A recent ad campaign tried to scare L.A. voters into supporting a tax hike to pay for more cops. The ads were slimy, even by big city politicking standards. The tax hike campaign failed, but, what do you know, turns out there was already enough money for more cops:
Barely more than two weeks after losing his police-tax fight, Mayor James Hahn declared Tuesday that he has found money to hire about 370 more cops in next year’s budget without raising taxes.
Funny how the threat of losing your job can focus the mind:
The announcement came just a week before the primary election in which Hahn is locked in a close battle with former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who is surging in the polls, and City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who has been widely regarded as the front-runner for weeks.
It’s almost enough to make a voter suspect that politicos who claim raising taxes is the only way just aren’t too interested in looking into alternatives.