A Call for a Plan to Fix L.A.

A good LA Times editorial today takes a stab at directing city leadership into focused action as final decisions for next fiscal year's city budget (and deficit) near within the coming months. The Times acknowledges something we all know: Los Angeles is poorly run and we need a complete vision and a back-up plan. "Such strategizing doesn't come naturally to most politicians, and there's no shame in that, as long as they recognize their shortcomings and call for support. There is expertise in-house, if only city management -- the elected officials -- would listen. If not, maybe before contracting out the parking meters, they ought to contract out for some long-term thinking," the paper said.