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MAILBAG
Curious about when mini park will open
Just how long do the people of Adams Hill have to look at that eyesore of a chain-link fence that surrounds the mini park near Adams Square?
The park has apparently been finished for two months. What are they waiting for?
FRED MAGRIN
Adams Hill
Male victims ought to be counted, too
The From the Margins column, “Domestic violence breeds victims,” on Saturday began by saying, “One in three women has been a victim of domestic violence, according to the YWCA.” Why wasn’t the YWCA fair enough to include male victims? I’m sure they would include both men and women if talking about firefighters, who are mostly male. That was unfair to male victims.
Harvard Medical School just announced a study showing half of heterosexual domestic violence is reciprocal and women initiate most reciprocal and non-reciprocal violence.
Men are less likely to report it, which makes crime data unreliable; but sociological data consistently shows women initiate domestic violence as often as men and that men suffer one-third of the injuries, as Cal State University professor Martin Fiebert shows in an online bibliography.
For decades, feminists have covered up and downplayed male victims for political reasons, leaving them with no outreach, few services and major social stigmas. So men just take it in silence while their children suffer long-term damage by the exposure. This hidden problem is so serious that a global coalition of concerned experts has formed to combat it.
MARC E. ANGELUCCI
Eagle Rock
‘Bait and switch’ shows lack of sense
Unethical corporations use the tactic of bait and switch on a regular basis. It is unlawful, but it is not uncommon in the business world. Bait and switch is used to catch the unwary and gain unwarranted profit.
Why the city of Glendale has to resort to such tactics is dismaying. The Collards were caught in this scheme (“Pruning leaves a fine mess,” Oct. 19). Here you have the Fire Department going around the city issuing notices that trees must be trimmed for fire purposes or else there will be severe consequences.
The unwary homeowners receiving the citations take the bait and do as instructed. Then comes the code enforcement with the switch. The switch is, the trees are protected and the compliance with a directive from the Fire Department is now a citation and an exorbitant fine. So now the Collards are left to twist in the wind while the famous five try to determine why lack of communication between departments and common sense are in such short supply at City Hall.
CAROLE WELING
Glendale
Owners also owe some accountability
I read Allen Brandstater’s letter with amusement (“Officials should ‘go climb a tree,’” Mailbag, Oct. 19). He states that the tree company assured the owners of the oak trees that they did not need a permit to prune.
He then faults the urban forester for doing her job.
I personally think a reputable company would check what laws apply to the trees they are cutting. After all, that is their business. Oak trees in California are monitored and regulated in many cities. If the owners knew of an ordinance, one phone call would have clarified it.
While I am surprised at the amount of the fine, I find it a bit fishy that everyone was completely ignorant beforehand.
If the tree company really did assure the owners, then they have to be accountable for the work they did.
MARY BALDWIN
Glendale
Overlay makes sense for area residents
I think that we should have an overlay area code with both 747 and 818 (“Options for areas codes reviewed,” Tuesday).
Most of us already dial 11 numbers to contact people in the 626, 213, 323 and the other area codes in Southern California.
It actually makes more sense to switch all of Southern California to 11-digit dialing.
DAVID L. ROSE
Glendale
Payroll costs and rate increases a bad mix
Hey, things are not so bad, you could live in Jamaica.
Their roads are awful and their culture of crime, well, it’s murderous.
It should give us solace, then, when our city staff members want to limit expenditures on our deteriorating infrastructure by pointing to Los Angeles and saying: “Look how much worse their roads are.” So compare we must.
When staff members suggest to the City Council to raise the fees for trash collection, or utility fees, they point to other cities and say: “We are so much cheaper than Pasadena, or Burbank or Timbuktu.”
Why is it that when cities compare costs, they don’t aim to compete with those cities whose costs are lower? It is only when you put these comparisons together that you get the theme: Spend less on infrastructure and more on payroll and pensions.
Or, alternatively, charge more to the taxpayer and get increases in salaries and pensions. If residents of other cities are paying more for services, it doesn’t mean that those higher costs are justified. Recent exposure by Los Angeles’ Oversight Committee of Neighborhood Councils showed the inefficiency and bureaucratic mess at the Los Angeles Department Water and Power. They found salaries 15% to 40% above compatible positions in city government.
To justify our rate increases based on comparisons to a city with a runaway bureaucratic mess is sheer folly.
To accept their deteriorating road conditions as a standard for neglecting ours is absurd logic.
HERBERT MOLANO
Tujunga
Just how long do the people of Adams Hill have to look at that eyesore of a chain-link fence that surrounds the mini park near Adams Square?
The park has apparently been finished for two months. What are they waiting for?
FRED MAGRIN
Adams Hill
Male victims ought to be counted, too
The From the Margins column, “Domestic violence breeds victims,” on Saturday began by saying, “One in three women has been a victim of domestic violence, according to the YWCA.” Why wasn’t the YWCA fair enough to include male victims? I’m sure they would include both men and women if talking about firefighters, who are mostly male. That was unfair to male victims.
Harvard Medical School just announced a study showing half of heterosexual domestic violence is reciprocal and women initiate most reciprocal and non-reciprocal violence.
Men are less likely to report it, which makes crime data unreliable; but sociological data consistently shows women initiate domestic violence as often as men and that men suffer one-third of the injuries, as Cal State University professor Martin Fiebert shows in an online bibliography.
For decades, feminists have covered up and downplayed male victims for political reasons, leaving them with no outreach, few services and major social stigmas. So men just take it in silence while their children suffer long-term damage by the exposure. This hidden problem is so serious that a global coalition of concerned experts has formed to combat it.
MARC E. ANGELUCCI
Eagle Rock
‘Bait and switch’ shows lack of sense
Unethical corporations use the tactic of bait and switch on a regular basis. It is unlawful, but it is not uncommon in the business world. Bait and switch is used to catch the unwary and gain unwarranted profit.
Why the city of Glendale has to resort to such tactics is dismaying. The Collards were caught in this scheme (“Pruning leaves a fine mess,” Oct. 19). Here you have the Fire Department going around the city issuing notices that trees must be trimmed for fire purposes or else there will be severe consequences.
The unwary homeowners receiving the citations take the bait and do as instructed. Then comes the code enforcement with the switch. The switch is, the trees are protected and the compliance with a directive from the Fire Department is now a citation and an exorbitant fine. So now the Collards are left to twist in the wind while the famous five try to determine why lack of communication between departments and common sense are in such short supply at City Hall.
CAROLE WELING
Glendale
Owners also owe some accountability
I read Allen Brandstater’s letter with amusement (“Officials should ‘go climb a tree,’” Mailbag, Oct. 19). He states that the tree company assured the owners of the oak trees that they did not need a permit to prune.
He then faults the urban forester for doing her job.
I personally think a reputable company would check what laws apply to the trees they are cutting. After all, that is their business. Oak trees in California are monitored and regulated in many cities. If the owners knew of an ordinance, one phone call would have clarified it.
While I am surprised at the amount of the fine, I find it a bit fishy that everyone was completely ignorant beforehand.
If the tree company really did assure the owners, then they have to be accountable for the work they did.
MARY BALDWIN
Glendale
Overlay makes sense for area residents
I think that we should have an overlay area code with both 747 and 818 (“Options for areas codes reviewed,” Tuesday).
Most of us already dial 11 numbers to contact people in the 626, 213, 323 and the other area codes in Southern California.
It actually makes more sense to switch all of Southern California to 11-digit dialing.
DAVID L. ROSE
Glendale
Payroll costs and rate increases a bad mix
Hey, things are not so bad, you could live in Jamaica.
Their roads are awful and their culture of crime, well, it’s murderous.
It should give us solace, then, when our city staff members want to limit expenditures on our deteriorating infrastructure by pointing to Los Angeles and saying: “Look how much worse their roads are.” So compare we must.
When staff members suggest to the City Council to raise the fees for trash collection, or utility fees, they point to other cities and say: “We are so much cheaper than Pasadena, or Burbank or Timbuktu.”
Why is it that when cities compare costs, they don’t aim to compete with those cities whose costs are lower? It is only when you put these comparisons together that you get the theme: Spend less on infrastructure and more on payroll and pensions.
Or, alternatively, charge more to the taxpayer and get increases in salaries and pensions. If residents of other cities are paying more for services, it doesn’t mean that those higher costs are justified. Recent exposure by Los Angeles’ Oversight Committee of Neighborhood Councils showed the inefficiency and bureaucratic mess at the Los Angeles Department Water and Power. They found salaries 15% to 40% above compatible positions in city government.
To justify our rate increases based on comparisons to a city with a runaway bureaucratic mess is sheer folly.
To accept their deteriorating road conditions as a standard for neglecting ours is absurd logic.
HERBERT MOLANO
Tujunga
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