‘Smear Squad’ Hits Riordan and Broad

Steve Lopez’s Nov. 13 column, “Seeing the Light and Saying So Long to All That Negativity,” posed a question. My answer is that it’s the “smear squad.” I am struck by the treatment given the Richard Riordan and Eli Broad secret offer (is it really secret?) to Ted Mitchell, the president of Occidental College, and Occidental College itself. Lopez suggested that Riordan and Broad “believe so strongly they know better than us rubes what’s in our best interest, they’re willing to trample democracy to have their way.” I don’t know about rubes, but I do know that everybody has the right, even Riordan and Broad, to persuade someone to run for elected office. We still get to vote, don’t we? As a parent with children enrolled in the L.A. Unified School District, I like the idea of the president of Occidental College on the LAUSD board.

John L. Scott

Granada Hills