Resident slams county payout

I received this e-mail from a reader obviously upset over a tentative settlement agreement reached between the county and firefighter Mark Nelson, from Whittier. Nelson alleged workplace harassment after he reported racial slurs to the department's employee relations division.

how can people of our city be so blind as to pay out money to a man with over 30 years of working & living together with dedicated firefighters that have to depend on each other to be able to perform their very dangerous type of work. i still can't understand that Mr. mark nelson - a los Angele's county fire dept. assistant chief, claiming of being harassed for reporting racial slurs about Latinos to the department's employee relations board.
citizens (tax payers), of Whittier. open your eyes! Mr. nelson, is opening the door for anybody like himself, to make such a way out of line claim of harassment, just to collect money from the people of the city he served. i use the term, served, because after stepping out with such a claim, he has violated the trust of all others that would have to work with him. "and he knows that"! to truly understand the world of what a firefighters life is all about, you would have to be part of it. work together in harmony, trust in each other, respect each other, and protect each other. with out any of that, a firefighter would not be able to perform his / hers job. it's also a job that not just anybody would be able to do. i say that with all respect. as for myself, a Latino, and a retired firefighter, all i can say to Mr. nelson, shame on you. i hope the money you walk away with from the people that had their trust in you, lets you sleep at night.
all i can say is, i would not have lived long enough to retire if it weren't for all the good people in the fire department that i worked with. i will always be thankful to all of them.