Letters to the Editor: Mailbag: Ban or place greater restrictions on shared electric scooters

Shared electric scooters, which can be rented/unlocked via a smartphone app, were photographed in February piled on a Los Angeles sidewalk. A reader calls for them to either be banned entirely or have greater restrictions put on them within Burbank city limits.

March 14, 2019 2:50 PM PT

Burbank should ban rental scooters or at least put restrictions on them.

The shared electric scooters are dangerous and do not have many safety rules put fully into place. There is nothing to stop youths from hopping on one of these scooters and going 15 mph or more without a helmet.

Also, the scooters do not have bright colors or reflectors so that cars can see them easily at night.

Another reason we should get rid of the scooters is because they are being left all over cities and are blocking driveways, sidewalks and public entrances. They are becoming a problem, especially for people in wheelchairs who can’t get past these scooters because the pathway is blocked.

Emilio Martin Del Campo

Burbank

Either the city of Burbank is for the landlords or they are for the tenants.

In Los Angeles County I have found a few landlords who care and respect their tenants. More often, that’s not the case.

We need rent control and protection for thousands of tenants within Burbank’s city limits.

Landlords can charge outrageously high rents, fail to properly maintain their properties, blame tenants for wear and tear, evict at their discretion, enter units illegally and with little or no recourse for the tenants.

Typically, new tenants are given a one-year lease. Unfortunately, landlords are not required to point out problems in the building and on the block.

I have attended the Burbank Landlord-Tenant Commission meetings off and on for decades. Renters have come in with horror stories, and I have never seen anyone helped. I have experienced no help with the Housing Authority.

Then there is the Burbank smoking ordinance. In my experience, it hasn’t been enforced.

“Don’t like it? Move.”

Really? Where is it better?

We need rent control and protection for thousands of tenants. Obviously, the city of Burbank is for the landlords.

Kudos to Glendale’s grassroots tenant association and their efforts to help residents.

Jane Harrison

Burbank

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On a recent Wednesday we received 10 robocalls at our home, most of them with no one on the other end of the line.

I would like our representative in Congress, Rep. Adam Schiff, to stop wasting my tax dollars on his war on the Trump administration and do something about robo calls that benefits us all. Ten robocalls, starting at 8:06 in the morning!

Tim Elliott

Burbank