A ‘Sorry Situation’ in Rancho Palos Verdes

Your headline, “Rancho P.V. Tightens Travel Reimbursement” (Times, April 14) puts the best possible face on a sorry, if not a sordid, situation.

While I have not personally attended any Rancho Palos Verdes council meetings, I have observed Channel 3’s presentation of this taxpayer sponsored amateur version of “Family Feud.” (But only on the rare occasions when reruns of the real thing were not available to stimulate my fatigued awareness.) I have concluded from these viewings that this simulation of democratic local government no longer provides a viable mechanism for solving the relatively trivial problems faced by this community. It does, however, very effectively provide an opportunity and forum for a privileged few local officials to display with total impunity their personal arrogance, greed, casual ethics and penchant for nepotism.

The dismal consequences of our experiment in local government now cause me to wonder if it would be possible to contrive the unincorporation of Rancho Palos Verdes, for the principal (and unintended) result produced by our successful drive for cityhood was only to add an additional layer of expensive and self-serving politicians and clerks to our already bloated bureaucracy.

ROBERT S. COUGHLIN

Rancho Palos Verdes