Supervisors’ Security Measures

The article about the elaborate security provisions for the Board of Supervisors was most interesting.

As assessor during the Proposition 13 campaign in 1978, I believe I faced as much hostility as any elected county official has ever endured. (One threatening letter vowed to blow up my home, office and car to be sure I was eliminated at one place or another.)

During that time, I drove a standard, mid-size car, continued in my unguarded office on the ground floor of the Hall of Administration and had my residence address and home telephone number listed in the phone book. My predecessor’s two chauffeurs were let go, and I declined the sheriff’s offer of a 24-hour guard.

Two considerations governed my thinking: (1) As our history has tragically demonstrated, determined assassins can surmount much more extensive security precautions than those instituted by the Board of Supervisors; and (2) democracy cannot function properly when elected officials seal themselves off from the voters.

There have to be more important priorities for the county’s money.

ALEXANDER H. POPE, Los Angeles