Up With the Penalties! Down With the Signs!

Four thousand illegal billboards (“Tree Butchers and Billboards,” editorial, Aug. 23)! No wonder. Maybe city officials have no backbone or no money to fight this blight, which is worse than graffiti. Maybe there is some collusion with these rogue billboard companies. But we Angelenos do have the time, the backbone and the resources to rid L.A. of this eyesore.

Please, give us a hint of how to find out about specific billboard permits. We’ll take care of the rest. Let’s start with these 4,000 illegal ones--and then move on to the legal ones.

Alberto Saavedra

Marina del Rey

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You suggest a penalty of $70,000 per hacked-up tree. That’s one month of rent for one sign! If it were $700,000, that would only be 10 months. How about a penalty equivalent to five years of rental income? You must be on the side of the sign owners.

Al Van Schaick

San Marino