County’s Redistricting Case and Edelman’s Approach to Politics

The article by Domanick was a typical knee-jerk liberal diatribe, full of half-truths. Edelman has been the supervisor for Lincoln Heights and East Los Angeles. Under the redistricting proposal passed by the board, Edelman’s Third District would still include East Los Angeles.

The plan, which the Board of Supervisors submitted under protest, was in compliance with the judge’s order to allow for growth of a Latino district. This was the reason for adding the East San Fernando Valley to Edelman’s district.

A seven-member board would require a vote of the people. This has already been rejected twice by the voters.

Second, the judge said that the 1981 districts were illegal because no Latino could be elected in them. Sarah Flores won an impressive victory in the June primary which illustrates that a Latino could win.

Domanick’s scattershot indictment of the policies of the Board of Supervisors was ludicrous. Of the county’s $10 billion budget, two-thirds goes for health and welfare. The mental health reductions are a direct response to Sacramento’s failure to finance mental health--a clear, legal responsibility of the state.

The problem of the homeless in downtown Los Angeles is the mayor’s fault for not providing replacement housing when he built high-rise office buildings and luxurious condos. This was not the county.

MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH

Supervisor, Fifth District