Monday, October 14, 2002 Station delay   Your Oct. 5 "Scherer station delayed" article highlights City Hall's tendency to waste time and public funds covering up poorly conceived back-room deals instead of admitting mistakes and resolving genuine problems. Councilmember Ron Webb says it best: parallel lines will never converge. It is equally incongruent for City Prosecutor Tom Reeves to claim replacing a volunteer trust committee with another overpriced consultant to enable the city to misappropriate funds earmarked for protecting fish, wildlife and habitat or allowing another consultant to waste these limited funds attempting to put a dent in the enormous costs of cleaning up polluted land. Equally illogical is City Hall's plan to add another $15 million to our bond debt to build a police fortress on limited parkland in Scherer Park. Fortunately, some councilmembers have begun to question such foolish decisions that ignore the genuine needs of our neighborhoods. Hopefully, these thoughtful representatives will demand that city Hall stop wasting money on dubious back-room decisions that misallocate resources. This much-needed reasoning is the first step to providing adequate community policing that can start to address increased crime in our neighborhoods. Colette Marie McLaughlin Long Beach