Worth every penny

Mark's Letter to the Editor on the importance of the Office of Public Advocate

Manhattan: The Daily News has an editorial itch that it has scratched about once a year for the past 15 years - namely, that the office of public advocate, created by the City Charter to monitor city services, is "the most pointless job in city government" ("The dumbest of the dumb," editorial, Dec. 31). Before you repeat this view for another 15 years, at least answer this question: Was it worthless when the Office of Public Advocate, between 1994 and 2001, took the lead in getting the mob out of commercial carting, protecting domestically abused women from being fired, reducing police abuse against communities of color, improving safety at hospitals, reforming the child welfare system, reducing class sizes, creating a 311 system - and scores of other investigations and proposals that made city government more accountable, just and effective? All at the annual per-resident cost of one day of The News. Both are bargains.