EDITORIAL SOLD OUT CITY LEADERS BETRAY L.A. TAXPAYERS IN LIVING-WAGE DEAL.

THE scene leading up to City Hall's last-minute resolution over the ``living-wage'' fight tells you all you need to know about the eventual outcome: In one room were Los Angeles business leaders; in the other, city union bosses. And between the two shuffled L.A.'s top politicians, trying to put together a deal that would please both sides.

Notice who was missing? Anyone representing the city's ordinary, taxpaying residents.

Our elected officials, who are supposed to be our representatives, were instead playing go-between for the power brokers. And they struck a deal by selling out the only ones without a seat at the table -- the rest of us.

In the end, all the players got what they wanted:

The unions were assured that hotels operating around Los Angeles International Airport will start paying a ``living wage'' -- above and beyond the state-mandated minimum wage -- to their employees.

The hotels were assured that they wouldn't bear this burden themselves; the city would help through some combination of special investments in the Century Boulevard Corridor.

The City Council was spared the embarrassment of an election that would have overturned its hasty decision to selectively impose the living wage in the first place.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa got to play his favorite role as the hero, the super-peacemaker who swoops in to any contentious situation and makes everyone happy.

And we got stuck with the bill.

Those special perks for the affected businesses -- the details of which have yet to be publicly disclosed -- will come, one way or the other, out of the taxpayers' pockets. Funds spent to offset the hotels' losses will come at the expense of the basic city services for which we all pay dearly.

What's funny, in an infuriating sort of way, is that when the council first embraced the idea of extending the living wage to LAX-area hotels, it argued that these businesses were already getting a taxpayer-supported subsidy. By virtue of operating near a major city facility, the reasoning went, they were benefiting from the public's investment, and so they should share the wealth with their employees.

How the council started with that position, and ended up giving the hotels additional corporate welfare, is mind-boggling.

It's a testament to the lack of integrity in the entire process, a process that was always about placating special interests, not trying to make L.A. a better city.

After brokering the deal, Villaraigosa boasted that ``this is a win-win for everyone'' -- everyone, that is, except for this city's residents.