Rebuilding Faith in Government

A government of, by and, most important, for the people doesn’t really mean much if the people can’t get to their government. For most of the past seven years, San Fernando Valley residents wanting marriage licenses, birth certificates and other records administered by Los Angeles County have had to drive to Norwalk--a 70-mile round-trip on some of the most congested freeways in Southern California. It was an onerous drive and an inexcusable lapse in service, forced by years of bureaucratic shortsightedness.

But the recent reopening of a Van Nuys branch of the registrar-recorder’s office serves not only as the revival of a vital county service, but also as a sign that county officials have finally righted finances ravaged by the budget crisis of the early 1990s and the 1994 Northridge earthquake. For the first time in a long time, county budget officials expect to have more money at the end of the fiscal year than they forecast. The result: After years of pulling back by trimming hours and slashing service, important county operations in the Valley are slowly returning to acceptable levels.

For instance:

* The San Fernando Courthouse--wiped out by the Northridge quake--reopened earlier this year to the jubilation of surrounding merchants who watched their business plummet when courthouse workers and visitors disappeared. More obviously, the refurbished courthouse takes the squeeze off facilities in Van Nuys, where judges held court in trailers.

* The Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center--another casualty of the quake--has established itself in leased quarters as its permanent home undergoes major renovation. The center provides critical health care to thousands of poor residents.

* And most recently, the reopening of the registrar-recorder’s office in Van Nuys puts records within easy reach of most Valley residents. County officials said they planned to expand branch operations after the registrar, recorder and clerk’s offices merged. But the county’s budget meltdown delayed those plans.

The gradual restoration of services knocked out by disasters both natural and man-made is, as Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said at dedication ceremonies for the new registrar-recorder’s office, “symbolic because it means the beginning of restoring services to people in the Valley.”

It’s refreshing to hear that kind of optimism and we welcome expanding services in the Valley that allow residents to take care of a wider range of problems, complaints or paperwork close to home. In a larger picture, though, the rebuilding of important services may help rebuild the electorate’s shattered faith in government that seems to forget its mission.