Pluses and Minuses for Schwarzenegger

Re “On Girlie Men and Our Manly Governor,” Steve Lopez column, July 21:

The cliche that figures lie and liars figure is apropos to the deceptive treatment of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nine months in office.

I immediately went to Google, which verified the figure of 14 employees on Schwarzenegger’s staff earning $100,000 or more, compared with eight employees for former Gov. Gray Davis at the same salary level. But that was in September 2003. This is only July.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. According to state records, there are only 154 employees working for Schwarzenegger compared with 194 employees for Davis. So you have a big savings there. Throw in an additional $275,000 in salaries from Schwarzenegger and Education Secretary Richard Riordan, which they returned to the taxpayers, and you have even more savings.

Not too shabby!

Clyde Feldman

Sherman Oaks

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Number of girlie men desperately needed in every trouble spot around the globe (to listen, compromise, show respect, build bridges, try to understand another’s point of view, find alternate ways of solving problems besides killing): countless.

Ulla Anobile

Los Angeles