Gil Garcetti

* Regarding your endorsement of Steve Cooley over incumbent Gil Garcetti for L.A. County district attorney (editorial, Oct. 22), I can’t believe that anyone on your editorial staff saw the same debate that I did on KCAL last Thursday. While Garcetti has certainly made some mistakes, who among us hasn’t?

What I saw during the debate was that Garcetti has passion and enthusiasm and a concrete plan for the safety and welfare of us all. Cooley represented himself as someone utterly lacking in vision and more than willing to turn what should have been a constructive interchange into old-style, ugly, stone-throwing politics. His inability to answer a direct question directly tells me were he to be elected we need never expect a straight answer from him. I don’t trust him on guns and I don’t trust him on the three-strikes law.

HOLLY WHITE

Los Angeles

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Pardon me for my confusion. Wasn’t it just Sunday that The Times wrote a lengthy article explaining that Garcetti has a terrible record on prosecuting cases referred to him by the LAPD concerning crimes committed by its officers? Now on Monday we are told that the police have slowed the number of cases they refer. Isn’t this a logical step given the waste of time it has been to refer all the previous cases to see no action taken?

KEN CADY

New York

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Cooley has the qualities we need in a district attorney. He is a man of integrity, intelligence and initiative. As an experienced and coolheaded prosecutor, he has what it takes to be an effective district attorney.

MICHAEL FALOTICO

Claremont