Wilson Playing Politics With Earthquake Costs

* Paul Clarke asks (Valley Commentary, June 19) why the people of California voted against the Wilson earthquake bond issue, Proposition 1A. I can’t speak for the rest of us, but I can tell you why I voted against it.

There was a temporary half-cent sales tax increase in 1990 which Gov. Pete Wilson adopted to cover the damage from the San Francisco quake. It certainly accomplished its goal with a minimum financial burden on any of us. There was no outcry from anyone that I know of calling for the elimination of that tax. But then there was a broadly based objection to increasing the debt, and cutting deeper into needed services, by raiding our county funds again.

Wilson canceled the tax, which would have more than covered the cost of retrofitting all the necessary quake-damaged structures in Southern California. When will he learn that playing politics with the issue just won’t work, and that we’re all willing to pay a small fee in order to feel safer in our homes and businesses without further damage to our vital needs?

BEN BRONWEIN

Newhall