EDITORIAL : AT THE BREAKING POINT; CITY HALL TRIES TO SHIFT THE PAIN FOR ITS DECISIONS.

ALARM bells are clanging over Los Angeles city government's high debt.

L.A. needs to admit its addiction to borrowing and kick the habit.

Then, it needs to admit its addiction to policies of spend, spend, spend and its failure to fulfill its basic obligations to nurture and grow this city.

But City Hall is like any other addict, hoping to avoid the pain of withdrawal by making others bear the brunt of the suffering.

The city has been on a borrowing binge for 25 years. The cost of its debt threatens to exceed the recommended maximum for cities (10 percent of the general fund).

L.A. did this to itself in many different ways.

The city decided, without a vote of the public, to borrow millions for a downtown convention center which is nothing but a white elephant.

The city decided, again without a vote of the people, to spend $300 million on a no-holds-barred renovation of City Hall including the office suites of city officials.

Over and over, decision makers found money to advance their self-interest, their self-esteem or their self-styled ideologies.

And all the while, City Hall kept shrinking services to the public and scrimping on sewers, streets and other basics.

But like any other, binge this one must come to an end. The orgy of spending and borrowing has jeopardized Los Angeles' future.

At City Hall, they want to deal with this in the same way that brought the city to this crisis: borrow more money, raise taxes even higher, and punish the taxpaying public by cutting services or letting neighborhoods decay.

We suggest there is another solution: cut the cost of government itself. By streamlining, creating efficiencies and making people work harder, city government could be made more productive and efficient.

Then we wouldn't need the charade we are being treated to over how to pay for the long-delayed rescue of the Van Nuys Civic Center, which is as important to the people of the entire San Fernando Valley as downtown is to the powers that be.

Van Nuys is a critical battleground, but there are many others all over the Valley, all over the city. Van Nuys is a test case, ground zero in the fight to save the Valley as a livable community.

But something more important even than whether the Van Nuys Civic Center gets renovated is at stake. The mentality of the city's decision makers downtown has to change.

Last week, two City Council committees decided - although they reversed themselves later - to limit funds for economic development in the Valley and give the money to government housing programs.

That approach is backward. The city needs to put less emphasis on supplying so-called ``affordable housing'' to people who have no hope of affording better. It needs to accelerate business growth and opportunity so jobs and incomes increase, which is the only way that people will be able to afford the kind of housing they want.

Mayor Richard Riordan has been trying to articulate this common-sense fact to the City Council since he was first elected. That's why he is so popular in the Valley - he understands what most of the people of this city understand.

The idea is simple: city government spends too much on well-intentioned social welfare schemes that offer too little to too few to make a difference.

City government should be investing tax dollars in providing basic services to the people and providing the infrastructure that will make the city a stronger and healthier place economically and socially.

That's why Van Nuys is such an important issue. Investment to restore Van Nuys pride will generate health and wealth over a vast area.

L.A. shouldn't even have to borrow to bring the Valley's government center up to par. It's time to go through the city budget, line by line, job by job, deleting everything that isn't a priority.

With all those savings, we believe Los Angeles will have enough money to pay for the things that really matter and enough left over to straighten out the tax inequities that chase away so many of its residents and businesses.