Letters to the Editor: L.A. County voters made a big mistake passing Measure A, ABA Journal, May 11
If Measure A would have had the two-thirds required on election day, I wonder which would have won the election.
The county may have to wait for the June 3 primary to pick another mayor.
If voters had read the Measure A ballot questions and answers first and had more time to study the three questions, I suspect they would have voted for one of the two alternatives.
The issues were:
1. What is “public safety,” and what is it?
2. Who are the “most needed” at county government?
3. How is the county going to run its budget?
1. People will continue to misunderstand Measure A. The people in question are those who believe they can force public officials to do what they want. The issue is that government officials are elected to serve the people, and the only way to serve the people is to work on the people’s behalf.
Two of the three people in the ballot question on “Public Safety” were city council members, and that is one reason Measure A was not a popular vote on the two other issue questions: “Who are the most needed at county government” and “How is the county going to run its budget.”
The people who want to force government officials to do what they want may not find the most needed at county government but may find the least needed. They may not be able to tell voters which the people are who.
2. I’m glad the measure was limited to one public official for a change. It seems to me that in a county with seven public officials, there should be only one.
My choice for “most needed” is the same person the county has as its top assistant chief of staff,
