Commuter Status Unfair to Lynwood

Charlie Mae Knight has a long record of legal residence at other than where she works--and lives! (The Times, July 31).

When she came to the Lynwood Unified School District as superintendent, she maintained a residence in the Monterey area, where her husband and children were. Now, she works and lives in East Palo Alto--but maintains a “legal” address in Lynwood.

Many of us in Lynwood have felt for a number of years that we have not been represented properly on the Board of Trustees of Compton Community College. No one from Lynwood (District 3) is on the board--we are represented by Knight, who lives in Northern California.

Knight maintains that her status is “like that of a state legislator who spends most of the week in Sacramento and comes home on weekends.” This is not so; we elect our Assembly people and state senators, who live in our district, to represent us in Sacramento. Likewise, we elect our U.S. senators and congressmen, who live near us--to represent us in Washington, D.C. We did not elect Knight to live in East Palo Alto and “commute” to Compton twice a month for the trustees’ meetings. She does not represent Lynwood--nor, for that matter, any taxpayer in the Compton Community College District.

Each of us is entitled to representation by someone who lives in our community--and is attuned to the needs and wishes of the community.

DAVID W. LITSINGER

Chairman, Lynwood

Community Affairs Commission