L.A. Lags Behind Largest U.S. Cities in Basic Services

About This Series

Today, The Times begins a series on Los Angeles city services. Today’s story compares Los Angeles with other major American cities. Stories later this week will look at the city’s record with respect to potholes, planning, street signs and fire and police services.

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Los Angeles trails the other four largest U.S. cities in key measurements of many municipal services, including police and fire protection, a record that secessionists say boosts their cause as residents prepare to vote on the breakaway measures for the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood.

In their campaign to defeat secession on the Nov. 5 ballot, Mayor James K. Hahn and other city officials have warned that a municipal breakup would lead to financial problems and possible cuts in services for the Valley and Hollywood, as well as the remainder of Los Angeles.

They say Los Angeles, as a large city taking advantage of the “economies of scale,” can deliver services at a higher quality and lower cost than three smaller cities could.

But in rankings of the five biggest cities, Los Angeles is less efficient at delivering certain basic services in categories such as emergency response times for police officers and spending per capita on library materials, a Times review has found.

The comparisons are not exact, because the unique characteristics of each city -- from its physical size to the age of its infrastructure to the local weather -- can affect the cost and quality of services.

Taxes also vary among the cities.

In Los Angeles, Proposition 13 severely limits increases in property taxes, a prime source of revenue. Other taxes are so variable -- within Los Angeles, residents in different areas pay different taxes, depending on special assessment districts and other factors -- that it is impossible to meaningfully compare tax burdens among residents here with those of other big cities.

Those factors aside, in many areas Los Angeles ranks at or near the bottom in matchups with New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Houston. For this survey, The Times analyzed police, fire, library, street resurfacing and parks -- five services provided by each of the big cities and studied by academics and others.

Consider:

* Los Angeles has fewer police officers per capita than the other four cities. It also has the slowest response time among those police departments.

* Los Angeles has the smallest number of firefighters per capita. Its response time for fires is worse than New York’s but better than Houston’s. Chicago does not track response times and Philadelphia’s record is better than L.A.’s by one standard and worse by another.

* Los Angeles has the smallest number of branch libraries per capita and spends less on library services and materials per capita than do the other cities.

* Los Angeles resurfaces a smaller percentage of its streets each year than do New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. Houston is last in this category.

Secessionists blame L.A.’s poor showing in part on a weighted-down bureaucracy and a remote City Council, whose 15 members represent about 240,000 people each, by far the largest number for any city council in the nation. It also galls breakup advocates that L.A. council members are the best paid in America, with an annual salary of $136,000.

“This is part and parcel of money going to a bloated bureaucratic structure rather than being spent on direct services to the public,” said state Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge), a candidate for mayor of the proposed Valley city.

Richman and other secessionists say splitting Los Angeles into three cities will eliminate most inefficiencies, and allow the Valley, Hollywood and the remainder of Los Angeles to increase services.

“You cut out the fat right off the top and that money could go to public safety,” said Carlos Ferreyra, co-chair of the Valley Independence Committee.

Hahn acknowledged that Los Angeles lags behind other major cities in some categories but said secession would only deepen the problem by spreading money and employees even thinner.

The mayor said he has taken steps to turn things around, most notably by hiring former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton as police chief and setting aside money to expand the police force, Fire Department and street resurfacing program.

“I know we need to have more, but to divide us, that’s going to hurt everybody on both sides of the line,” Hahn said.

Los Angeles already is doing some things better than other big cities, according to a 2001 study by the Reason Foundation, a conservative think tank. The foundation was critical of Los Angeles overall but praised the municipal parks system and the city’s performance in building maintenance.

The city has 4.2 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, more than Chicago and New York, but less than Philadelphia and Houston, which has 10 acres per 1,000 people, according to the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.

The National Recreation and Park Assn. recommends 6.25 to 10.5 acres of parkland per 1,000 people.

Adrian Moore, vice president of research for the foundation, said Los Angeles spends a higher percentage of its budget on social service programs than do other cities, leaving police and fire services wanting.

The foundation study last year found Los Angeles to be the least efficient of 44 large U.S. cities in providing basic services, mostly because of poor police services.

Longest Response Time

In a follow-up study this year that looked at 10 California cities, Los Angeles ranked seventh in efficiency. The studies indicate that Los Angeles is one of the most underpoliced big cities in the nation.

Los Angeles has 9,025 officers, one for every 409 residents. Its citywide average response time to emergencies is 10 minutes.

The other four largest cities have better numbers:

* New York City has 38,000 officers, one for every 209 residents. Its average response time is about 6 minutes, 8 seconds.

* Houston has 5,200 officers, one per 375 residents, and an average response time of just under 5 minutes.

* Chicago has 13,643 officers, one for every 212 residents. It does not calculate response times.

* Philadelphia has 6,900 officers, one for every 219 residents. Its average emergency response time is 5 minutes.

The Valley is patrolled by 1,500 officers, but the revenues generated by the area entitle it to more than 2,000 officers, according to Richman.

In addition, the Valley receives the benefit of some citywide Los Angeles Police Department units -- SWAT teams, for instance, as well as helicopter units, canine units and others -- that are not based in the Valley but are deployed there when needed.

Secession leaders say the city has failed year after year to solve the LAPD’s problems, which have resulted in a department that is 1,000 officers below what it was in the 1990s.

They say low officer morale, scandals resulting from sloppy oversight and the resulting attrition and recruitment difficulties show no signs of abating.

“The city has not created the kind of relationship with LAPD officers that would make officers want to stay with the department,” Ferreyra said.

A new Valley city, where council members would be paid $12,000 a year and operate a leaner bureaucracy, would be able to spend more on public safety, Ferreyra said.

Hahn said he already has taken steps to boost the police force, besides Bratton’s hiring. The mayor has granted officers’ demands for a compressed workweek, which he said will improve morale and make recruitment easier.

The mayor also has earmarked money to add 585 officers this year. He said secession would slow reforms by forcing the LAPD to divide its resources among the new cities, which would have the option of contracting with Los Angeles for police protection.

A breakup also would deny the Valley and Hollywood the extra staffing that a big police department offers in major crime emergencies and disasters, Hahn said.

The mayor made the same argument for the Los Angeles Fire Department, noting that fire engines from other parts of the city have been periodically redeployed to the Valley to watch over hillsides in brush-fire season.

“If you start dividing us, you aren’t going to be able to do that,” Hahn said.

Los Angeles has 3,346 firefighters and paramedics, one for every 1,104 residents, the worst ratio of the five largest cities. L.A. firefighters also take slightly more than 5 minutes on average to respond to a blaze.

New York’s 11,000 firefighters, one for every 728 residents, are able to get to fires, on average, in 4 minutes, 16 seconds.

Houston and Philadelphia report response times differently, from the time the fire engine is dispatched until it arrives, rather than from the time a 911 call is logged.

Houston has 3,345 firefighters, one for every 584 residents. Officials said once an engine company gets the address for a fire, it takes 1 minute, 47 seconds to arrive at the scene, compared with 3 minutes for Los Angeles.

However, Los Angeles fire officials said their record is better than Houston’s when responses are measured from the time of the 911 call.

Philadelphia has 1,891 firefighters, one for every 802 residents. That city takes longer than the LAFD to respond to fires once trucks are dispatched, records indicate.

Riordan Blamed

Los Angeles firefighters union President Ken Buzzell said a study by his union several years ago found Los Angeles ranked 29th among the 30 largest U.S. cities in staffing per capita.

Buzzell accused former Mayor Richard Riordan of “laying waste” to the Fire Department budgets during the 1990s in favor of the LAPD. Riordan did not return calls for comment.

Still, Buzzell opposes secession, saying a breakup would require a Valley city to duplicate the department’s bureaucracy.

“The city of Los Angeles has to make a commitment to put more resources where we need them,” Buzzell said of the solution. “The understaffing is a serious problem.”

The mayor increased the Fire Department budget by 5% this year. That will pay for 72 more firefighters and paramedics as part of a long-term plan to steadily expand the ranks.

More money also has gone into street resurfacing. In 1996, the city resurfaced 150 miles of streets. This year, the budget calls for 260 miles.

Los Angeles is resurfacing 4% of its streets this year, less than half the percentage in New York, where the harsher weather makes the problem more severe. Los Angeles leads only Houston in that category.

And Los Angeles places last among the five biggest cities in libraries and library spending, according to a recent report by the American Library Assn.

Los Angeles has 68 branches, or one for every 54,335 people, and spends $16.22 per capita on library services, the association said.

New York has one branch for every 39,000 people and spends double what Los Angeles spends per capita.

However, Los Angeles officials say the figures do not tell the whole story.

Because Los Angeles voters approved library bond measures in 1989 and 1998, the city is preparing to double library space and replace aging branches. It will have 72 branches by 2004, many with updated materials, according to Peter Persic, a library spokesman.

But secessionists remain unimpressed.

“We can do better,” Ferreyra said.