No to Initiatives and Special Interests

Re “Cut Pay of Bounty Hunters,” editorial, May 15: I long ago tired of the initiative process, which has become, more often than not, a tool for special interests to bypass the Legislature. Consequently, I vote no on all initiatives, excepting those I judge to be compelling. Without infringing the constitutional right of free speech, the electorate, by voting no on frivolous initiatives, will discourage special interests from wasting their money in the future.

Joseph B. Blaustein

Long Beach

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Regarding your suggestion that bounty hunters be paid less, I disagree that they should be paid anything. The very idea of the initiative process is that it is a grass-roots movement and as such should be manned by volunteers who gather the signatures to further their causes.

I was a member of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury of 1972. We requested that legislation be passed forbidding paid circulators from securing signatures on any initiative petition, since it represented a perversion of the intent of the Constitution, which provided for the initiative process. It has been 29 years since our efforts were expended. It shows exactly how much influence a grand jury has on county or state legislators.

Gloria Drexler

Santa Monica