Jobs, trade, municipal contracting: L.A. (and the U.S.) needs a local preference ordinance

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...