Council Files

As a citizen who works in the 13th Councilmanic District, I was appalled that former Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson removed the district files from her office, forcing the new councilman, Michael Woo, to reconstruct work in progress as well as the history of constituent requests to the office.

Since this reconstruction will necessitate many hours of city employee labor, at an untold cost to the taxpayers, I would like to suggest that the controller of the City of Los Angeles keep track of the time expended and send Mrs. Stevenson a bill for the job.

Perhaps the city attorney, and/or the Grand Jury might also be interested in Stevenson’s misappropriation of what amount to public documents.

That Stevenson would think so little of her former constituents is no surprise, and is an eloquent statement as to why she no longer occupies her seat on the council. Even more distressing is the fact that she apparently can get away with such a dirty trick, with only passing notice by the media.

While the taxpayers of Los Angeles can be expected to foot the bill for many questionable expenditures by public officials, ranging from pet projects to junkets, they should not be forced to pay for public officials’ petulance. The politicians should pay for that themselves.

MICHAEL J. MALAK

North Hollywood