Tobacco Settlement
The L.A. City Council unanimously voted to spend $8 million in tobacco-lawsuit settlement money on sidewalk curb cuts and parks (June 16). I see no connection between smoking-related illness and spending settlement money on sidewalks and parks. If the city had given the money to the proposed new county hospital, at least there would have been a small connection because in the future the county hospital would have treated a few patients with smoking-related illness.
Some money is being spent on large anti-smoking billboards. The anti-smoking billboards are a visual pollution themselves.
When one compares these two spending programs, the billboards are a waste of money while the sidewalks will provide a lasting public benefit to the overall community.
LARRY BURKS
San Pedro
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