(Mar. 4, 2014, 12:10 p.m.) -- At tonight's (Mar. 4) City Council meeting, two incumbents seeking higher offices -- Robert Garcia (running for Mayor) and Suja Lowenthal (who has endorsed Garcia and is running for Assembly) -- will seek to have the city staff report back to the City Council in four months on ways to fund a "Universal Pre-K Program" in Long Beach:

[Garcia/Lowenthal agendizing memo text]..."Universal Pre-k" is an idea that every President since Lyndon Johnson has mentioned as a policy priority...But while the federal government has failed to shepherd this policy into fruition, it has been successfully implemented in cities such as San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Tulsa, and may soon become a reality in New York City. Even states like Alabama, Oklahoma, and New Jersey have expanded access to preschool despite their committed efforts to reduce overall government spending.

The number of places adopting these measures continues to grow because the benefits provided by this kind of program produce demonstrable benefits to a broad swath of people in society. This is good public policy that can help middle class and low wage workers, increases financial flexibility for all families, allow cities to save money through reductions in long term social spending, and creates enriching environments for children to develop. We have a duty to see if a similar program can be enacted in this city.

Recommendation:

1) Recommend the City Manager to examine case studies from similarly sized municipalities that presently guarantee free preschool for their residents and report back to the city council in 120 days with his findings about ways to fund such a venture in Long Beach, along with concrete policy goals and eligibility requirements that would allow for universal access without a major impact on the city budget,

2) Coordinate with LBUSD to ensure that any proposed program would not interfere with existing teaching contracts or place an undue burden on their resources,

3) Reach out to existing community groups that provide this service for children to hear their ideas and input. Fiscal Impact: There is no significant fiscal impact to this measure.

By way of context:

• On Feb. 12, 2014, Garcia told the audience at a Mayoral candidate forum organized by the "Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee" that he would propose a March 4 agenda item to have the City of Long Beach establish an Early Childhood Education program, modeled on the City of Antonio. [Today's Garcia-Lowenthal agendizing memo neatly avoids mentioning that San Antonio's "PreK-4" program required passage of a local sales tax increase (1/8 cent per $1.00) visible on the City of San Antonio's website at this link.]

• On Feb. 9, Garcia told the audience at a Mayoral candidate forum organized by the "Khmer American Civic Engagement Committee" that if elected, he will hire a person of Cambodian ethnicity for his office staff.

• On Feb. 24, Garcia told an audience at a Mayoral forum organized by arts supporters that he had been a quiet boy until a music teacher gave him a trombone and "that attachment to the arts is what saved me."

Tonight (Mar. 4), candidates Garcia and Lowenthal will pursue their pre-election priorities while the City they were elected to govern -- with Garcia chairing the Council's Public Safety Committee -- has left LB taxpayers with three fire stations without fire engines and a police department with just a fraction of its former field anti-gang unit.

In our opinion, what is taking place is political pandering, pure and simple. The Garcia/Lowenthal item is cynically timed to appeal to a desirable large constituency while the wider taxpayer costs -- including possible new taxes as in San Antonio -- remain below the radar until after April and June elections that will decide whether Garcia and/or Lowenthal advance up the political food chain.

Just weeks ago, a LB family watched as their home burned across the street from an ELB fire station that lacked a fire engine (that can actually spray water; it had to be summoned from elsewhere in town.) Meanwhile, parts of Long Beach -- including some parts of the Cambodian community -- endure gang shootings while the Council fails to fund officers taxpayers used to receive as part of LBPD's field anti-gang unit.

What will take place tonight won't really be about Garcia and Lowenthal; they have already shown the public their misplaced and manipulative priorities. Tonight's vote will be about what the rest of the Council shows the city, including five other Council incumbents now seeking higher offices: DeLong (Congress), O'Donnell (Assembly/LB), Schipske (Mayor), Johnson (City Attorney) and Neal (Assembly/Carson-LB)

LBUSD's website indicates the District currently offers part-day and full-day preschool through its Child Development Centers, which serve about 2,000 children in 20 locations. LBUSD also administers the federal-taxpayer-funded Head Start program, a serving about 2,100 children ages 3 to 5 in 21 preschool centers. LBUSD has implemented CA's Transitional Kindergarten program, serving 750 children who'll turn 5 between Sept. 1 and Dec. 2. In all, LBUSD apparently handles about 5,000 students in pre-K programs, the District's website indicates.

In our opinion, the responsible Council motion tonight is to receive and file (take no action on) the Garcia-Lowenthal agenda item.

LBREPORT.com will as always carry tonight's Council meeting LIVE on our front page: www.LBREPORT.com.