Fighting for his neighborhood

Re “Don’t take our homes to build a school,” Current, April 1

My blood boiled as I read Marcos M. Villatoro’s story, and I kept wondering, isn’t there an empty supermarket lot the Los Angeles Unified School District could use instead of bulldozing an entire neighborhood? Sure enough, Villatoro mentioned not only an abandoned Ralphs but several other available pieces of property nearby. The LAUSD should be forbidden to take people’s homes unless there are absolutely no other alternatives -- and an unbiased official body that is not connected to the school district should make that decision.

I hope The Times follows this story closely as it unfolds.

LYNETTE PADWA

Rancho Park

*

Villatoro’s impassioned plea for his home moved me in both its logic and eloquence. His description of the Van Nuys neighborhood he hopes to save from the bulldozers and bureaucracy of the school district was so poetic, this place should be given historical landmark status to spare it. It is no surprise the district would ignore the clear and present alternatives to destroying this community of friends and homeowners.

JEANINE D’ELIA

Granada Hills