What to do with Dodger Stadium; Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for more budget cuts; Latin American leaders floating the idea of legalizing drugs

Stadium politics

Re “Chavez Ravine’s wealth of land in play,” April 17

In the 1960s, civics teachers (including me) had the duty of explaining the logic of redevelopment and the condemnation of private land for a “higher public use.” Fast-forward five decades and we find that the land taken from residents of Chavez Ravine before Dodger Stadium was built is now the plaything of developers who have billions to throw around.

How will today’s teachers explain this downward spiral? Whose “wealth of land” is in play?

Joseph A. Strapac

Bellflower

It’s time to raze our beloved Dodger Stadium. Although it is the most beautiful of ballparks, it is time for a new park with modern amenities and a future without outgoing team owner Frank McCourt. And the sooner the better.

My suggestion is to level the underused L.A. Memorial Sports Arena and build a new stadium on Figueroa Street, with easy access to mass transit and parking lots, and with revenue going anywhere but into McCourt’s wallet. Then let them build “Chavez City Walk” and mansions in Chavez Ravine.

It’s going to happen someday, regardless of what Dodgers fans desire. Let’s start the process today.

John Hatch

San Pedro

McCourt will still own a share of the parking lots around Dodger Stadium, land being touted as an excellent location for urban development. Can Angelenos envision the tearing down of Dodger Stadium and residential and retail complexes taking its place?

The sooner Dodger Stadium gets listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the better. Where do I sign the petition?

Wayne Muramatsu

Cerritos

Nothing manly about cuts

Re “Brown tells Legislature to ‘man up,’ ” April 14

Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for legislators to “man up” is really a call for a war on women, children and the elderly.

Is it manly to cut services that single working mothers need for child care, which enables them to stay off welfare and gives their children a chance to succeed in school? Is it manly to cut services for the disabled, who will become a burden to the economy in other ways while suffering? Is it manly to expect older people to live with fewer medical services?

The governor wants his legacy to be the high-speed train. I hope there’s a planned stop at the

poor house.

Louise Cunningham

Signal Hill

I couldn’t believe the comment by a spokesman for Assembly SpeakerJohn A. Perez(D-Los Angeles) on the governor’s proposed cuts, in which he said that the budget is a priority for “his term.” I’m sorry, but the state budget should be a priority for the Legislature and the people of California as a whole.

And as for waiting to get a “clear picture of exactly what we are facing” before taking action, as a spokeswoman for Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said, you’d think that the multiple years of this mess would make it pretty clear what the issues are.

We have waited long enough. I agree with the governor: It’s time for our legislators to man up and get the job done.

Douglas Amdur

Long Beach

Drugs and the cost of war

Re “A drug war peace treaty?,” Editorial, April 15

There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and full legalization. Switzerland’s program of controlling heroin distribution has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. The success of the Swiss program has inspired pilot projects in several other countries.

If expanded, heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and sold like alcohol, only without the advertising. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with much harder drugs. This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly.

Robert Sharpe

Washington

The writer is a policy analyst at Common Sense for Drug Policy.

Thank you for pointing out the destruction attributable to the never-ending U.S.-led war on drugs. With about 50,000 dead in Mexico alone, the use of the word “war” is clearly not just metaphorical.

What is missing in the editorial is the war that has been waged against our own citizens of color. It is well established that marijuana use is pretty equal across race lines, yet African Americans are arrested at much higher rates for marijuana-related crimes.

Surely a first step in addressing this issue must be to acknowledge that this war has gone terribly wrong, has caused unspeakable damage both at home and abroad, and that we have absolutely nothing even approaching a victory to show for it.

Laurel Gord

Venice

Exceptionalism

Re “A patriotic war of words breaks out,” April 15

The real problem with the phrase “American exceptionalism” is that invoking it stifles real debate on issues, both good and bad. If “American exceptionalism” were replaced by “America’s exceptional ideals” and everyone strove to achieve those ideals, then the United States and the rest of the world would be much better off.

It would then be possible to have a debate on whether these ideals are being met, without one side or the other being accused of being un-American. It would then be possible to work with other countries to spread those ideals without the baggage that “exceptionalism” brings.

Laurie Pane

Burbank

Healthcare crisis

Re “Healthcare reform is about real lives, not just politics,” Column, April 13

I am a dual French American citizen who is considering settling in the United States for the long term. But I have to pause and seriously take stock of this country I am considering spending the rest of my life in. Will it look out for me?

My best friend, a 29-year-old ray of sunshine, died on March 5 after a three-year dance with brain cancer. In order to stay covered by her life-saving UCLA health insurance, she had to stay enrolled in classes every single quarter of her treatment, including chemotherapy and multiple surgeries. She was heroic.

If we reject healthcare reform, I sincerely believe we will have failed in some way as a nation.

Violetta Zein

Altadena

Dead wrong

Re “Death renews debate on oil industry,” April 15

This is truly unbelievable. An employee of Chevron got boiled alive on the job, and Chevron was fined $350 by the state. And Chevron has appealed the citation. What’s more baffling is that the victim’s family isn’t allowed to sue Chevron, so the family is suing a contractor instead.

Why do people hate oil companies? Let me tell you the ways.

Stanley Miller

Mission Viejo

Still a hero

Re “Newark mayor is called a ‘hero,’ ” April 14

Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J., says he is not a hero and that he felt fear, not bravery, when he saved a woman from her burning home.

In the book “Grooks 2,” Piet Hein writes: “To be brave is to behave/ bravely when your heart is faint./ So you can be really brave/ only when you really ain’t.”

Evelyn De Poister

Santa Monica