Missteps by the L.A. County Memorial Coliseum Commission; Norman Lear on fighting the good fight; The Times’ 2012 wish list

A stadium sellout

Re “Tracing Coliseum’s fiscal decay,” Dec. 31, 2011

If Californians ever needed further evidence that politicians should never be entrusted with money or assets, the stories about the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission are it.

Members of the commission, two-thirds of whom are already on the public payroll, had trouble making just one meeting a month. It follows that they failed to notice business practices that let employees dig freely into the Coliseum cookie jar, while commissioners were feted with nice dinners and free tickets.

In exchange, they lavished $125,000 annual bonuses on the Coliseum’s general manager but now say that staff violated some honor system. There actually was such a system in place: honor among thieves.

Gary R. Albin

Long Beach

The last sentence of the article, a quote by commission member Mark Ridley-Thomas, reads, “The ultimate responsibility rests with the commission.”

No, the ultimate responsibility rests with the people who elected those members appointed to the commission. Those members don’t care about the people, just their own perks. Until the voters start caring, the same officials will continue to let us down.

Robert Rosenthal

Studio City

Re “It’s still our Coliseum,” Editorial, Dec. 28, 2011

I agree with your position that the public should be kept informed as lease negotiations continue between the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and USC.

You are right to question the negotiating abilities of the Coliseum Commission, a group that started by putting the stadium on the bargaining table and, without much discussion, added the Sports Arena in a brilliant strategy to negotiate against — its own interests? Good old Jack showed more savvy when he traded the prized family cow for those alluring “magic beans.”

The commission has gone into its own clumsy version of the “hurry-up offense,” bypassing public hearings, an independent financial analysis determining the value of property and a process that would actually allow it to get compensation in the deal from the highest bidder — instead of the non-monetary good intentions that USC is offering.

Bernard C. Parks

Los Angeles

The writer, a Los Angeles city councilman, is a member of the Coliseum Commission.

Answering the call

Re “The good fight,” Opinion, Dec. 30, 2011

Norman Lear is dead right. However each of us are able to express our support for the Occupy movement and its demands for returning stability and fair compensation to America’s middle class, we should do so and do it soon.

If we go through another election season and do not speak out against the devastation of the progressive income tax system to the benefit of the richest, the future looks bleak for the American dream of a decent job, education for our kids and at least a shot at uplifting our expectations for a better life for all.

I’m too old to sit on cold concrete or live in a tent, but I can vote my heart, and I will.

Gloria J. Richards

Simi Valley

Television producer and writer Lear urges good Americans not to “blame gays, liberals, unions, immigrants or feminists for your family’s struggles, for shrinking economic opportunity, for foreclosures and disappearing wages and benefits.”

Thanks for running interference for those liberals, unions and illegal immigrants, Mr. Lear. Hooray for Hollywood!

Bill Gravlin

Rancho Palos Verdes

A few more wishes for 2012

Re “A wish list for 2012,” Editorial, Jan. 1

I was surprised to see that reforming California’s public employee pension system did not make your cut.

The Times ran several excellent articles in 2011 regarding abuses such as pension “spiking,” and it also reported on Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed reforms.

If we do not find a way to control these expenses, the California taxpayer can look forward to increasing deficits coupled with more reductions in services and funding for education.

Steve Beal

Santa Barbara

Please add one more to your 2012 wish list: for the ruling body to stop the abusive application of the “state secrets privilege” and related policies.

Richard Franklin

Santa Clarita

Who except sports sections and local bigwigs cares about having a pro football team in L.A.?

How about a new owner for the Dodgers who really cares about the team and its many fans over the years.

Paul L. Hovsepian

Sierra Madre

Toll road divides the O.C.

Re “A long and winding toll road,” Editorial, Dec. 29, 2011

As a resident of Carlsbad who often commutes to and from Orange County, I was thrilled to see plans moving forward to build the Foothill-South toll road in south Orange County.

This misguided editorial, and planners of a major Orange County development who say the toll road isn’t needed, ignore the ticking traffic time bomb of future development.

Think about the future gridlock on neighborhood streets when this development adds 14,000 homes.

Without the toll road, we will face daily traffic disasters in inland Orange County. We already face significant congestion through San Clemente on a daily basis.

Build the toll road and our lives will be made much easier in trying to get to jobs, schools or any destination in Orange, San Diego, Riverside or L.A. counties.

Nancy McLennan

Carlsbad

Congratulations to The Times for its continuing focus on this white elephant. The toll road has already been rejected by state and federal agencies after sustained opposition from a broad coalition of interests.

There are better ways to manage traffic in the region, and Rancho Mission Viejo developers understand this.

If left to its own devices, the myopic Transportation Corridor Agencies will continue racking up more debt while Orange County commuters, unable to afford the tolls, see no meaningful traffic relief.

The TCA’s latest “idea” — to build the first four miles of the already rejected toll road and deal with the rest later — is a poison pill for San Juan Capistrano, where the segment would dump its traffic.

If, as the TCA has stated, there is more to the project than this segment, it must be required to identify all of it before seeking approval to build any of it.

Joel Reynolds

Santa Monica

The writer is senior attorney and director of the Southern California program of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Future shock

Re “Circling a fate on the calendar,” Jan. 1

The Maya practiced human sacrifice. They didn’t invent the wheel. They could not predict the collapse of their own civilization right before it did just that.

Why would anyone think they could predict the end of the world 5,100 years in advance?

Alan Woodson

Mission Viejo

Another solution

Re “Starting over, with help,” Column One, Dec. 31

In The Times’ story, Michelle Mitchell comes off as a hero for giving up crack and prostitution.

I am glad she is no longer an addict. However, there is no mention of the emotional and financial cost of caring for six children.

In our great country of caring and compassion, why do we not distribute birth control for free?

Sandra Savett

Santa Monica