Re “Defiant eateries a test of county powers,” Nov. 26

My extensive personal and professional experience leads me to conclude that those who cannot accept and follow the rules are not good businesspeople to begin with.

Further, if you have to cheat, that’s an additional sign of poor business skills (among other things). Cheaters may prosper, but not forever.

So, my kudos go to the Los Angeles County public health enforcement personnel and others who carry out our laws. Whether it’s taxes or regulations or other rules of society, if you can’t afford to run an establishment without being noncompliant, maybe you need to find another way to make a living.

Loren Mark Los Angeles

Reading your article on restaurants that defied L.A. County COVID-19 health rules, I kept looking for the logic in maintaining the state of emergency and why businesses could not even offer outdoor dining in the winter of 2020.

The article mentions no prior health infractions from the restaurants, only their valiant effort to financially survive the pandemic by providing a service for which their customers were willing to pay.

County health inspectors are supposed to catch what a customer cannot see, such as unsanitary conditions in the kitchen and improper food handling. After more than 18 months of “emergency” conditions, I trust consumers to know and weigh the risks of dining out.

Also, I commend the business owners’ attempts to keep their staff employed instead of sending their employees to collect government handouts.

Ryan Baum Davis, Calif.

Governments don’t have to be the bad guy for COVID-19 vaccine enforcement. It’s time to follow the money and have health insurance companies take action to control their costs for treating patients sickened by the virus.

Which will be the first health insurance company to put out a rule that says policyholders who qualify for COVID-19 vaccinations and refuse to get them must pay more for their insurance to cover treatment for possible illness?

If such a policy is enacted, I suspect a lot of holdouts will see vaccines in a different light. Alan Rosenberg

Dana Point