Hummer growls

Re “Transit boss’ SUV is too big to ignore,” column, Jan. 21

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s transit boss, Jaime de la Vega, continues to drive a big pig Hummer to City Hall. Maybe Steve Lopez should now call for the resignation of de la Vega from the mayor’s staff.

Our mayor and his senior staff are supposed to set an example regarding policies encouraging gas-efficient vehicles, global warming, use of public transit, etc. De la Vega is setting a terrible example for other elected public officials and their staffs, who are trying to help us reduce traffic congestion and drive automobiles that produce reduced emissions, which helps our fight to reduce global warming.

I would like to see some of our L.A. City Council members put some political and public heat on the transportation boss. Either dump the big pig Hummer or look for a job in the private sector.

JACK MCGRATH

Valley Village

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Lopez’s article is a cute, snarky series of repetitive rhetorical jibes at De la Vega’s choice for a personal vehicle. The prissy assumption is that public officials must limit themselves to PR-sensitive private choices, completely discarding any semblance of professional abilities or cogent capacity to intelligently address the area to which they have been assigned. Lopez indulges in his personal smugness.

Most probably, De la Vega agreed to the interview without realizing that the result would be a textbook example of a pejorative, self-righteous rant by a journalist substituting pompous rant for informative journalism. I have the instantaneous urge to rush out and purchase the biggest Hummer I can get my hands on.

SYD MEAD

Pasadena