L.A. City Council One Vote Short of a Protest

Re “Antiwar Resolution Falls Short in L.A. City Council,” Feb. 19: Is the L.A. City Council serious? With all the problems confronting Los Angeles, the council wastes hours of taxpayer-funded time to discuss national policy.

My City Council member was not elected to represent me on national issues; that is what my congressional representative is for. Further, the justification given for this debate is that war in Iraq is a local issue because it would cost billions of dollars that otherwise could go to help solving local problems. Yet the resolution only opposes war in Iraq without United Nations support. It does not oppose a war.

Hello? With or without the support of the U.N., isn’t a war still going to cost the U.S. billions of dollars? By the way, I’m opposed to war in Iraq, just as I’m opposed to politicians who are publicity hounds.

Mark Wheeler

Canoga Park

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When the City Council considered a resolution against unilateral war on Iraq, council member Wendy Greuel said that she and her colleagues had more important things to be concerned with, such as fixing potholes. I would like to report a pothole.

Although its center is located in another city -- Washington (on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue to be precise) -- this pothole represents such a hazard to our safety and democracy that it demands immediate attention from every city hall, place of worship, dinner table and office water cooler in our country. Its circumference is so vast that it threatens to swallow federal funding for health care, education, housing and public safety.

Please let the world know that the people of L.A. want this pothole fixed before more of our civil liberties, and possibly the lives of Angelenos who serve in our armed forces, are needlessly lost in its dark depths.

Benjamin Parke

Los Angeles

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The debate in the City Council on the (potential) war in Iraq is absurd whether one agrees or disagrees with Washington. Any decision by the City Council will have no legal standing whatsoever. In this era of budget shortfalls, such a waste of time and money is unconscionable.

Jim Goodenough

Canoga Park

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Cheers for Ceil Sorenson for making a peace statement. And thanks to the council members who voted in support of the resolution opposing unilateral war against Iraq. Here’s hoping that L.A., with one more vote, will join major cities in the U.S. in supporting continued inspections instead of unilateral, preemptive military action against Iraq.

Lenore Navarro Dowling

Los Angeles