A rough ride for the mayor

Re “Mayor rides the SUV, not the MTA,” Nov. 14

Your article should surprise no one. That Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is driven around in a gas-guzzling GMC Yukon while extolling the virtues of rapid transit is simply one more example of the hypocrisy of most of our leaders.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger owns a fleet of Hummers, yet people are calling him “green” and praising his environmental credentials.

If enough folks would ride rapid transit systems, our leaders could get about in their SUVs with less traffic congestion, allowing them more time to make life-changing decisions for the rest of us.

GARY PETERS

Paso Robles

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This is one of the poorest excuses for an article I have read in The Times. Having grown up near the neighborhood in which Villaraigosa was raised and in similar circumstances, I can assure you that he got plenty of bus time. He’s the mayor of a major metropolis trying to fix a public transportation system many of us find impractical to use for reasons he surely experienced himself.

What’s next, you’ll want him riding his bike to work?

ADAN ORTEGA

Fullerton

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Typical of the mayor. As you may recall, he was and still is very quick to criticize the Los Angeles Unified School District while also saying that it’s a great system. But does he send his kids to public school? Same with public transportation. Does he use it? Yet he wants you to follow his golden rule: “Do as I say, not as I do.”

RICHARD PROVENCIO

Lakewood