EDITORIAL PERKS ON TRIAL IT'S NOT JUST FREE CARS THAT GET POLS IN TROUBLE.IN reaction to the expanding scandal surrounding Los Angeles City Attorney The Los Angeles City Attorney is an elected official whose job is to prosecute all of the misdemeanor criminal offenses within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Rocky Delgadillo's use of his city car, Councilman Greig Smith Greig Smith is a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 12th District, which includes Granada Hills, Northridge and other parts of the Western San Fernando Valley. Smith is also a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. has proposed an audit of the entire fleet of city vehicles. Smith wants reviews of fleet usage as well as an inventory of all city cars used by politicians or employees. He's also seeking an explanation of the rules. It's certainly the right time for an exploration of how the city's vast fleet of cars is used and doled out Adj. 1. doled out - given out in portions apportioned, dealt out, meted out, parceled out distributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up . But an audit of a single perk doesn't go nearly far enough to identify and root out the misuse and abuse of city resources. Luxury cars and SUVs are just one of the many perks that city officials enjoy. As well as a free vehicle, there is free gas, carwashes and maintenance, not to mention cell phones, PDAs, officeholder of·fice·hold·er n. One who holds public office. Noun 1. officeholder - someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust; "he is an officer of the court"; "the club elected its officers for accounts, frequent travel and cars for key staff members. And let's not Let's Not is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in Boston University Graduate Journal in December 1954. It was written for no payment as a favour to the journal, and later appeared in the collection Buy Jupiter. forget the free baby-sitting services over at the City Attorney's Office. Tens of millions of dollars in public money are spent and, in some cases, for no other reason than to make the lives of elected officials, their staffs, top managers and their minions more like royalty. Is it any wonder that the pols develop the sense of entitlement that seems to have derailed Delgadillo's career? As much as the public might deserve such a broad audit of city-paid perks, it's unlikely that anyone in City Hall would venture a proposal that could lead to the elimination of their own fringe benefits fringe benefits, n.pl the benefits, other than wages or salary, provided by an employer for employees (e.g., health insurance, vacation time, disability income). . It's going to take a voter revolt to slash their bloated salaries and privileges. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion