A favor by L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca for a political donor; Jerry Brown vs. Meg Whitman; George Skelton on Proposition 19

The personal touch

Re “Sheriff’s favor not a policy violation,” Oct. 26

I’m not sure which is more appalling: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca’s unethical use of the department to further the private interests of a major donor, or the cynical endorsement of the sheriff’s conduct by Michael Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review, who said that because “we live in an unequal society,” such blatant favoritism is acceptable.

It’s infuriating to discover that anyone wealthy enough to benefit the sheriff’s personal interests has thereby also purchased, on demand, the services of the department. But it’s absolutely horrifying to realize that anyone in Los Angeles County could become the target of such an official witch hunt should he or she thwart the interests of a donor favored by Baca.

To paraphrase “Animal Farm,” it appears that, in the world of Baca and Gennaco, “some citizens are more equal than others,” which is the way they believe it should be.

Carolyn Magnuson

Lakewood

I’m retired from the Sheriff’s Department. In 1974, when the sheriff was Sherman Block, I worked patrol duties in West Hollywood. Whenever the burglar alarm was tripped at the Beverly Hills home of one particular actor, patrol deputies were dispatched to that location to investigate. Block and the actor were reportedly friends.

Because Beverly Hills had its own police department, we deputies speculated and groused about our mandated response to a sovereign jurisdiction, but did as we were told. I guess some things never change.

Stephen C. Lee

La Habra

Two candidates, one tough job

Re “Fortunes rose in Oakland” and “As CEO, she didn’t hear ‘no,’ ” Oct. 23

To suggest that Jerry Brown was thinking of his political future when he was allowing Oakland police and other city employees to earn extra money through overtime seems a little far-fetched, considering he had already been governor. What future? Was it the White House that all those city employees were going to help him win someday?

Brown is not promising the police unions special treatment now, so the comments by his staff about Meg Whitman’s willingness to do so may have been true, even if the word used was unfortunate.

Robert Von Bargen

Santa Monica

From reading your profiles on Whitman and Brown, the contrasts between the candidates could not be more clear.

One is a career politician whose stint as mayor of Oakland saw public employees enriched year after year. The other is a no-nonsense achiever who through savvy tenacity forged a highly successful company.

I am now left with the challenge of deciphering the logic behind The Times’ endorsement of Brown as the best candidate to solve California’s problems.

John Dowell

Northridge

The attacks and counterattacks get dirtier. Whitman accuses Brown of spreading lies, and Brown says that Whitman has a problem with the truth.

Looks like California will have a liar as its next governor.

Each candidate claims to have the solution for creating jobs, fixing education and balancing the budget. But how will they achieve these stated goals? Intention does not necessarily translate to action, and action does not guarantee desired results.

Teresa C. Yu

Rancho Palos Verdes

Not very high on this column

Re “A bad law is like bad pot,” Column, Oct. 25

George Skelton describes pot as so bad that we must sacrifice our personal freedom to prevent its widespread use. Skelton must have been secluded in Sacramento the last 30 or 40 years.

Pot use is as widespread as donuts and colas, and yet he compares pot use to alcohol use instead. Abuse of any of these substances is not good, but do we make them illegal?

Skelton’s arguments are weak, but none is as insidious as, “Fewer than 1% of inmates in state prison have been sentenced for marijuana crimes of any kind,” meaning that roughly 1,700 people are in our prisons (at about $50,000 each a year) for what should not be a crime at all. We cannot expect our young people to have faith in our laws when we continue to overstate the dangers of marijuana.

William Bergmann

Hollywood

Has Skelton toked his way to his senses on Proposition 19?

He adroitly points out that passage of Proposition 19 would create more chaos for California, much like his Austin Healey 3000 roadster speeding down the freeway at 90 miles an hour. Voters must put the brakes on Proposition 19.

Rob Buckel

Riverside

Re “Many effects of a pot law are unknown,” Oct. 25

Unfounded scare tactics have supported the continued prohibition of pot for 73 years. Now the prohibitionists are hard-pressed to invent something new about the evils of pot itself, so they allege that Proposition 19 “is a jumbled legal nightmare” that will lead to stoned nurses in hospitals, drugged motorists and more high teenagers.

In reality, model legislation for cities and counties will follow, as will state regulations. Workplace rules will not change, and there is evidence that the use of marijuana will not increase.

However, if we don’t pass Proposition 19, pot will still be available to children and the unprecedented crime and violence by cartels and street gangs will continue unabated.

Stephen Downing

Palm Desert

The writer is a retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief.

Figuring it out

Re “California unfriendly to business? Figures say no,” Oct. 24

There are many important aspects that contribute to a state being business friendly. Consider infrastructure (ours is crumbling), workforce (public education rated near the bottom in the country), cost of living (nearly the highest in the U.S.), transportation (can you say congestion?), high input cost (and going higher every day), good government (yeah, right) and personal income and sales tax rates. Probably our biggest problem is excessive and ever-increasing regulations.

The most recent “Top States for Business” survey by CNBC has us ranked 48th in the cost of doing business and 49th in business friendliness. States ranked high in the study have far-below-average unemployment rates, while we have the third highest in the nation.

Ronald B. Nelson

Temecula

Bottom line

Re “BofA faces one of its worst nightmares — reasonable fees,” Business, Oct. 22

Am I the only one who remembers when ATMs first came out? The banks sold them to a reluctant public by saying they would save the banks and therefore their customers money by allowing the banks to reduce staffing. If people used ATMs, banks would need fewer tellers.

Whatever happened to those savings?

Mark Temple

Huntington Beach

Too much buzz

Re “Claims for Volt fire up critics,” Business, Oct. 24

The deceptive hype surrounding plug-in electric vehicles is irritating. Well-meaning consumers may buy these vehicles believing they are helping the environment and maybe even saving some money in the long run. But these cars are not environmentally friendly.

The vast majority of electricity in the U.S. is generated by burning fossil fuels. This will not change for decades. It’s hard to see how the environment is helped by cars powered by coal.

John Ovnick

Chatsworth