As good as it gets

It could be a Richard Riordan budget or a James K. Hahn budget, cutting, as it does, departmental spending to account for falling revenues while directing a larger portion of funds toward a buildup of the Los Angeles Police Department. But it is an Antonio Villaraigosa budget. Not particularly imaginative or groundbreaking, given the energy with which the mayor swept into office three years ago. But competent and realistic about the choices available during times such as these.

The economic downturn leaves the city $406 million short and leaves the mayor with few choices. If the recession is a flood and City Hall an ark, Villaraigosa is cramming the boat with as many new police officers as it will hold and leaving behind some city employee positions and assorted bits of discretionary funds and programs. When the floodwaters recede, the city should be left with more cops, a leaner administration, some accounting gimmicks -- and “full cost recovery,” a euphemism for higher fees for trash collection and other services.

All of that is fine. It has long been clear that Los Angeles needs more police officers, and Villaraigosa deserves more credit, not less, for using budget allocations to get the job done, rather than some of Riordan’s and Hahn’s more creative (if unsuccessful) methods, such as transferring money from the airport or seeking a sales tax hike. But it’s a budget that any mayor in Los Angeles’ recent past could comfortably put forward as his own. The city’s elected leader operates within narrow confines. In flush times, Riordan could expand library hours, and in hard times, Villaraigosa can cut them, but for the most part, Los Angeles mayors get more done outside City Hall, like trying to fix education or exerting control over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

It is a rare move that actually makes City Hall serve people better. So scrapping the gang intervention program known as LA Bridges was an authentically bold move by Villaraigosa, as is replacing it with a program that -- we hope -- will be monitored and measured. A new model for evaluating anti-gang contractors is a relatively small step at this late point in the mayor’s first term, but it could prove significant if it becomes a new template for doing business. The mayor should apply the same test to every city department and program.

“Until we get to a time when people really believe that we’re providing the services they want and need in an efficient way, and we can get them to support government more ... this is what we’re faced with,” Villaraigosa said recently of his budget cuts. He got it right. Although adding more police officers is good, the costs are ongoing and trash fees can rise only so high -- and other programs can be cut only so much -- before residents cry foul. The mayor must demonstrate that each dollar is being put to better and more efficient use. Short of that, he can expect little more of his budgets than Riordan or Hahn were able to get out of theirs.