Would Split of L.A. County Aid Efficiency?

State Assemblyman George Runner Jr. (R-Lancaster) has suggested that Los Angeles County, with a population of nearly 10 million people--more than most states--should be split into several small counties.

A bill introduced by Runner would create a local agency to evaluate how effectively the county is providing services to its cities and how well it is spending tax dollars. That study is expected to cost $1 million and take four years.

Critics say the plan would actually just be creating more government, not less.

Should Los Angeles County be split up?

Assemblyman Runner:

“L.A. County, because of its size, is unable to truly qualify as local government. As a result of that, citizens do not truly have access to influence and cannot hold the local government accountable. I personally believe local government is where the average citizen should have input, where they can talk about traffic signals and park safety and animal control. When you have 2 million citizens to one representative, you do not have the opportunity for local input.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich:

“It makes more sense to use the million dollars . . . to hire people to make our public safety system work better. . . . The problem has been the state confiscation of local property taxes to be used for state programs at the expense of local government. . . . California is larger than Nevada and Utah. Do you break up California into five or six states because of the population? And the answer is, of course you don’t. . . . We have created 15 town councils throughout the county that are a means for the community to have a voice in county government. . . . When you create a new county, you have to create a new system. You have to create a whole new health and welfare department, a penal system, and justice department. . . . Will it make sense to build five new Twin Tower jail projects? . . . That’s what you are talking about.

Matthew Cahn, Cal State Northridge political science professor:

“Los Angeles County is extremely large, bureaucratic and densely populated. Residents often feel isolated and vulnerable. However, splitting the county is not likely to solve these problems. First, splitting Los Angeles into smaller counties would very likely create several affluent counties, while abandoning the urban core to fend for itself. Second, while county services are often criticized as inadequate and mismanaged, in fact Los Angeles has achieved distinction in providing high quality professional services in a cost-effective way. . . . Finally, as the strongest county in the state, Los Angeles is able to compete much more successfully for state and federal resources.”

Bob Scott, local issues chairman for the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.:

“The possibility is certainly worth looking at. . . . The real serious question is whether one supervisor can adequately represent 1 1/2 million people. If a [city] councilman is remote from the people--representing 250,000 people--certainly [a supervisor] would be more so with 1 1/2- to 2-million constituents.”