Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

LOS ANGELES Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was greeted by "boos" from the audience of mostly city workers when he made a rare address to the City Council last Tuesday, publicly expressing frustration about the group’s indecision on dealing with the city’s budget deficit, including his call to eliminate 1,000 city jobs.

The mayor answered questions for nearly two hours but remained adamant about the need to lay off workers, cut departments, privatize parking garages and meters, as well as the zoo and convention center. Any delay could force the city into a ‘financial tailspin,’ he said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Some City Council members argued that the city’s $212-million deficit -- and the $485-million shortfall forecast for 2010-11 -- could be addressed without sending out pink slips. But news reports say Villaraigosa told the council, "I come today understanding just how difficult the decisions (are that) we are asking you to make. There just aren’t unlimited options here. We can’t continue to say no to everything. We can’t say no to layoffs, no to furloughs, no to department elimination, no to parking meters, no to parking structures, no to the zoo, no to the Convention Center. . . The fact is we can’t sustain this business model."

Last week, the council approved a motion stating "that no layoffs of city personnel take place in the next 30 days," but members called for a list of 1,000 positions that could be cut. Council President Eric Garcetti defended the council, saying it "didn’t slow down one day on the layoffs. There was no failure to act." Councilman Greig Smith, on the other hand, asked the mayor to explain how the city got to a point where layoffs and the elimination of 1,000 city positions became the "only option on the table." The 1,000 positions that could be eliminated were mentioned by City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana in a letter to the city’s public employee unions given earlier this week, according to news reports.

After the meeting with Mayor Villaraigosa, the City Council has agreed to eliminate the environmental affairs department, to seek proposals from private companies to operate the convention center, and to open negotiations for a public-private partnership of the LA Zoo. (AJPress)

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( Published February 13, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A5 )