Unnecessary trip

Re “Villaraigosa to lead trip to Israel,” May 28

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s trip to Israel, with about a dozen city officials and religious leaders -- at taxpayer expense -- is for a purpose that could easily be effected through conference calls, faxes and e-mails. With the present financial problems in the city and state, trips like these should be off-limits. The city could have paid for Israeli experts to come to Los Angeles to help improve our airport security and anti-terrorism efforts.

Given, additionally, the significant amount of time that our mayor has devoted to campaigning for Hillary Rodham Clinton, how much attention has he really spent tending to the business of the city here in L.A.?

Julia Joseph

Beverly Hills