EDITORIAL : OUTRAGE METER: 5 TALKING TRASH WITH TAXPAYERS' DIME.

NOW we know why the city of Los Angeles is quibbling over paying for a $225,000 cityhood study - its phone sex bills are due and it doesn't have the money.

Maybe that could be the system for releasing information on Valley secession - 1-900-LET'S TALK TRASH.

Oh, behave!

Unfortunately, not all city workers can be trusted. In fact, the city worker responsible for racking up $20,000 worth of sex calls was an employee of the Los Angeles Police Department.

But since the city doesn't believe in firing employees for stealing, it's doubtful much of anything will happen.

A report issued by City Controller Rick Tuttle urged managers to be vigilant about reviewing phone records for signs of abuse.

When Los Angeles County officials discovered a similar problem, they issued a warning that employees caught calling a phone sex number one time on taxpayer money would be fired.

But no such warning was even issued to city employees.

The problem won't stop with just a stern warning. The city's Information Technology Agency, which is charged with blocking and monitoring improper calls, needs to figure out how to do its job.

When the LAPD suspected there was a problem and requested an investigation, the ITA failed to track down the culprit because it wasn't sure of its job, city officials say.

It wasn't until the City Controller's Office conducted a cursory review of one department's phone records that the problem was found. And we're sure the LAPD isn't the only department with employees making fraudulent calls.

The controller's office estimates that 5 percent of all long-distance calls made by city employees on city phones are fraudulent.

Obviously, city workers know the difference between right and wrong, and how to get around blocked 900 numbers. That's why the calls found in the audit were to an offshore number in Grenada that isn't blocked.

All the more reason to make such behavior grounds for immediate dismissal.