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In certain cases where a letter could stand alone as an op-ed piece, we'll publish it as such.

This Week:

RE: WeHo News returns to publication after hiatus

Helaine Depp, West Hollywood

I just wanted to say WELCOME BACK!  I have been severely missing my WeHo News!

Hope you had a well-deserved rest.  Now don't leave again, dammit!  :-)

Your Loyal Fan

RE: WeHo News returns to publication after hiatus

Weston Harris, West Hollywood

Welcome back.  Soooo many times I've seen something around the city and thought "Oh, I hope that gets reported and spread around"  and then I remember that that isn't happening without you.

RE: WeHo News returns to publication after hiatus

Virginia Gillick, West Hollywood

So happy to see you back.  Bravo.

RE: Duran credit card case called weak

Paul Manchester , West Hollywood

Seems like a tempest in a tea pot.  While in principle it is a worthy thing to keep an eye on how public servants spend the public's money- this instance seems to be something closer to harassment than a worthy case to focus on. 

But perhaps when all is said and done, it will remind pubic servants to be more conscious of their spending when we are picking up the tab.  But it is wrong to be slinging mud when the charges are thrown into the press instead of the courtroom. 

Try the case, if you have a case.  Move on if you do not. 

RE: Fur Free WeHo Shop-in

Keith Kaplan, West Hollywood

I must admit, I was almost amused to read about the WeHo Shop In event scheduled by Ellen Lavinthal and her “Fur Free WeHo” co-horts.    

First, the list of stores is exceptionally short…a statement in itself. 

Second, the great majority have nothing to do with apparel, or, if they do sell apparel, they have never offered the level of fashion apparel where fur would even be a consideration (American Apparel, for example). 

Third, for the very few stores on the list that do sell apparel, it is summer, after all, and fur would not likely be a part of the merchandise mix at this time.  Remember, this is the same tactic used by Mr. D’Amico when he visited stores last May and claimed that several had agreed to pull fur from their shelves as support for the introduction of this ban. 

When fall season approached though, most of the stores Mr. D’Amico referenced had fur back in the mix as it was season-appropriate.  As an indication of this continued effort  to mislead I include herein several images from the Nicole Miller fall 2012 show.  Although they may not have fur in their store at present you can see that it is very much a part of her collection.

Finally, one has to question what can be “proven” from such an event.  How can there be any proof of “incremental” shopping specifically as a result of this effort?  Heck, I may just go buy some greeting cards, wine and perhaps an adult video for the 10% discount!

I trust the residents of West Hollywood as well as the members of our City Council will not be fooled by this ruse.  It is absurd.

RE: Metro bus driver killed in WeHo

Mark Haile, West Hollywood

This was the first fatal shooting out of this area, (since they changed their name from MTA to METRO), but there have been other fatalities involving drivers --the most recent one I can recall was in the late '90s on the number four bus in Santa Monica Blvd in Westwood or Beverly Hills involving a mentally ill person that set the bus on fire --the bus driver was able to save all of the passengers on board, but not able to escape the attacker.

The other incident I remember in some sketchy detail of was in Carson, on a late night 446 bus where no other passengers were on the bus. 

Assaults on buses are rare, but they do happen. I can hardly blame the public relations department of METRO for trying to put the crime in perspective given their total number of passenger miles per year. Hopefully the LA media won't let them sweep them entirely under the rug. 

RE: Assembly primary race

Ari Ruiz, Los Angeles

The candidate that says “I’m not politics as usual” plays politics as usual. Irony?

If it wasn’t enough for Assembly Candidate Torie Osborn to stuff the homes of AD50 residents with 16 pages of non-recyclable paper in one day. She has decided that her best chance to win this race is to attack Betsy Butler by calling her a Republican.

The same Betsy Butler who worked for President Bill Clinton. The same Betsy Butler who worked for Democratic Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy. The same Betsy Butler who is endorsed by the California Democratic Party and by the California League of Conservation Voters.

Torie Osborn then goes on to attack her record on funding Education. Betsy Butler was raised in a union household and understands the need to give kids the best opportunities possible in our schools.

Betsy’s mom worked for years for the California Teachers Association and instilled in Betsy from a young age that Education was the most important solution for most of the world’s problems. Betsy has been fighting for Education since then and that is why LAUSD School Board Member Marguerite LaMotte, Los Angeles Community College Board Trustees Miguel Santiago, Steve Veres & Scott Svonkin support Betsy in AD50.

Really Torie? Are we going to begin with the lies?

Attack piece 1A — Attack piece 1B — Attack Piece 1C

I’m offended that Torie has decided to lie about Betsy Butler, a progressive champion for the Democratic Party. Torie’s main argument is that she is “not politics as usual” and that she is “a new kind of leader”. But unfortunately, for Torie, negative campaigning is not new in politics.

The campaign mailer sent and paid for by her campaign has made Torie the first and ONLY candidate to go negative against progressive Democrat Betsy Butler. So far, Mayor Richard Bloom, Assemblywoman Betsy Butler and Brad Torgan have refused to go negative. 

Don’t be fooled by Torie Osborn on June 5. Betsy Butler is the only candidate endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party and by the Beach Cities Democratic Club. Betsy is the only one endorsed by the LA County Federation of Labor and by the Sierra Club. Don’t let Torie Osborn steal your vote like she stole the votes at the local Democratic Clubs.

This is not the first time Betsy has been attacked. When she first ran for Assembly in 2010, she was attacked by insurance companies. Now its Torie’s turn to attack Betsy. The negative campaign has begun brought and paid for by “Torie Osborn for Assembly 2012”.

You have the opportunity in Betsy Butler to re-elect a progressive champion to the State Assembly, I hope you do! www.betsybutler.com

RE: Hudson block party gets panned

Jeff Softley, West Hollywood

The WeHo City official(s) responsible for giving The Hudson the permit for this event need to be publicly named, punished and/or fired. The Hudson's location precludes it outright as a venue that can host anything more than a 25-person event.

This obvious fact should have stopped the permit application dead in its tracks right there. The Hudson doesn't even have parking for its customers.

It is located on a designated turn/merge lane on a very busy intersection and it was wholly inappropriate to take away that traffic lane even briefly. 

Further, these type of public rock/hip-hop/pop concerts are exactly the wrong type of event for West Hollywood.

They belong in one area of the City only - Sunset Blvd., which has a tradition of musical acts playing for the public (usually a paying public).

The gay festivals feature dance music and have large, designated space for that and run smoothly. Gay crowds know how to behave and have fun - straight crowds always bring more litter, crime, traffic accidents and violence. Always.

Outsiders view West Hollywood as a slightly exotic play area and do not respect it or its people - it is there for them to be used.

City officials need to stop chasing dollars by whoring out West Hollywood as a pay-to-play fun zone for outsiders, and those City officials who do need to be held accountable - named and pressured out of office or their City Hall jobs.