L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Proposes Budget That Maintains Police & Restores Firefighters. How Does L.A. City Hall Do What Long Beach City Hall Says It Can't Do?

My budget will also add funding to offset the loss of discretionary Federal monies to maintain the City's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD). This program is responsible for the successful implementation of a comprehensive violence reduction strategy in communities most impacted by gang violence.

In order to further secure the safety of our neighborhoods and families, my budget restores Fire Department resources to improve emergency incident response times. These resources include funding for six additional ambulances, one Valley engine company, and the restoration of Emergency Medical Services...

For details on L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa's proposed City Hall budget, click here

Meanwhile, in L.A. County's second largest city, Long Beach's Mayor and city manager continue making endless excuses to weary residents who can see a different world just across their borders.

It's time for LB taxpayers to start insisting on some overdue answers on this. Exactly why is Long Beach -- L.A. County's second city and blessed with oil revenue -- unable to provide levels of police and other core services that L.A. County's largest city (Los Angeles) and one of its smallest (Signal Hill) are able to deliver?

To us, this is a threshold question. Launching into a budget based on what Long Beach City Hall says it can't do begs the question: exactly why can't it do what others can do?

According to L.A. City Hall's budget documents, roughly 25% of its General Fund goes to police. That's a significantly smaller percentage than Long Beach. Of course L.A.'s General Fund is probably differently configured in multiple ways than LB's, but it's the output that matters. Exactly why is L.A. City Hall able to deliver what LB City Hall says it can't?

For the past three years, Mayor Bob Foster advocated and Council majorities enacted cuts that left Long Beach taxpayers with the per capita equivalent of L.A. cutting over 25% of LAPD's budgeted officers. For Long Beach to reach the per capita police level that L.A. provides (roughly 2.4 officers per thousand residents) would mean Long Beach would have roughly 300 more sworn officers than it does now.

To reach Signal Hill's per capita police level of about 3.0 officers per thousand residents), Long Beach would have to provide roughly 1,400-1,500 officers, about double what LB City Hall does now.

Both Los Angeles and Signal Hill face a bad economy and Sacramento issues...so how can they do what Long Beach can't?

At some point, L.A. and OC market media will pick up on this. They will eventually put a microphone in Mayor Foster's face (noting that he has filed paperwork to seek statewide office in 2014), and in the faces Council incumbents seeking higher office, and they will ask: why isn't Long Beach under your leadership able do what other cities can?

As of today, LBReport.com honestly doesn't know the answer(s) to that threshold question.

We aim to find out...and we welcome your input on this.