To the editor: I am so sad and angry that we’ve come to this.
One after another, businesses and dreamers who came to Los Angeles to build and create are giving up. In the past week alone, KB Homes announced its departure (“L.A.’s trailblazing home builder is the latest to leave California,” April 14), and now Clifton’s (“‘We’ve lost our way’: Clifton’s operator gives up on downtown Los Angeles,” April 18).
Wake up, City Hall! Empower and respect your agencies that enforce basic laws that keep our streets clean and safe.
We may still have a chance to live up to the promise of Los Angeles as a city of possibility.
Lily Lee, Highland Park
..
To the editor: California officials watch businesses leave the state — taking jobs with them — with scarcely a shrug of their shoulders. They seek new sources of funds, like the ill-conceived billionaire tax. Billionaires can leave, and many do.
The best source of revenue is the one you already have. The state needs an Office of Business Retention. I have suggested this to state officials (including our lieutenant governor) numerous times. Not one acknowledgment, let alone actions to this effect.
Douglas Hileman, Valley Glen