayor? Indicating that he’s willing to stand up to hungry developers and their admirers in City Hall, to be unpopular downtown to defend our interests, seems like an excellent recommendation for the job of mayor of Los Angeles.

LISA BRENNEIS

Los Angeles

* Far be it from me to object to billionaire sports owners insisting that the public fork over millions of dollars to build their stadiums. My suggestion is that they build the things on wheels so that they can tow them along to their next home. That way, St. Petersburg, for instance, might pay us something for them. Or perhaps we could prevail upon Cal Worthington and his dog Spot to peddle them on late-night TV.

BURT PRELUTSKY

North Hills