Letter Antonovich

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l-antonovich/dt1st/mark2nd

No More Supes

In reply to your Aug. 30 editorial, “L.A. Needs More Supes,” the problem Los Angeles County faces is not the need to make government bigger by expanding the Board of Supervisors, but for the state to return property taxes to our local counties and cities. The main problem is the dysfunctional financing of local government, not more government.

The county’s 10 million people who reside in our 88 cities and 137 unincorporated communities have a combined 458 elected city and county officials governing them. Adding more supervisors empowers the government at the expense of vital services. Getting more for less is the old shell game of big-government advocates. The bigger the government, the more taxes it takes to fund the bureaucracy.

Unlike the five members of the Board of Supervisors, the city of Los Angeles has three times the number of council members plus a mayor, yet they have serious problems in making decisions and providing vital services. Their mayor and City Council, who represent about 3.6 million people, spend almost twice as much as the county supervisors, who represent over 10 million people.

Bigger government simply does not result in cost-effective government.

MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH

Supervisor, Fifth District

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