Rebuttal on Canyon Fight

I am dismayed by two letters you have published which contain false information and inflammatory charges relative to the meeting of the Encino Hillside Traffic Organization on Aug. 17 where Councilman Marvin Braude was the featured speaker. The letters were from two members of the Friends of the Caballero Canyon.

The purpose of the meeting was to address the serious traffic problems on the hillside streets of Encino which pose threats to public safety and to hold Councilman Braude to a long-standing commitment to remedy this problem by a paved connection of Reseda Boulevard to Mulholland Drive and the paving of Mulholland Drive from Reseda Boulevard to Encino Hill Drive.

I take issue with the statements that “Only Encino residents were allowed in. Tarzana residents were excluded” and “a whole community was systematically excluded from their right to hear their elected official speak. . . .”

The auditorium was filled to capacity with residents from Encino, Tarzana and other locations. Locked out were people from Encino, Tarzana and elsewhere. Many residents of Encino left because of the violence displayed by the Friends of the Caballero Canyon.

I personally set up the public address system, so I know provisions were made for all who were unable to enter to auditorium to hear the proceedings from the outside.

BOB DESMOND

Encino