Warreri Christopher
CHAIR
John A. ArgUelles
VICE OWR
MEMBERS
Roy A. Anderson
Willie R. Barnes
Prof. Leo F. Estrada
Mickey Kantor
Richard M. Mosk
INDEPENDENT COMMISSION
ON THE Los ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
June
14th
l 9 9 l
John W. Spiegel
G£HERAI. COl'NSEL
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL
Percy Anderson
Ri chard E. Drooyan
Gary A. Feess
Raymond C. Fisbct
Ernest 1. Getto
Lawrence B. Gotlieb
Thomas E. Holliday
Andrea Sheridan Ordin
John Brooks Slaughter
Robert E. Tranquada. M.D.
Barbara J. Kelley
Louise A. LaMotbe
Yolanda Orozco
Dennis M. Perluss
Gilben T. Ray
EXECUl1VE OIR.ECTOlt
Prof. Bryce Nelson
O!Jl£CTOR FQR PRESS
INFORMATION
Mr. Adolph Levy
501 N. Rossmore Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Dear Mr. Levy:
John B. Sherrell
Brian A. Sun
On behalf of Warren Christopher and the Independent
Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department , I am writing
you to thank you for your letter of June 7, 1991.
With its very short deadline and heavy
responsibilities, the Commission hopes that you will
understand that it is not possible to respond in detail to
your letter. However, your letter has been read and will be
made a part of the Commission files for further review by the
Cornrnissiones and staff.
GTR: lrg
We again thank you for writing .
Very truly yours,
Gilbert T . Ray
Executive Director
Suite 1910 400 South Hope Street Los Angeles, California 90071-2899 Telephone (213 ) 622-5205 Facsimile (2 13) 622-73 18
- .
ADOLPH LE VY
501 N. Rossmore Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90004
June 7, 1991
Independent Commission -- L.A.P.D.
Suite 1910
400 South Hope Street
LOS Angeles, CA 90071-2 899
Dear Commission Member:
This communication covers a broader area of our
city government than the police department . Nevertheless,
it is hoped its content may prove of value.
The 1925 charter strove to avoid the evils of the
'boss' machines then rampant in the cities of New York and
Chicago. However, in doing so and in trying to provide a
workable structure, in avoiding one evil it erred to the
opposite extreme . The result has been that ever since that
time it has failed to provide the accountability and
responsibility which any corporate body -- public or private
requires to enable a corporate body to operate properly.
Any private corporation trying to operate a
business under a setup similar to that set up in the city
charter , would go bankrupt in no time .
Under it we have muddled along inefficiently and
to a considerable degree ineffectively for almost three
generations.
Fifteen years after its adoption , in 1940 , after
the recall of the cor rup t Shaw regime , a real effort was
attempted under the direction of Mayor Fletcher Bowron to
remedy the faults in the charter.
Independent Commission -- L.A.P.D.
June 7, 1991
Page 2
A Charter Revision Committee was established
consisting of forty-six civic-minded men and women
reflecting a representative cross-section of Los Angeles
citizens. Experts on municipal government were consulted,
forms of government adopted by other large cities were
studied, and particular attention was paid to the
experiences and experiments of other municipalities.
The committee labored conscientiously for more
than a year. In October 1941, it presented its findings and
recommendations to the mayor and council. The outcome of
the committee's hard work was bitter, painful and
mortifying .
It does appear that now there is a real
opportunity for the voters to adopt charter changes
necessary to provide efficiency, accountability and
responsibility -- this after more than sixty- five years.
It truly is extraordinary that the opportunity
came about as a result of a crisis created by police conduct
which just happened to be filmed by a bystander operating a
video camera. The ensuing uproar led to the establishment
of your commission.
The first and most important specific proposal of
Mayor Bowron's committee was designed to enable the mayor,
as chief administrative officer, to be a more effective bead
and to exercise better supervision over city departments.
It was adopted by the council and placed on the ballot May
6, 1941. Unbelievably, it was defeated by a vote of 112,000
to 80,000! What percentage of the eligible voters did the
"no" vote constitute? What information can the city
officials who have to do with election returns and who
analyze and report on such matters to the mayor and council,
now provide as to the make-up of the "no" votes? What data
do the media morgues have, to tell what the position and
recommendations were of the several well-organized and
powerful civil service-protected municipal employee
associations?
It is to be profoundly hoped your committee will
take into account and profit from the enormous voluntary
time expended by, and from the skill and experience of those
public- spirited citizens of 1940 .
Independent Commission -- L.A . P.D .
June 7, 1991
Page 3
That committee came up with specific amendments
covering planning and zoning, civil service, controller ,
public works, police , and water and power . These also were
either not endorsed by the council or were defeated at the
polls.
I do not have the statistical data to explain the
reasons for such a sad destiny as aforementioned . However,
this must be available to your committee , especially in
these days of computers. Nevertheless, I do have firm
beliefs relating to such matters based on a long life as an
interested and active participant in governmental affairs.
Now, with reference to the police conduct which
presently is causing so much controversy , how does it seem
possible for some elected officials and many civil service­protected
employees to support a similar civil service­protected
department head when a sizeable majority of
citizens are shown by the polls to believe the police action
wa s wrongful?
Could it be that his supporters in the city
council know that in pursuit of their reelection it is the
eligible voters who vote who will decide their fate , not the
great numbers of eligible voters who choose not to vote?
Could it be that in purely local elections the
total vote cast may be as low as five percent of the
electorate and rarely more than t wenty percent of the
electorate?
Could it be that the majority of those who do vote
is made up of civil service-protected city employees , their
families, friends , neighbors and other dependents? Such
votes , wh en combined with those generated by city council
endorsements , surely must constitute a very large bloc in a
lightly voted local election.
A Los Angeles Times editorial of May 30 , 1991
offers a very critical article about the civil service­protected
police chief's endorsement for reelection of a
member of the city council. rs n ot this a classic example
of mutual back-scratching and an effor t to rally other civil
service- protected employees? The editorial concludes with,
" Such a situation makes for very poor government indeed ."
Independent Commission -- L.A.P . D.
June 7, 1991
Page 4
Could it be the employee- organized bloc•s position
on any proposed charter amendment which it perceives to
affect its status reflects the employees' desire to defend
or expan d their interests? These interests include
compensation, civil service protection, promotions,
vacations, health and welfar e benefits , retirement
provisions , and the like . These matters are naturally close
to their hearts, as are such matters to all workers.
In endeavoring to defend their interests, they act
no differently than any other class or group . Good examples
include the lawyer's stand on no-faul t auto insurance; the
doctor's stand on Medicare fee regulations; taxpayers on new
taxes; unions on anti - strike proposals, and passionate
partisans on such matters as family planning, pollution ,
slow-growth, etc. The list is endless.
In any event , is not the result of the recurring
voting and non-voting patterns in local elections a case of
the tail wagging the dog, whereby a minority bloc usually
constitutes a voting majority; where majority interests are
sacrificed to minority interests?
elections
interest
issues?
the 1941
85,000.
take the
would not the consolidation of local with general
tend to bring out a substantial increase in the
and active participation of more voters on local
A proposal somewhat along this line was included in
committee report . It was defeated 110 ,000 to
What percentage of those eligible to vote did not
trouble to vote? Who were they?
What quality of city government can citizens
expect when 80 to 95% of them fail to inform themselves on
matters of public interest and to exercise their priceless
right and power of suffrage?
It will be of interest to compare your
recommendations with those doomed ones of fifty years ago.
The ability of a democracy to provide for the
welfare of its citizens depends upon the degree of
involvement by its citizens in its civic affairs. Without
substantial involvement , democracy can become more form than
substance . History over and over again has affirmed that
public inertia has proven a first step to revolution and
totalitarianism .
Independent Commission - - L.A.P . D.
June 7, 1991
Page 5
What is now needed is not another charter revision
committee; it is a charter revision campaign committee .
Interested and impartial persons familiar with the operation
of our city government know what relatively simple revisions
are necessary. seeing to it that such constructive
proposals win out in the city council, or around it by
initiative , and at the polls, are the mountains to be
climbed , as the past has proven the mortality rate is close
to 100%. It will take the combined effort and involvement
of every segment of the city's society for those
representing the general we lf are to outvote the activist
minority bloc.
AL:rw
GOVERNMENT, AFTER FAMILY, IS THE
GREATEST DETERMINANT OF THE QUALITY
OF LIFE OF EVERY PERSON ON EARTH
God bless
My brother Maurice Levy, wh o has
work ed closely with me on this , is
an attorney. We are old-timers in
Los Angeles, having lived here
more than eighty years.