Speaker Addressed the Right Issues

“It’s Not What the Politician Said; It’s What He Didn’t Hear” [At Issue, July 28] implies that Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa did not speak to issues of interest to local business.

In reality, when he discussed important issues such as the state budget and major legislative activity impacting education, parks, business and taxes, he was providing us with information that many small-business people should know about but rarely do. If he had come forth with a litany of campaign-style promises about matters over which he has no control instead of telling us about what he was, and is, doing in Sacramento, we would probably share columnist Vicki Torres’ skepticism.

Our day-to-day concerns may well revolve around clean streets, landscaping, local promotional activities and so on, but that does not mean we are not interested in the larger questions being discussed in the state Capitol.

The speaker’s office is not the one we call when we need small-business loans or our business districts spruced up, and Ms. Torres does no one any favors when she suggests that his time and energy would be better spent on such local matters.

The public’s lack of understanding of the different roles of different levels of government is bad enough without a prominent journalist further muddying the waters.

When Villaraigosa shows up with “clipboard-wielding staff,” Ms. Torres apparently finds it excessive. By contrast, we see it as an indication that when the elected official goes back to the state Capitol to tend to other aspects of his job, there will be several staff members here at home we can talk to who will know what was on our minds when he came to talk to us.

PETER WOO

Chinese Chamber of Commerce

Los Angeles