Roger French and Sharon Rose (September 3) say an elected mayor will reduce bureaucracy and costs.

If they had asked the staff they would know that, compared to the old committee system, the new Cabinet form of administration in Brighton and Hove City Council has led to more expense, more paper and a greater number of meetings than before.

In terms of Ms Rose's "turkeys voting for Christmas", Cabinet government has led to a rise in councillors' allowances with the "professionalisation" of politics.

Nor is Mr French going to vote for his buses to be taken into public ownership and run openly and democratically by a committee of bus users, workers and councillors with no other interest than integrated transport, is he?

The committee system is not perfect but it served Brighton and Hove very well for many decades.

There are now voices in Westminster calling for the expansion of a committee system to control the "presidential" style and control culture there.

Of course, the old committee system can be improved and made more participatory. So vote No, then let's get on with the real debate about how to open up local government and use it to protect and improve our public services.

-Steve Foster, Brighton and Hove Unison