County Budget

I applaud you for the article on Gloria Molina’s efforts to get the Board of Supervisors to pay closer attention to the details of the county budget (“Molina Accuses Board of Rubber-Stamping Budget,” front page, Aug. 4).

Of course, as one reads the article it becomes quite clear why some items are approved without any question and without any regard as to how we taxpayers fare. Imagine a $2-million office renovation for the man who oversees the budget, Richard Dixon! And a budget of $26 million for the supervisors’ office fund . . . a fund they evidently can spend in any fashion they wish and are not asked to account for! And the Mental Health Department spending $864,000 on office remodeling, with plans for expenditures of another $783,000, until Ms. Molina called them on it at a time when our mental health clinics are being closed for lack of funds. It’s obscene, all of it.

It makes me sad and angry that we don’t seem to be able to elect representatives who are interested in bettering things for the taxpayers, instead of ruling their separate fiefdoms for their own selfish ends. Let’s hope Gloria Molina does not get discouraged in her efforts. We need as many people in government like her as we can get.

HELEN SONGER, Van Nuys