Raiders Return to Oakland

The events leading to last week’s decision by Al Davis to leave Los Angeles have profound implications for the future of this region. Our civic leadership once again demonstrated a lack of direction, character and leadership ability in its dealing with the Raiders. And it is this same ineffective do-nothing approach that has left a void in growth planning, environmental resource protection, and earthquake and disaster preparedness.

Coliseum improvements were promised as part of the package that first brought the Raiders to Los Angeles. “The simple truth,” Mayor Tom Bradley said, “is Los Angeles needs the economic incentive and community enthusiasm a football team can generate.” Yet where was the mayor back in 1987 when the Coliseum’s foot-dragging set the stage for Oakland’s successful bid?

Whether or not the loss of one of the NFL’s most prolific teams will be missed is a matter of personal opinion. But the simple truth is that those of us left behind will be stuck with the same bumbling and ineffective civic leadership long after the Raiders have gone.

PETER L. EASON

Calabasas Hills