EDITORIAL CREDIBILITY GAP SALES TAX HIKE FOR COPS? OH, NEVER MIND, THE MAYOR SAYS.

NOT one week after Mayor James Hahn shrilly predicted that Los Angeles would fall into a state of criminal chaos because the City Council failed to back his sales-tax hike measure, he is suddenly ``happy'' about his opponent's plan for cops.

Just a few days after he called for the recall of council members who blocked his proposal to put a one-half percent sales-tax increase on the May 17 ballot, Hahn is endorsing an alternative put forward by Councilman Greig Smith, who fought the tax hike.

``I'm happy to get what I can get,'' Hahn said at a news conference Monday with Police Chief William Bratton as he announced his support for Smith's plan to borrow the money against the city's future share of vehicle license fees.

In other words: ``Tax? Oh, never mind.''

What happened to the dire scenarios that Hahn and his council stooges painted about what L.A. would become if they couldn't soak the public for more money to squander? Gone like the wind; at least Hahn thinks so as he shamelessly starts claiming credit for yet another thing he didn't do.

The alternative plan proposed by Smith, which Hahn used to oppose, calls for the city to borrow $66 million against expected state revenue to hire 278 cops right away - putting the force up to its second-highest level of staffing ever. That's quite an accomplishment, considering the training and resources needed to hire new officers. It's unlikely all the revenue from the ill-conceived sales-tax scheme could speed hiring up more than that.

While borrowing is not an ideal situation for a government not used to living within its means, that can be offset by the savings that the council has vowed to find by rooting out waste and fraud at City Hall - which so far has produced enough for just five more cops.

What's unfortunate is that if the mayor and City Council had gone this route in the first place, and not sought to stick their greedy hands deeper into the public's pockets, then the LAPD might already have started hiring those new police. Instead, they spent months scheming to get the tax hike passed, and missed opportunities to squirrel away funds.

They could have used the plan as muscle to extract some concessions out of the employee unions to take not-so-generous raises to help the city be safe. If they had done that, perhaps getting the public support for a sales-tax hike would have been a snap.

It shows how City Hall spawns backward thinking and policy that supports the system, however faulty it may be. It's great that the mayor and council can come together to support a reasonable plan for more cops, but they will have a lot more work to do before they can restore their own credibility that was lost on this debacle.