Cracking down on L.A.’s supergraphic signs; Sen. Jim Bunning’s tactic; California’s ‘bullet’ train

Billboard blight

Re “Deal struck over giant sign,” March 2

As someone involved for more than a decade in making Hollywood a better place, I say this to Kayvan Setareh: Jails are for people who flagrantly and repeatedly violate the law. Jail is where you belong.

To Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich: You are our hero. Our community groups have worked hard to bring Hollywood back, only to have our beautiful, historic buildings trashed with impunity by the likes of Setareh.

The final challenge in this case: Will the sign be down before the Academy Awards this weekend? If not, Setareh wins anyway.

Bob Eicholz
Los Angeles
The writer is a board member of the Outpost Estates Homeowners Assn.

Bravo. It’s about time Los Angeles got tough on scofflaws. If Setareh knew he was violating the law, he should be punished for it.

And because the sign is still up and earning him money, bravo for the absolutely too-high bail initially set.

But Los Angeles shouldn’t stop there. Just like a john can be punished for being with a hooker, just like a fence can be punished for accepting stolen goods, so too the advertiser should be punished for putting up an illegal sign (in this case, Paramount/DreamWorks and their ad agency). Levying big fines on the advertisers will quickly curtail this illegal activity.

Harley Lond
Beverly Hills

It seems as if the city attorney got the attention of at least one illegal sign advertiser -- perhaps others will now follow. But the $1,000 fine will be considered by these sign outlaws as just the cost of doing business. Perhaps disgorgement of their illegal gains should be pursued.

Raul Gutierrez
Walnut

Holding up the Senate

Re “One-man filibuster draws fire,” March 2

Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning’s one-man filibuster of a bill in order to protest the deficit is the epitome of the “party of no’s” hypocrisy.

Denying hundreds of thousands of Americans unemployment and healthcare benefits and causing temporary layoffs of more than 2,000 federal employees demonstrate the GOP obstruction politics that have been so injurious to our great nation.

Where was this righteous indignation when the Bush administration, which took office in 2001 with a budget surplus, left office in 2009 with a $1.3-trillion deficit and the economy in shambles?

Richard Armendariz
Huntington Beach

Hooray for Bunning! I know the point he intends to make has to do with limiting the deficit, but the point he’s much more successfully making is the need for procedural reform in the Senate.

How many more stubborn fools like Bunning need we suffer before Senate rules get a long-overdue overhaul?

Jeff Vaughn
Encino

I was disappointed that The Times chose to emphasize the consequences of Bunning’s act and not the reasons for it.

One can argue that this may not be the place to make a stand, but at least give the reader an opportunity to make that judgment. Your reporting was not balanced.

Craig Campbell
Palos Verdes Estates

Noose excuse

Re “Student apologizes for noose,” March 2

Some “mindless” actions can be forgiven, like carelessly bumping into someone or not remembering to pick up after yourself. But it’s kind of hard to believe someone who seems to be saying she left behind a noose in a UC San Diego campus library by accident.

What purpose does a rope serve in the library anyway? Aren’t books and computers usually found in libraries, not outdoor tools -- especially ones that are historically used to execute people?

At a time when UCSD is experiencing racial tension, this is no coincidence. “No racist motivation?” Think again.

Mark Guillermo
Northridge

A lot riding on the rails

Re “Doubts about state’s proposed high-speed trains pick up steam,” Feb. 28

Assuming that initial doubts and power struggles can be resolved, construction of California’s bullet train may become possible.

Before completion come years of life disruptions, from eminent domain appropriations and then actual building. Then, once operating, expenses will rise -- causing ridership and revenue to fall, leading to subsidies and higher taxes to keep it running, until the losses become too great, leading to abandonment. Can you spell C-O-N-C-O-R-D-E?

Thomas R. Jones
Burbank

It should surprise no one that despite $2.25 billion in new federal stimulus money, California can’t get its high-speed rail off the ground. And I can tell you why: It’s going between Los Angeles and San Francisco, when it should be going between Anaheim and Las Vegas.

Yes, this would mean working with the politicians across the border in Nevada. But build a high-speed, nonstop rail line that can get anyone at Disneyland to the Strip in 90 minutes, and that rail line will pay for the other rail line to San Francisco in no time.

Robert Harris
Garden Grove

At the start of the 21st century, we have two ways to go: Either California gets stuck in the last century, or it moves forward.

A high-speed rail system would be a key step to move the state into the future. The longer this project is delayed, the more it will cost. And if abandoned, we will have taken a giant step backward.

M.T. Gyepes
Pacific Palisades

DWP doubter

Re “Villaraigosa eyes DWP surcharge,” March 1

So for another $2.50 or so a month, we can ensure that the Department of Water and Power moves toward renewable energy?

From our already bloated electricity bills, nowhere does the DWP fund research and development -- or did it already raid that fund?

I’m all for clean energy, but this constant money-grabbing needs to be stopped.

Jennifer Harrington
Los Angeles

Flu tips

Re “A mellow virus,” Opinion, Feb. 26

I work as a pediatric nurse, and I have seen firsthand the fight against the H1N1 virus. I don’t believe it was luck that spared us from the ravages of this infectious agent. Rather, I see our good health this flu season as valid proof that the efforts of vaccination, quarantining and sanitizing were an unqualified success.

These efforts should be praised and reinforced so people will continue their vigilance during the next flu season. Americans: Get vaccinated, wash your hands, don’t touch your face if you can help it and keep your kids at home when they are sick. It’s working.

Paul Ciriacks
Cypress

On Korea

Re “Korean gold stirs nationalist fervor,” Feb. 27

If The Times knew the extent of the atrocities committed by the Japanese during the occupation of Korea, it would not compare it to Cold War-era hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Times seems to suggest that Koreans are petty people who cannot let past hostilities be forgotten and that the Japanese have taken the high road and put it past them.

Maybe it’s because Koreans cannot forget their suffering -- and the Japanese seem to have a convenient amnesia with regard to their dark deeds in the past.

Shinwon Chun
La Palma, Calif.