No cop tax this year *

City Council President Alex Padilla told the Current Affairs Forum Monday that the vote on a tax hike for hiring more cops should be delayed until next year. The L.A. Business Journal was first up with the story. In all likelihood he'll get his way, but Mayor Hahn was out pushing Monday for a May vote. Also, Padilla says he has not endorsed anyone for mayor and may not before the March 8 primary. Last time, he and fellow Valley council member Tony Cardenas backed Hahn.

Add cops: Bob Hertzberg unveils a plan of cuts and efficiences this morning that he says will allow the LAPD to hire 3,000 new officers without any tax increases.

Elsewhere in the race: The Times has a piece on Hahn holding a fundraiser today in Sacramento, after he blasted Hertzberg and Antonio Villaraigosa for their Capitol ties...Villaraigosa's camp says that when Hahn skipped last week's debate at the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association to seek an endorsement from Eastside Democrats, Corina Villaraigosa stood in for her husband and bested the mayor. The Northeast Democrats endorsed Villaraigosa...His consultant Parke Skelton also pooh-poohs the weekend's Pollie Award for Hahn's campaign website: He says whoever pays $500 to the Association of American Political Consultants wins: "Everyone gets to tout themselves to unsuspecting potential clients, and journalists, as "Pollie-award winning"...Anonymous blogger Mayor Sam has somehow decided that the Times favors Hahn and that "Hertzberg represents a big threat to the Times." Reality check: The Times has endorsed Hahn once in his six citywide elections, when he ran unopposed for reelection as city attorney in 1989. The paper endorsed Villaraigosa in 2001. One can only wonder how the election of a mainstream, fairly liberal Democrat (ex-Speaker, ex-Fleishman-Hillard contractor) such as Hertzberg threatens the Times. (* Update: The Mayor Sam site explains, sort of. Hertzberg, they blog, would be "a populist mayor from the San Fernando Valley who literally wants to turn government upside down." I guess it's safe to say Mayor Sam has sipped the Hertzberg Kool-Aid...)