EDITORIAL : THE SIMPLE TRUTH; DEMOCRACY IS EASY - GIVE PEOPLE A VOICE.

DESPITE a youthful understanding of federal, state or local government, a group of teen-agers still has mastered basic civics - more local control equals better government.

That response came from a majority of students who were polled last spring about local and state government by the nonprofit Capitol Focus Project.

The answers by 650 students at 19 high schools throughout Los Angeles serve as a primer for fat-cat bureaucrats and downtown's disconnected dilettantes of power.

The poll found only 30 percent of the students said they have a thorough or solid understanding of Los Angeles city government, while 81 percent have not heard of efforts to reform the City Charter.

About half of the students think city government is at least adequately effective, and 62 percent said that when they have needed city services, they have been satisfied.

Even so, the students see room for improvement, with 69 percent favoring an increase in the number of City Council members and 76 percent favoring creation of neighborhood councils that have control over decisions that affect the neighborhoods.

One interpretation of those results is that students are in tune with what their parents are saying on redesigning a city that works, said Bennett Kayser, a middle-school teacher and elected Charter Reform Commission member.

It's also possible that teen-agers instinctively grasp the fundamentals of democracy: Government must serve the people; the public must be represented fairly and equitably; government, to remain viable and healthy, must reflect people's values.

Los Angeles city government is broken because leaders and bureaucrats don't serve the people, don't listen to their needs and don't reflect their values and beliefs.

Two charter commissions are grappling with changing the basic rules under which city government does business in an effort to open up the process.

It's a difficult, unglamorous, serious undertaking. But the results will mean the difference between whether your commute time is going to get even longer, whether your children receive a proper education, whether your street looks like a Third World country, or whether L.A. can continue hiring police officers and provide parks and libraries at the same time.

Changing the charter sounds abstract and boring. But it cuts to the heart of what matters in people's daily lives - education, transportation, livable communities.

After all the hard work, long hours and heated debate by the talented, caring and committed people serving on both charter commissions, the central issue is simple and clear.

Creating neighborhood councils that have control over decisions that affect residents in their local communities will equal better government.

Without that component, the city will be left in the same hands that have run it into the ground.