Public’s Opinion of Legislature

The legislators indignant anger over a Times Poll which holds them in low esteem, unethical and unproductive prompts me to write my first letter ever to The Times (Part A, Jan. 3-4).

First of all, I was not part of the state poll. However, it would be difficult not to come to the same conclusion as the poll when one reads, almost daily in the newspapers, so much about the corruption and indecision of the various legislators. It could be argued that a few bad apples do not make the whole tree rotten, or a single rose does not make spring. But the extensive number of legislators’ names, which are continuously in the news in a detrimental manner, impair this legislative body as a crack can destroy a dam, or a hole in a tanker can ruin a coastline.

Perhaps I would not have written had not Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) called the poll “an absolute, unadulterated lie.” What does he mean by such a statement? Does he mean that the people who put the poll together are liars? Or is he trying to say that the public is misinformed and does not know the true facts, which, incidently, is not what he said. Or that the press publishes lies all the time so that the public is misinformed? Or does he not know what he means? Or if he does know what he means, why is he unable to articulate his meaning accurately? After all, what he stated does not make sense since a poll does no more than reflect people’s opinions. Brown’s response just further reflects negatively on his image.

If the Speaker of the Assembly does not make any sense then perhaps we have a bigger problem than the poll indicated.

DERRICK A. ANDERSON

Santa Ana