EDITORIAL A NEW DIRECTION? VILLARAIGOSA'S TRAFFIC-LIGHT PLAN PUTS RESULTS OVER SPECIAL INTERESTS.

HIS inauguration is still weeks away, but already Antonio Villaraigosa is giving signals that he will be a different kind of mayor for Los Angeles.

And those signals come in red, yellow and green.

Unlike many of its neighboring cities, Los Angeles continues to use outdated incandescent traffic and pedestrian-crossing lights, and not more efficient technology that relies on light-emitting diodes. Previously, City Hall had contracted replacing the lights to a now-defunct Dallas firm that wasn't up to the job. More recently, the city moved to delegate the task to in-house crews working on an excruciatingly slow, five-year timeline.

Meanwhile, the city's residents are stuck with the bill of powering and maintaining the old lights.

Enter Antonio.

In a move that must come as something of a shock to his old friends in organized labor, Villaraigosa has proposed taking the job away from the city and giving it to Republic Electric of Novato, a private firm that has successfully replaced traffic lights across the country. The company says it can do the work in two years, thereby saving Angelenos millions in electric costs.

How's that for refreshing? A mayor committed to getting results. A mayor who wants to save money. A mayor whose first instinct isn't to pander to the public-employee unions.

And a mayor willing to acknowledge an obvious, but widely denied truth - there's something wrong with the L.A. city government.

The recognition that work can be done faster, better and arguably cheaper in the long run by a private firm raises important questions about why city services are so slow, ineffective and expensive in the first place. Those are questions Villaraigosa's predecessor never dared to ask.

Maybe, because he has earned the trust of the city's unions, Villaraigosa doesn't feel the need to pander to them. Or maybe he's just more concerned with being a good mayor than with pleasing special interests. Either way, the early signals look good.