Los Angeles is behind the curve in adopting a local preference ordinance, which would give local businesses an edge in landing city contracts. Washington should also act to keep jobs onshore.
It's taken awhile, but Los Angeles is at last beginning to do things that would help Los Angeles.
Last week, the mayor and two members of the City Council — Bernard C. Parks and Paul Krekorian — proposed a "local preference" ordinance that would give L.A. businesses a modest advantage over outside firms when bidding for city contracts. Modest, in this instance, is defined as 8%. If a company meets the city's definition of a local business, that company would get an 8% advantage on its bids for contracts. In the case of contracts awarded based on the lowest bid, the cost of a million-dollar bid would be listed as $920,000. In a "request for proposal" situation, if the city determines that a proposal is worth 100 points, that figure would be boosted to 108 points.
In September, 2009 Atlantic Monthly named 
