‘Re-people’ the LAPD, LAFD

Re “Public workers’ very public tantrum,” column, Nov. 14

After reading Gustavo Arellano’s column, two sayings I have tried to live by came to mind. They are, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” and, “When circumstances seem bad and unchangeable, the one thing you can change is your attitude.”

So what if these police officers and firefighters quit because they do not want to protect us from a deadly disease? Maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible.

Rather than defunding the police, we have a chance to re-people the police. Here is an unprecedented opportunity to rid ourselves of the “good old boys club” and the “them versus us” police culture so detrimental to honest, effective law enforcement.

As for firefighters, given the misogyny shown to women in the ranks, maybe that culture needs some new blood as well. There really isn’t room for misogynistic, racist attitudes among our public employees.

And, I kind of like lemonade.

Duane Fletcher Cardiff, Calif.

As a fully vaccinated reader who shares contempt for Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” I found Arellano’s column to be a divisively smug attack on city employees who oppose vaccine mandates.

Arellano failed to report on anything more than a quote from a colleague who talked to someone who claimed to be a firefighter at a rally against the city’s vaccine mandate. Arellano couldn’t even recall who gave him the book he used to diminish folks concerned about a new vaccine for a novel virus — a novel virus, mind you, that had just infected Mayor Eric Garcetti, in spite of the fact that he was fully vaccinated.

We live in the United States, a country that places great importance on freedom of choice and the right to express dissent. At the very minimum, Arellano and The Times can treat the public employees of this city with a little more dignity than reducing their concerns and right to protest to a “tantrum” on par with the plot of arguably one of the most overrated books of the 20th century. Matthew Sanders

Los Angeles

As a retired city employee who still lives in Los Angeles, I think there is no question that public workers have the right to refuse to get vaccinated. However, unvaccinated city employees do not have the right to put me at greater risk of catching a deadly disease.

Those who choose to exercise their right not to be vaccinated need to have the courage of their convictions and quietly accept dismissal from city employment.

Charles M. Weisenberg

Los Angeles