Last time I sat in the lobby of Laura Chick's suite in City Hall East, the most prominent photo showed the controller with her friend Bob Hertzberg. She selected him to help swear her in to office after her election four years ago. If Hertzberg makes the runoff in the race for mayor, he will surely want her endorsement—she endorsed Antonio Villaraigosa last time and says she'll wait to see who's in the runoff to bet on a horse this time. That's the background, plus one other nugget: Chick has been lobbying the city council for a bigger budget. Now the news, just sent from Hertzberg's campaign (with emphasis added):

LOS ANGELES, CA - Mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg today said that as mayor he will empower City Controller Laura Chick with the resources necessary to conduct thorough performance audits of city departments.

"As mayor, I will empower the city controller with the resources to thoroughly audit city departments," Hertzberg said. "And, unlike Jim Hahn, I will enact the city controller's recommendations to make L.A. work more efficiently and at a lower cost to the taxpayers."

The controller's office already conducts performance audits, but funding levels limit the scope. Hertzberg said he would triple the controller's budget for performance audits, from approximately $1 million to $3 million.

Also in the Inbox: A sharp-eared reader notes that on Richard Alarcon's campaign website, his name is spelled Alarcón (with the mark) and a special page is devoted to explaining that the correct pronunciation is all-are-CONE. In Alarcón's TV commercials, though, this reader (not an L.A. voter) reports the name is said AL-AR-CON "as in pro and con."

Today's papers: If Hertzberg can crusade to break up the school district, Alarcon can push toll freeways and Jim Hahn can claim he's making L.A. the safest city in America, I guess Villaraigosa can promise health care for all newborns. What does the mayor do again?...Both the Daily News and the Breeze run Bernard Parks profiles today...The FBI and the MTA's inspector general have launched inquiries into the role that city councilman (and MTA board member) Martin Ludlow played in a development project...The police commission adopted new use-of-force rules for when LAPD officers may shoot at moving vehicles.