Mr Kaplan

Mr. Kaplan strays far from his area of expertise when he chastises Mr. Reagan for not orienting eight years of decision-making as President around Mr. Kaplan's pet projects. Mr. Kaplan holds Mr. Reagan singularly accountable for the budget deficits, while simultaneously chastising him for seeking to cut $100 million from the Los Angeles Metro Rail project, clearly one of the biggest boondogles ever to come down the pike. You can't have it both ways, Mr. Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan seeks to lay the blame for every ill of Los Angeles and of society in general at the feet of Mr. Reagan.

Re "Behavioral Health Director Put on Leave," Feb. 4. Stephen Kaplan, the director of behavioral health for Ventura County, is one of the finest mental health professionals and administrators I have known in my 25 years in the field. To see him made a scapegoat by Supervisor Frank Schillo and Pierre Durand is heartbreaking. Other mental health staff feel the same but cannot speak out because they fear the same thing might happen to them. There are two or more sides to this issue and the public, through the press, is only getting one. The same applies to Supervisor Susan Lacey, always an advocate for the best possible treatment for the mentally ill. The merger was an honest attempt to provide better treatment for those with major mental illness and / or chemical dependency.

I am writing in response to Sam Hall Kaplan's column, "Hope for Local Planning Boards," (Nov. 23), in which he refers to "civil serpents," presumably the employees of the Los Angeles City Planning Department. I find it appalling that a newspaper of your caliber would allow such a grossly insulting comment to be published, and I believe that an apology is owed to the department staff by Mr. Kaplan and by yourself. At the very time when dialogue and shared opinions are most needed if we are to formulate a plan for the future that responds to the needs and concerns of our entire community, Mr. Kaplan appears bent on promoting confrontation.

Sam Hall Kaplan's column, "Closing a Decade of Design, Some Hits and Misses" (Dec. 31), strikes me as shallow and confused. I agree with Mr. Kaplan that the last decade has seen a rising design consciousness, but I feel that the '80s saw a new richness and variety, not a worsening, in the built environment. As design partner at Albert C. Martin & Associates, the architectural firm that designed the new Home Savings Tower, I disagree with Mr. Kaplan's brief appraisal. However, what I find much more disturbing than a negative remark about our firm's work is Mr. Kaplan's glib and shorthand approach to 10 very important years in Los Angeles' architectural development.

I was angered when I read one reader's attack (March 22) on Sam Hall Kaplan for his March 1 article, "Viewing Downtown in Wheelchair." No, Mr. Kaplan was not being "mushy and condescending." He was referring to a very real problem for thousands of people in Los Angeles alone. The barriers Mr. Kaplan referred to prevent many of us from fully participating in our responsibilities, rights and freedoms as citizens. The reader who attacked Mr. Kaplan was upset by the Title 24 "Disabled Access Regulations," saying they "lack a strong sense of common sense."

I couldn't help but chuckle after reading the column by Sam Hall Kaplan (April 17) regarding his neighborhood travails. Welcome to the real world of selfishness Mr. Kaplan, as exhibited by the Montana Avenue Task Force. Where have you been all these years? As long as someone else's ox is being gored, it's OK. As soon as the social engineers take over, you have this chaos and irresponsible, unthinking acts. Yes, Mr. Kaplan, the patients have taken over the insane asylum. JERRY MONKARSH Santa Monica

Sam Hall Kaplan's column, "Closing a Decade of Design, Some Hits and Misses" (Dec. 31), strikes me as shallow and confused. I agree with Mr. Kaplan that the last decade has seen a rising design consciousness, but I feel that the '80s saw a new richness and variety, not a worsening, in the built environment. As design partner at Albert C. Martin & Associates, the architectural firm that designed the new Home Savings Tower, I disagree with Mr. Kaplan's brief appraisal. However, what I find much more disturbing than a negative remark about our firm's work is Mr. Kaplan's glib and shorthand approach to 10 very important years in Los Angeles' architectural development.

Sam Hall Kaplan's impression of British architecture is misguided. It was not American influence but a European one that gave London much of its present architecture. The National Westminster Tower (Richard Seifert, c.1980), the London Hilton (Lewis Solomon, 1961) and any number of other tower blocks, such as the eponymous London Wall (L.C.C. Architects, 1955, etc.) owe their development to the influence of the German architect Mies van der Rohe, who designed similar tower blocks as early as 1922, long before he moved to the United States.

This is in response to Sam Hall Kaplan's "Citizens Want a Hand in Zoning" (April 6). In case Mr. Kaplan is unaware, urban planners throughout history have been among the leaders in actively promoting better cities and the environment, regardless of the propensity to be criticized and admonished for all the ills of civilization, including being dismissed from employment. The history of our cities is filled with cases of planners, once they have expressed their concerns for sensitive community issues, seeking other employment.

As members of the faculty of USC Planning School's graduate program in real estate development, we share Sam Hall Kaplan's concern about student awareness and sensitivity toward design. But we feel that he was unduly severe on students who, after all, have come to the program to learn. The design curriculum consists of four parts: 1--How to think in three dimensions. 2--How to understand and visualize architectural and engineering drawings. 3--How to approach design issues with a critical eye, based on an in-depth understanding of why certain buildings and spaces are acclaimed by architects and developers.

In your article on the Hollywood sign trust fund (Times, Dec. 28), Larry Kaplan, the Hollywood chamber executive director, stated in defense of the chamber's unwillingness to share in the management of the trust, "The thing people should remember is that if it weren't for this organization, that sign would still say 'Holywod,' if it even existed at all." That, Mr. Kaplan, is exactly the point. The chamber, with approval from the Department of Parks and Recreation, rebuilt the sign in our back yard without any discussion with our community and then proceeded to leave us with all the problems resulting.

Sam Hall Kaplan's Aug. 13 commentary on completing the Long Beach Freeway is replete with errors of fact. Examples include: -- Stating that the project cost will be $1 billion when a simple comparison with the more complex Century Freeway project indicates a $100-million/mile cost, or $400 million to $500 million for this project, the amount shown in the most current Caltrans estimate. -- Significant misquoting of a recent SCAG report, which in contrast to Mr. Kaplan's commentary, states that local residents will experience significant traffic reduction on parallel north-south arterials and a regional benefit will occur by the use of a regional facility as opposed to local streets.

Mr. Kaplan strays far from his area of expertise when he chastises Mr. Reagan for not orienting eight years of decision-making as President around Mr. Kaplan's pet projects. Mr. Kaplan holds Mr. Reagan singularly accountable for the budget deficits, while simultaneously chastising him for seeking to cut $100 million from the Los Angeles Metro Rail project, clearly one of the biggest boondogles ever to come down the pike. You can't have it both ways, Mr. Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan seeks to lay the blame for every ill of Los Angeles and of society in general at the feet of Mr. Reagan.

I couldn't help but chuckle after reading the column by Sam Hall Kaplan (April 17) regarding his neighborhood travails. Welcome to the real world of selfishness Mr. Kaplan, as exhibited by the Montana Avenue Task Force. Where have you been all these years? As long as someone else's ox is being gored, it's OK. As soon as the social engineers take over, you have this chaos and irresponsible, unthinking acts. Yes, Mr. Kaplan, the patients have taken over the insane asylum. JERRY MONKARSH Santa Monica

Sam Hall Kaplan detailed (April 17) his unhappy experience with the growing vocal groups that now appear to control many homeowners' associations in our city. Hopefully, Mr. Kaplan will now understand why those of us who try to take a broad-based approach to the good and welfare of our entire city are concerned about the concept of placing control of our city's future in the hands of neighborhood groups. There are many of us who are just as concerned about traffic, environment and overdevelopment as are these "don't change anything" groups.

Sam Hall Kaplan's impression of British architecture is misguided. It was not American influence but a European one that gave London much of its present architecture. The National Westminster Tower (Richard Seifert, c.1980), the London Hilton (Lewis Solomon, 1961) and any number of other tower blocks, such as the eponymous London Wall (L.C.C. Architects, 1955, etc.) owe their development to the influence of the German architect Mies van der Rohe, who designed similar tower blocks as early as 1922, long before he moved to the United States.

Re "Behavioral Health Director Put on Leave," Feb. 4. Stephen Kaplan, the director of behavioral health for Ventura County, is one of the finest mental health professionals and administrators I have known in my 25 years in the field. To see him made a scapegoat by Supervisor Frank Schillo and Pierre Durand is heartbreaking. Other mental health staff feel the same but cannot speak out because they fear the same thing might happen to them. There are two or more sides to this issue and the public, through the press, is only getting one. The same applies to Supervisor Susan Lacey, always an advocate for the best possible treatment for the mentally ill. The merger was an honest attempt to provide better treatment for those with major mental illness and / or chemical dependency.

Sam Hall Kaplan's Aug. 13 commentary on completing the Long Beach Freeway is replete with errors of fact. Examples include: -- Stating that the project cost will be $1 billion when a simple comparison with the more complex Century Freeway project indicates a $100-million/mile cost, or $400 million to $500 million for this project, the amount shown in the most current Caltrans estimate. -- Significant misquoting of a recent SCAG report, which in contrast to Mr. Kaplan's commentary, states that local residents will experience significant traffic reduction on parallel north-south arterials and a regional benefit will occur by the use of a regional facility as opposed to local streets.

Sam Hall Kaplan's comments (Oct. 18) regarding the Mulholland Scenic Parkway and the "shortsighted greed" of the residents are ignorant and insulting. If Mr. Kaplan had bothered to attend any of the meetings he would have heard residents speak emotionally about all the problems as a result of just a few overlooks that exist now. Tons of garbage, graffiti, drugs, noise into early hours of the morning, property destruction, etc. He would have heard people who moved to Mulholland because of a love of scenic beauty, animals and privacy oppose being told how high they can build, how much they can expand, what color they have to paint their homes, and other limitations that deprive people of basic rights of freedom.

I was angered when I read one reader's attack (March 22) on Sam Hall Kaplan for his March 1 article, "Viewing Downtown in Wheelchair." No, Mr. Kaplan was not being "mushy and condescending." He was referring to a very real problem for thousands of people in Los Angeles alone. The barriers Mr. Kaplan referred to prevent many of us from fully participating in our responsibilities, rights and freedoms as citizens. The reader who attacked Mr. Kaplan was upset by the Title 24 "Disabled Access Regulations," saying they "lack a strong sense of common sense."