Dividing Los Angeles

David Glidden is right (Opinion, Aug. 9). The day of the megalopolis is over, and in the interest of government of and by the people, Los Angeles (and every other major metropolitan mess in the state) ought to be broken up into smaller polities, more reflective of the natural communities that make them up. But Glidden doesn’t go nearly far enough.

California itself is “naturally” at least five states--and perhaps as many as seven. No single governing authority can adequately or responsively serve communities as diverse as Redding and Reseda, Bakersfield, Bellflower and Bishop. In the last six weeks, it’s also become expensively and embarrassingly clear that neither the governor nor the legislators currently has any better idea of what California state government is “for”--what it ought to do and how it ought to do it--than any of the rest of us.

As for the counties--those quaint redundancies left over from the days of horse-and-buggy commerce and communication--they ought to be done away with entirely, replaced by several smaller and more natural state governments, more able to reflect and respond to the needs of diverse local communities whose destinies are linked by legitimate regional interests and concerns.

J. L. JONSSON

Long Beach