To the editor: As for the massive problems at Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park and the neighborhood surrounding it, the last thing the city needs to do is spend a single cent on redesigning that park during this crisis. (“At MacArthur Park, the Lights Go Out and Residents Are Tired of Empty Promises,” Sept. 14 column)
I learned a long time ago, during my training in landscape architecture, a truth that still holds true today: you cannot solve a social problem with an architectural design.
Clean up that park. Fix the damn lighting. Get people into drug rehab if you want to. Get people into housing. Do something. Do anything.
And to do that, they need money from the Los Angeles Police Department's absurdly inflated budget. The department is bleeding the coffers of this city dry while Los Angeles falls apart and people suffer and die.
Mickey Fielding, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Steve Lopez hits the nail on the head with what is systematically wrong with Los Angeles County and city government. The lack of response from local officials and bureaucrats continues, with only a few exceptions.
Los Angeles cannot recover from the current state of despair and decay on our streets unless all city and county leaders begin to do their jobs.
As for the broken lighting around MacArthur Park, at least someone says, “Let there be light.”
Mark Silverman, Marina del Rey
