"With former Mayor Richard Riordan ... suspending his effort to put the pension measure on the May 21 ballot, voters will now get to decide whether to pay more but not whether to ask the city to pay less. [The authors] had misgivings about Riordan's proposal, but its premature disappearance closes off discussion of a genuinely important issue and eliminates a possible solution to L.A.'s budget problems.... Independent study of the plan's costs and benefits was sorely needed, but now that it's off the ballot, that's not in the cards."  MORE >>