Why couldn’t city detect fraud?

Reading the Oct. 16 article “Warning signs within the numbers” left me angry with the City Council and the city manager.

Who is guarding the hen house? Our city officials have a responsibility to safeguard our city’s assets. Who else can do it?

I am very upset that this kind of fraud was able to be perpetrated on our city without city officials auditing these projects to protect our city finances. The signs were there.

So, what are they going to do to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future? I want some answers from them.

Larry Cohen

Glendale

Editorial board overlooks contract’s flexibility

Regarding the Oct. 16 editorial “Not a good time to renegotiate,” the Glendale News-Press advises the Glendale Unified School District and the teachers union “to sit on their hands” for a few months before going back to the negotiation table.

After lamenting the recent protracted negotiations over the current three-year agreement, the News-Press says that it is a “head-scratcher” that the two sides would agree to reenter negotiations.

Nowhere in the editorial does the News-Press state that the recently signed agreement contains language that if state funding to the school district either increases or decreases by more than $50 per student, then both sides would have to meet again to renegotiate parts of the contract.

Such language seems prudent for both sides — for Glendale Unified officials who don’t want to commit to expenditures that won’t be adequately funded by the state, and for the teachers union, which justifiably shouldn’t make unnecessary salary and/or health benefit concessions if state funding levels increase.

Flexibility in these uncertain economic times seems a wise choice to me. The current contract between the Glendale Unified School District and the teachers union provides such flexibility, an important element of this agreement that the News-Press ignores in its editorial.

Chris Davis

Glendale

Editor’s note: David is a teacher at Clark Magnet High School.

Three cheaters, one front-page photo

Do you want to know what is wrong with America? Just take a look at the Saturday edition of the LATEXTRA section of the Los Angeles Times.

Staring at you on the front page, a photo of two of our more infamous leaders. Gavin Newsom, who had an affair with his campaign manager’s wife, and President Clinton, who was impeached for having a tryst with an intern in the Oval Office and then lying about it. There they are, both out there, there is no accountability in America.

As for California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who is still running for some kind of office, there is only one thing to say, and that is “Rose Byrd.” Remember her? She was a gift from Brown who just will not go away!

Joseph Di Sante

Burbank