County Measure on Campaign Finance

* Re “Prop. B--a Welcome Half-Step,” editorial, Oct. 17:

As the author and sponsor of Prop. B, the county political reform measure, I first want to thank The Times for its endorsement of this “welcome” and “needed” legislation. As many of your readers know, we spared no effort to work closely with sponsors of both state measures, as well as other good-government advocates, such as the League of Women Voters, in order to craft a reform package tailored to the unique demands of Los Angeles County and capable of withstanding anticipated legal challenges.

I’m puzzled, therefore, by the assertion that our measure, while deserving voter approval, nevertheless is “clearly flawed.” How? The editorial doesn’t fully explain.

Our proposal attempts to strike a workable balance between various competing interests: the public’s determination to curb unwarranted special-interest influence in politics; federal court decisions protecting candidates’ right to spend their own money; the prohibitive but unavoidable costs of paid media; and a real-world, not ivory-tower, understanding of how the campaign process works at the street level. Prop. B, in fact, has been so widely embraced that no opposing argument on the ballot was even submitted.

ZEV YAROSLAVSKY

County Supervisor