Strong Mayor
In your Aug. 2 article, Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg complains that placing all power over the administration of the city in one person’s hands would give us a dictatorship. “The fastest system in the world is a dictatorship . . . but to get a system where the trains run on time, you pay a price,” she said. Her allusion to the common cliche about Mussolini’s fascist Italy is typical of her demagoguing style.
Goldberg should be reminded that both in California and the federal government, the chief executive (governor or president) is responsible for the administration of the government. That arrangement hasn’t created a dictatorship at the national or state level. Why would the city of Los Angeles operate differently if the mayor were given powers most other mayors have?
Maybe Goldberg feels threatened by her submission to the dictatorship of the government employee unions.
ROBERT COWAN
Los Angeles
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