LETTER NO. 3/1stjc

Three cheers for Choi

Tina Choi may have been inexperienced, but she is an intelligent and capable individual. During her tenure in the trade position she worked hard and long hours to learn the business she had been hired to assist.

In my business, I do not have the luxury to be able to hire experienced people who can command high salaries, so I try to locate employees willing to work hard to learn our business. Government must do the same in many positions.

In addition to creating the trade position within his administration, Mayor Riordan has been a key supporter of the Alameda Corridor project, which when completed, will have a positive impact on the cities and communities that the corridor will bisect, besides improving the efficiency of the basin’s international cargo system.

This coupled with the mayor’s efforts to reduce the City of Los Angeles’ outrageous business tax, and improve police protection for all segments of the community have benefited the international trade community as well as all citizens of the greater Los Angeles community.

Douglas Young’s article accurately reported my opinion that the mayor has sent mixed signals to the international trade community by some of his actions, particularly misguided use of harbor and airport funds to support general fund activities, and his early departure from the Asian trade mission in October of 1995.

But the article failed to report the mayor’s positive efforts I noted during my interview with Young.

Jay Winter

Executive Secretary

Foreign Trade Association of Southern California