Riot Report

As a member of the Assembly Special Committee on the Los Angeles Crisis, I drew some different conclusions about the Los Angeles riots than those outlined in the committee’s report (Oct. 2). For me, the overriding lesson of the riots is that violence is wrong. And for me, the enduring lesson to be learned is that only good schools and safe streets are going to give the residents of riot-scarred communities an opportunity to build a better life.

So much needs to be done to remake Los Angeles, to offer hope and opportunity to those who endure crushing poverty. While I do not dispute that we need to make many of the changes recommended in the report, for example pension fund investment in riot-torn areas and tax incentives to put damaged businesses back on their feet, nothing will improve life in impoverished sections of Los Angeles until we create good jobs, improve our crippled public school system and make our streets safe for the people of the inner city where violence is a nightly tragedy.

TERRY B. FRIEDMAN

Assembly, D-Encino