GREASE IS THE WORD
Can Long Beach actually function without its cronyism [Dave Wielenga’s “All Pook’d Out,” April 23]? Can we put the best interests of the city first, over greasing a few “well-connected”? Maybe we can aim to achieve something great instead of falling for anything and everything! Keep up the great reporting. Don’t let them get away with it any longer.

RKJ
Via thedistrictweekly.com

Dave Wielenga, you carry two opposite titles: Luke Skywalker for the true Long Beach advocates, and Darth Vader to the establishment at City Hall. Keep up the great work.

JUAN
Via thedistrictweekly.com

GRACE ANATOMY
“Miss Ellen” did a wonderful job capturing the essence of my most guilty pleasure [Ellen Griley’s “Full of Grace,” April 23]. From the first moment of treatment, through the last year of bliss, I’ve found Spa Grace to be the ultimate treat. It miraculously carried through to Jeremy Grace’s sweet spirit and generosity. Always willing to donate services for worthy causes, and endless fundraisers, this guy is the tops! I just hope I can still get my appointment squeezed into the ever-growing list of divas flocking to this treasure. Kisses!

JEWELS
Via thedistrictweekly.com

YOU-KNOW-WHO KNOWS YOU, TOO
The Long Beach music scene is vibrant, but it’s insular [“Trust and Love,” April 16]. It’s kind of like the town’s social scene, in that most everyone enjoys ludicrous amounts of libations, and everyone has played with everyone else. Still, or similarly, it sounds good. Most of the time. It was good to hear Zed Records and Toe Jam remembered.

MICHAEL COYLE
Via letters@thedistrictweekly.com

GIMME SHELTER
The Long Beach Animal Shelter needs an overhaul [Heather Reger’s “Poop Scoop,” April 16]. Animals go hours before being tended, probably because they are understaffed. It is so sad. The standard needs to be higher. As a government, the possibility of lowering animal overpopulation is there. The possibility of acceptable conditions for employees and animals at the animal shelter is there. It is up to those in power to make the changes. What are you waiting for? Do you prefer an angry public? Do you prefer thousands of homeless animals? Do you prefer disgruntled employees? Make positive changes. Now is the time.

ANIMAL SHELTERS CAN IMPROVE
Via thedistrictweekly.com

I was trying to work through the chain of command and the union when I was there. But management just kept suppressing everything! That is why I am so active in doing something now that I am no longer working there. I am not bound by the chain of command that let me down.

CAREY MACY
Former animal control officer
Via thedistrictweekly.com

If disgruntled employees loved the animals and their fellow coworkers as much as they profess, why didn’t they whistleblow at the first sign of what they are disgruntled about? Whistleblowers are protected by law, last I heard.

IF
Via thedistrictweekly.com

P-T IS A-OK
Am I the only person in Long Beach who doesn’t think the Press-Telegram has suffered—indeed, that it may have even improved—under its new ownership [Dave Wielenga’s “Dad Roasts Devil Tot,” April 2]? Iowa by the Sea? I always felt the old P-T belonged more in red-state Kansas or small-town Indiana than Long Beach or relatively liberal Iowa. Its reporting was never impressive, and its editorials were so out of touch as to be irrelevant in this working-class Democratic city. The new version is, dare I say, better. The editorials are urbane and more liberal. The local reporting hasn’t suffered as far as I can tell. Methinks this is all much ado about nothing. After all, there’s a war on. And if my memory serves, the P-T supported it when it happened; now, its position is more in tune with its readership, as it should be.

JOHN TECUMSEH
Signal Hill
Via letters@thedistrictweekly.com