LETTERS

Re “I got tickets: Jackson fans wait and hope,” July 6

It is morally and ethically disgraceful that Michael Jackson’s family should even consider (much less accept) that the city should use the emergency LAPD fund to pay any part of the cost of police coverage of the Staples Center memorial service, in light of the present fiscal emergency in the state. Or even without the recession.

If the family and AEG want to stage a gigantic, public spectacle, they should foot the cost.

Diana F. Grilli

Los Angeles

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Why should the taxpayers of the city of Los Angeles pay for a memorial service for Jackson?

Why is there a public memorial for this fellow in the first place?

There’s no need to get into Jackson’s sordid history to demonstrate why this over-blown celebrity shouldn’t deserve anything more than a proper burial.

People in this town just don’t have their priorities straight, and neither does your newspaper.

Charles Reilly

Manhattan Beach

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I am a resident and taxpayer of Los Angeles County.

I have just heard that the city’s reserve fund for overwhelming events may be used for Jackson’s funeral/security costs. This is an outrage.

Teachers are being fired, the Fire Department and Police Department are having their costs reduced, benefits to the elderly and poor are being reduced, but Jackson’s funeral is the top of the list for money spent?

When a family member dies, it is the family’s responsibility for the funeral -- not the city of Los Angeles.

A statement from the city, which I do expect to hear eventually, will note the revenue brought in by out-of-towners and souvenirs, but this does not negate the fact that city money is being used for this unworthy event.

R. Susan Tenzer

Woodland Hills

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I am writing in regards to the Jackson memorial. I registered but was not one of the lucky ones to receive a pair of tickets to attend this event. I reside in Southern California, yet I cannot attend this event.

I have noticed that people in other states are selling these tickets for thousands of dollars. I truly believe that California and surrounding states should have been given top priority because it is more likely that we would attend.

Telisha Armour

Irvine

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Wouldn’t it be a worthwhile gesture for the Jackson family to pay off his debts and donate the bulk of his estate to worldwide humanitarian causes? A random act of kindness by the Jackson family could help many impoverished people in our troubled world.

Rick Schreiner

San Marino