A Mixed Election for Los Angeles : Board gains an African-American voice, but county reform and LAPD funding fail

Because of last spring’s terrible riots, Los Angeles probably was watched more closely in Tuesday’s election than any other urban area in the country. And although L.A. local election results were decidedly mixed, significant trends nonetheless are evident.

Most important is the fact that a majority of voters in the city of Los Angeles want to expand a Police Department that, for all the turmoil it has faced, still can count on community support. Sadly, the majority was prevented from doing what needs to be done by an overly rigid state law that requires a two-thirds vote to enact property tax increases.

Thus Proposition N, which would have raised money to hire 1,000 more LAPD officers, frustratingly fell three percentage points short of the 66% needed to win. Notably, a companion measure that proposed a more modest tax hike to pay for a new 911 telephone system, Proposition M, was approved, with 77% of the vote.

So Angelenos will finally get a modern emergency phone system on which to call for LAPD--as well as Fire Department--help. But will a police officer be available when the call is made? Los Angeles remains one of the most under-policed big cities in the nation; city officials must take the vote for Prop. N as a mandate to find money in the budget to expand the Police Department.

On that score, it was reassuring that city voters approved Proposition K, which would allow surplus funds from the city’s airport budget to be transferred to the general fund to pay for other services. If required federal approvals are provided, that could give the city greater flexibility to budget creatively before asking the hard-pressed taxpayers to reach deeper into their pockets.

For the second time in recent years, Los Angeles County voters opted against expanding the Board of Supervisors and electing a county chief executive to act as a balance to the often unchallenged power of the five board members. Given the widespread voter dissatisfaction with politicians in general, it is not surprising that a proposal to expand local government did not succeed despite obvious merit.

But at least local residents can rest assured that things will continue to change in county government, even if at a slightly slower pace than some might like. In apparently electing attorney Yvonne Brathwaite Burke to succeed the retiring Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, 2nd District voters put on the board a voice on behalf of African-Americans and all residents of an inner city struggling to rebuild. And although 12-year incumbent Supervisor Deane Dana was reelected in the 4th District, the solid scare he got just might prod him to become less a part of the problem in county government and more a part of the solution.