Bryant-Vanalden Mass Eviction

No one can accuse the L.A. City Council of being unduly sensitive to the needs of either tenants or minorities, but even so the decision of the council in the recent Bryant-Vanalden episode comes as a shock.

For those who missed The Times’ excellent article on the subject, what basically happened was this: The City Council voted to amend the rent control law to allow 3,000 mostly Hispanic tenants to be evicted from an apartment complex in a posh section of Northridge. The primary beneficiary, landlord Lance Robbins, is currently being prosecuted as a slumlord.

As if this wasn’t outrageous enough, the City Council is also considering a $40-million bond issue to enable the local landlords to refurbish the units after the tenants are forced to leave. Thus the taxpayers will be footing the bill for this operation.

The astonishing thing about the vote by the council is that several of the leading liberals and proponents of rent control on the body voted for it; among them were council members Yaroslavsky, Braude and Farrell. How any self-respecting liberal could support such flagrantly oppressive legislation is beyond comprehension.

Fortunately the people of Los Angeles have the opportunity to stop this gross misuse of our tax dollars. The City Council is trying to push this legislation through quickly, but it will take until late August for it to come up for final approval.

Give your council member a call and let them know how you feel!

MICHAEL W. FITZGERALD

Los Angeles