The UC mansion that needs repairs; CEO salaries; where California’s welfare money is going

Living less large

Re “Valuable property or UC ‘money pit’ ”? Oct. 4

I am the father of a junior in the UC system and frequently receive fundraising solicitations.

As we are paying substantially more for tuition and fees compared with three years ago, our family feels our UC contributions are more than adequate.

If Chancellor Mark G. Yudof can’t get by on his $591,000 base salary and the $11,500-a-month housing rental from the university, I would invite him to have dinner with me and the wife in the one-bedroom apartment we downsized into after a layoff and sending a child to college. We could give him some helpful budget tips.

We have a daughter ready to graduate high school who has already made the decision to leave California for her higher education. We are laying the groundwork to relocate ourselves. I wish Yudof and the UC system the best in their difficult housing conundrum.

Brian Curtis

Ventura

Thanks for letting us know about the Blake House property.

California is broke. Underfunded school systems are being raided. Fairgrounds are being sold. The governor is rightfully trying to sell off state-owned property.

This Blake House deal is a no-brainer. Sell it.

Maybe a future president could be housed in less than luxurious yet comfortable digs. Maybe a suite in a college dorm? That president would no doubt be more connected with his student body, and that’d be a payoff in itself.

Blake Kamper

Los Angeles

Those who get the big bucks

Re “Echoes of Bell in CEO salaries,” Column, Oct. 3

Michael Hiltzik hit the nail on the head by pointing out direct parallels between the practices of Bell’s administrators and those of some corporate leaders and their confederates on boards and compensation committees.

What has seemed to justify the actions of these people is the philosophy that anything goes if you succeed in getting away with it.

By standing both morality and justice on their heads, and by implying that increasing the take-home pay and pension entitlements of chief executives constitutes a “social good” — while these corporate leaders proceed to export American jobs, deprive workers of their livelihoods and benefits, exploit the employees who remain (e.g., “increase their productivity”), take away workers’ pensions and even contribute to the conditions that deprive them of their homes — these modern-day moguls make a mockery of free enterprise.

This is the largest bank heist we have ever witnessed in America.

Richard J. Steckel

Santa Barbara

Hiltzik gives the same old vilification against highly paid executives of publicly traded corporations while ignoring Hollywood’s top earners, as though they are exempt from the same accusation. Are Hollywood and the music industry off-limits?

Fred Reiner

Granada Hills

Bell’s fiasco is due to voter and community apathy. Officials there bypassed regulations by manipulation and then stole the money.

The CEO fraud is intentional. As Hiltzik notes, it keeps getting worse. Wall Street business leaders and Republicans even make the argument that if you capped CEO salaries, you wouldn’t be able to find good talent. It’s time to stop bashing immigrants, gays, unions and government workers. Let’s start bashing Wall Street and the CEOs.

Jay Slosar

Newport Beach

Is earning too much money a crime? If so, how much is too much?

While you’re at it, please explain why Ray Irani’s compensation is any of your business.

Also, please explain why you’re not upset about the much higher earnings of professional athletes. Is playing a great round of golf more valuable than running a multizillion-dollar company? Just wondering.

James B. Davis

Beverly Hills

Companies pay the going rate for talent. Companies can only choose from executives who are available, able and willing to do the job. Executives with the qualifications to run a billion-dollar company — even those who sometimes falter — are a rare breed, as are their salaries. Hiltzik’s argument against their salaries is nothing more than a trendy rant against free-market capitalism.

Michael Napoliello

Manhattan Beach

Though the heads of large companies may be overpaid in your personal view, their compensation is not illegal, is fully disclosed and is not even remotely comparable with what happened in Bell. If we try to control executive compensation, we will start down a very slippery slope to, say, controlling the salaries of athletes who are too lazy to be in shape for an upcoming season, and maybe even journalists’ pay.

Kevin M. Minihan

Los Angeles

Cruising on welfare

Re “California aid drawn out of state,” Oct. 4

I consider myself a liberal, and I’m always for helping the poor and unfortunate. But when those unfortunates are vacationing in Hawaii or Las Vegas, I don’t think they need our tax dollar help any longer.

Whose idea was it to cut 15 investigators from an anti-fraud unit in Orange County to save $900,000 but allow “an estimated $9.6 million in suspected fraud payments”?

The whole state welfare system needs to be completely revamped. California is circling the drain.

Marilee Anker

Chatsworth

The disclosure that $69 million of California’s welfare payments were cashed out of state highlights the scam that is going on across the country. Public aid is excessive and in many cases unnecessary. I don’t think it’s difficult to stop the scam. It just needs a politician willing to call out the people who are not disabled or infirm, and put a stop to it.

Mike Mannard

Chicago

What does The Times get out of vilifying the poor in Los Angeles?

If , as you wrote, out-of-state spending accounts for a tiny fraction “of the $10.8billion spent by welfare recipients during the period covered” and “advocates note that there are legitimate reasons to spend aid money outside of California,” doesn’t this indicate to you that this really isn’t much of a story?

The article goes on to say that “many recipients travel to other states in an emergency such as a death in the family.” So the total amount of fraud is not that significant.

Sounds like really big-time abuse. I wish all programs were that efficient.

James Province

Culver City

As a taxpayer in California, a state that is going broke, I was appalled to read about the blatant fraud being perpetrated by some welfare recipients.

There is a solution to this problem. Families with state-issued aid cards should not be given the option of discretionary spending.

This problem transcends the monetary. When people live on the public dole, it erodes personal incentive to work and attain the dignity and self-respect that comes with gainful employment.

Kathy Fisher

West Los Angeles

My blood pressure just went sky high when reading the article; the audacity of some people.

I realize that all people on welfare aren’t scamming the system, but clearly there is a percentage who are.

It may be an invasion of privacy, but to protect those who truly need the money and to catch those taking vacations or cruises, there needs to be better oversight.

I work a 60-hour week and badly need a vacation, but I can’t afford to take one.

Gail Marshall

Anaheim Hills