The killing of Dr. George Tiller; Obama and House Republicans; cleaning up a swimming hole in Long Beach

Not about children

Re “Tiller’s killer guilty of murder,” Jan. 30

Thousands of children in the world die of starvation every day; many more die of illnesses easily preventable or cured.

Disabled children fill institutions and live sad, short lives in squalor. There is so much to be done, if someone truly cares about children. The list is practically endless.

The murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller wasn’t about saving children. It was an attempt to control other people’s lives.

Jessica Davis-Stein
Sherman Oaks

That’s not the debate he saw

Re “No meeting of minds,” Jan. 30

Had I merely read your article on President Obama’s appearance at the House Republican retreat in Baltimore, I might have thought it to be the typical partisan blame session you described.

Luckily for me and the rest of the country, something remarkable happened. To their credit, the Republicans agreed to broadcast it live.

What I watched was not the “exercise in political finger-pointing, defensiveness and gamesmanship” your paper reported. It was an honest, unscripted discussion, where the president took questions and concerns seriously. He acknowledged where the Republicans had valid points and explained without attempting to score points where he genuinely felt they were wrong.

I saw a real discussion with honest disagreements. Fortunately for all citizens interested in the spin-free truth, the proof is in the pudding.

Peter Nelson
Los Angeles

Pets in Los Angeles

Re “L.A. unleashes a search for a manager,” Jan. 31

In a city like Los Angeles, “no-kill” is a fantasy. In order to stop killing today, the city has to either reject animals that are dumped at the pounds or warehouse them. The former is illegal and the latter is unrealistic.

One thing has always concerned me: temperament testing, which allows the system to label most animals as “unadoptable.” If someone dumps a dog at the pound who growls out of fear when provoked, that dog can be labeled as potentially dangerous and hence, unadoptable. He gets killed. But his death doesn’t count because he was not an “adoptable” dog.

By this method, the city can achieve the glorious no-kill status. Constituents will dump more animals, and the numbers of deaths will skyrocket. But is this what the constituents really want?

People need to get real. We need someone who knows what Animal Services needs in this city, and will focus on the honest goal of saving the most animals possible.

Marie Atake
Marina del Rey
The writer is a former Los Angeles Animal Services commissioner.

The Times mentions key components needed to reduce the number of animals euthanized each year, including partnerships with local humane organizations and an aggressive spay-neuter program. But it did not mention another issue: pet stores that sell puppies from “puppy mills” -- commercial breeding facilities that produce thousands of puppies each year.

If people found puppies through local rescue groups or at shelters instead of pet stores, the number of animals ending up in our shelters would dramatically decrease. Fewer dogs in the shelters mean that fewer will be euthanized.

Because reputable breeders don’t sell to pet stores, this would not negatively impact them. It has been estimated that 30% of the animals in shelters are purebred.

There is no reason to buy from a pet store.

Deborah Johnson
Northridge

Safe for swimming

Re “Saving a swimming spot,” Feb. 1

Thank you for your excellent article on the Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach. Improving the quality of Long Beach’s recreational water areas has been a top priority of mine over the last several years.

Thanks to the partnership of local residents (Friends of the Colorado Lagoon), the Army Corps of Engineers, the Port of Long Beach and the State Water Resources Control Board, I look forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when the Colorado Lagoon will change from being the worst body of water in Long Beach to the best.

Gary DeLong
Long Beach
The writer is a City Council member representing Long Beach’s 3rd District.

Preserving the arts

Re “L.A. considering 500 more layoffs,” Jan. 30

It is clear that the arts will have to share in the considerable financial pain our communities face. But Los Angeles budget officials’ plan to cut arts and culture funding is disproportionate to the cuts facing other departments and makes no sense, logically or economically.

Such a drastic cut hurts not only experienced cultural workers but the critical services they provide to thousands of city residents -- including children -- via arts programming. Additionally, grants provided by the Department of Cultural Affairs, which may be suspended, promote public/private partnerships.

Undercutting an arts industry that is a cornerstone of tourism and economic development is a choice that seems particularly harmful in a city as culturally rich as Los Angeles.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council have been great supporters of the arts in the past. We hope they, along with the city’s administrative officer, will continue to look at the arts as part of the solution, not the problem.

Robert L. Lynch
Washington
The writer is CEO of Americans for the Arts.

On camera

Re “At Hawthorne park, you’re being watched,” Feb. 1

Regarding the presence of cameras in Hawthorne’s Eucalyptus Park:

I am a firm supporter of civil rights and a longtime member of the ACLU, but the civil libertarians are going overboard in this case.

If you are on a public street or in a public park, you have no expectation of privacy. If the ACLU is worried that what the police cameras see can be recorded and shared, it had also better worry about ubiquitous cellphone cameras -- which can be used in private as well as public places.

Warren Dace
Los Angeles

Church and state

Re “Group objects to mayor’s comment,” Feb. 1

I am glad to see the wise and prescient position of the Council on American-Islamic Relations being voiced so publicly.

Whether Lancaster is in fact “growing a Christian community,” as its mayor has said, is irrelevant in this discussion. Such comments are not appropriate for public officials, especially in the context of a State of the City address.

The constitutional separation of church and state is sensible, for the preservation of both our political and religious spheres of life.

Daniel Polk
Morongo Valley, Calif.

It’s just noise

Re “It’s not all about the music,” Feb. 1

I have to agree with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ president, Neil Portnow, about the decline of quality in the music business, although Times music critic Ann Powers sees hope on the horizon.

The problem with optimism is that the craft of songwriting has taken a back seat to crass commercialism. The technological democratization of music has caused a lack of quality control.

Trash is rampant, and Charlie Parker is not taught in the schools.

The meat and potatoes of songwriting -- the chords, melody, texture and rhythm -- have been stagnant since the ‘70s.

And this is not the rantings of someone who wasn’t there.

Jon Hartmann
Los Angeles