Support county term limits

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors may have to face shortened careers because of a term limits initiative, which can be on the ballot as early as November.

The supervisors would be limited to serving up to two four-year terms.

The sooner term limits are before voters - and hopefully passed - the better.

The most compelling reason for term limits is to weaken the power stranglehold of the supervisors, often referred to as the "five little kings" by critics and admirers alike.

Along with representing a "kingdom" of nearly two million residents, all five county supervisors get a six-figure salary, excellent perks, a free car and seats or appointments to a broad range of commissions and special districts in Southern California.   They also oversee many important services like the Sheriff's Department, jails, healthcare, social services and food inspections, just to name a few of the many functions the county carries out.

The best part about being a supervisor is that it is a de facto job for life. Elections are merely a formality. Challenging an incumbent is an exercise in futility.

For supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Michael Antonovich and Don Knabe, who represents Long Beach and surrounding communities, they have no challengers. All three are running unopposed in November.

Supervisors are re-elected more because of their abilities to flood their campaign war chests and voter apathy than their achievements.

What the supervisors have done so far is reason enough not to vote for any of the current flock ever again.

All five supervisors are also board members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, an agency notorious for mismanagement and corruption. They allowed the subway costs to spiral out of control and let many private vendors take the agency for a ride by approving cost overruns.

Furthermore, public transit is still planned by how much money lands in each district rather than the appropriate travel mode.

Originally, supervisor Gloria Molina supported a subway to East Los Angeles, where there is a definite need for a rail line. Since county voters no longer allowed local sales taxes to be used for subway construction, Molina wants any kind of project to the eastside, just as long as the money stays within her district.

More recently, the county's health system barely avoided another meltdown. There was no money left to keep the large network of county hospitals and clinics open, primarily because of an expensive payment plan based on hospital stays.

Thanks to some political wheeling and dealing, the federal government bailed the county out for the second time in five years. Fortunately, Los Angeles County's hospitals and clinics continue to operate, which is a great relief to the most neediest patients.

However, the county must fiscally reform healthcare, without looking for the federal government to throw another lifesaver five years from now.

Term limits apply to state and many municipal offices, but county supervisors are off the hook. This is because of Pete Schabarum, the former supervisor who represented the San Gabriel Valley. Schabarum was a supporter of Proposition 140, the term limits initiative passed by voters in 1990, but made sure the law would not apply to supervisors like himself.

With luck, the Registrar-Recorder's office would find all the signatures valid and place term limits before the voters.

Eight years may still be a long time, but it sure beats the "five little kings" ruling until they feel like leaving.

Down with the monarchy! Support term limits.