Neighborhood Councils

“Governing Los Angeles Requires Flexibility” (Commentary, June 15) throws out several red herrings in stated opposition to neighborhood councils, and then the authors state their real concern: Neighborhood councils won’t “balance” land use discussions, i.e. they won’t be as friendly to developers. The authors suggest that politicians will voluntarily surrender power without being forced to by charter reform. They say that a new level of government, closer to the people being represented, will somehow alienate voters. They imply that working-class communities would be less adept at implementing councils than middle-class communities. And they even claim that neighborhood councils would lead to cutbacks in police, fire and library services.

Mike Bowlin and Miguel Contreras could work to develop innovative ways to improve local government. Yet they choose to protect their own influence, defend the status quo and take 20th century mistakes into the 21st century. Many of us want a better understanding and relationship with local government, and neighborhood councils are one way to do that. Maybe councils would even improve the balance in our political system, by adding more weight to individuals instead of insiders.

A. LOUISE MALL

Los Angeles