L.A. City Hall Budget Chief Warns of Continuing Deficits, Possible Bankruptcy Without Tax Hikes, Layoffs. Does That Explain How L.A. City Hall Provides More Police Per Capita Than LB Does?

Following-up, we note the LATimes.com story below published a little over two weeks before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed a FY12-13 budget that [Villaraigosa budget text] "will continue to maintain the size of the Los Angeles police force at its current strength" and increases firefighters.

The April 7 story by Kate Lithicum, is headlined "L.A. budget chief warns of bankruptcy without tax hikes, layoffs" [subhead] "Stagnant revenue and rising employee costs threaten City Hall with a $222-million shortfall, official says. A proposal to outsource ambulance services provokes anger from firefighters union."

We presume the story accurately reflects debate about Los Angeles City Hall's policies, but we don't believe it disposes of the question we asked about what Long Beach City Hall doesn't deliver. Among other things, Signal Hill provides more officers per capita than Los Angeles and far more than Long Beach...and it's certainly not going bankrupt.

And the recommendations of L.A.'s budget chief -- outsourcing, layoffs and (in some cases) tax increases -- sound eerily similar to what some Long Beach officials have proposed...while LB doesn't deliver per capita police levels for its taxpayers anywhere near what L.A. does.

So...we continue to ask what we consider a fair threshold question that deserves substantive answers on the merits:

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?

Again: we aim to go where the truth leads on this...and we welcome your input.