Murder: Official Attention to Slaying

As mayor of Gardena, I want to vehemently protest your newspaper’s reference to the city of Gardena, which appeared on Sept. 8 in the South Bay section in the article “Reopening the Book on a Shocker.” The article, written by Jeff Kass, is about the book “In the Best of Families.” The book “recounts the grisly 1983 murder of the wife of Ronald Reagan’s personal attorney in Palos Verdes Estates.”

What does this have to do with Gardena? Absolutely nothing. That is, nothing until palos Verdes Estates Police Lt. Ed Jaakola is quoted as saying, “Suppose it had been a murder in Gardena. No one would have cared.”

Well, Gardena does care. Gardena is shocked at the reference by a police lieutenant that even suggests that there is any comparison from one city to another, based on wealth or fame, when a crime occurs, much less such a heinous murder as the one referenced. The statement is a personal affront to the citizens and dedicated police officers of Gardena. Using the quotation as a boldface headline to tease the reader’s interest is indefensible.

As mayor I speak for the citizens and dedicated employees of Gardena when I say Gardena deserves better; so does any city. Los Angeles Times staff should be censured for stooping to exploitative journalism that features one city’s newsworthiness at the expense of another. As for Lt. Jaakola, he should at least be reprimanded as an object lesson in poor public relations.

DONALD L. DEAR

Gardena

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I’m glad Lt. Ed Jaakola (“Reopening the Book on a Shocker,” South Bay section, Sept. 8) works in the rarefied atmosphere of Palos Verdes Estates instead of with the lesser mortals who live in Gardena. Believe me, Lt. Jaakola, if it had been “a murder in Gardena” we would have cared. Come join the rest of us down on Earth.

JOSEPHINE YOUNG

Gardena