‘Misguided Reform Effort’
It is interesting to me that the Times should warn California voters about attempting to correct the inequities of Proposition 13 through another initiative measure (editorial, “Misguided Reform Effort,” May 9). To my mind, rectifying the deficiencies of Proposition 13 is a job that Gov. George Deukmejian and the members of the Legislature should have been doing as those shortcomings have become evident in the years since the property tax reduction measure passed in 1978.
The most obvious of these problems is the huge property tax inequity in homes purchased before 1978 and those bought after that year. But the fact that Sacramento has failed to act is the main reason that Voter Revolt, the group that wrote Proposition 103, the insurance reform measure adopted by California voters last November, now proposes to try its hand at property tax revision.
Like The Times, I have misgivings about using one initiative to overcome the deficiencies of an earlier initiative. The initiative process is too cumbersome and too prone to the manipulation of special interest groups to be an effective tool for governing California.
The real answer here is having a Legislature and governor that are willing to take action to correct inequities created by measures such as Proposition 13 and Proposition 4. Unless and until that happens, we will continue to suffer from the effects of Proposition 13 and Proposition 4--and the measures that are designed to correct those effects.
EDMUND D. EDELMAN
Chairman
Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County
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