Posted on 05/12/2009 9:21:25 PM PDT by Steelfish
Villaraigosa calls on City Council to declare a fiscal emergency
In light of L.A.'s $529-million budget deficit, the mayor seeks the authority to layoff and furlough thousands of city workers. The council is to consider the matter later this week.
By Phil Willon
May 12, 2009
With Los Angeles facing a $529-million budget deficit, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday urged the City Council to declare a fiscal emergency that would grant him the authority to layoff and furlough thousands of city workers.
The request signals a more hard-line tack by the mayor to win salary and benefit concessions from the city's public employee unions, which had soured on Villaraigosa's call for a salary freeze, furloughs and increased benefit costs to save $230 million and avert the need for layoffs.
Villaraigosa said that the worsening economy and an expected $300-million drop in city tax revenue gave him "very few options." L.A.'s budget gap is expected to grow to $1 billion in the 2010-2011 fiscal year because of investment losses in the city's pension systems, which the city is required to keep solvent.
"The gravity of the fiscal emergency that we face is enormous," Villaraigosa said in his letter to the council. "Unless we act with urgency, the city will face a cash flow crisis, raising the prospect of running out of cash between November and February."
The council is expected to consider the mayor's request later this week.
Barbara Maynard of the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, which represents 22,000 civilian employees, said the unions and the mayor's office had been negotiating a major early retirement program that would have taken more than 2,000 city workers off the payroll and allowed the city to avoid mass layoffs. Early retirement would have been offered to workers within five years of eligibility.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Let’s see LA crashs and burns, followed by the State of California, 10% of the people out of work most likely 25 to 30% of the government workers furloughed/layed off, throw in drought, a fire or two, a hot summer with rolling blackouts and then small riot and/or an earthquake and then the looting starts and then..................................
In a few years LA residents will lose their savings and pensions and possibly their lives (crime, riots, suicides) in the coming financial collapse of the feds and CA.
You Dummiecrats gave it all away. NOW LIVE WITH IT!!
Could their Sanctuary City policy have anything to do with their budget problems?
WHAT a dilemma!
Pizz off his reconquista buddies by putting them on the street combined with orders from ØbamaLand Central Command direct from The Øne itself to not cut pay, lay off or otherwise offend union or Job-for-Life gubbermint workers.
Antonio, the Øne will not be pleased...
"If you lay me off I'll burn down the city."(?)
They should get the polictical thieves to give them their money back.
How can this be happening to LA and California— I thought illegal immigration was great and giving more money to crappy schools was the answer?
Unions at work
Dear Mayor Villar,
Just fine all employers of illegals $2000 per person per day, and pay a team of enforcers to go around to all residences and businesses and find them. Two things will happen. The first month will bring in a ton of revenue, even after paying the enforcers’ salaries. By the second month, most of the illegals will have lost their jobs and self-deported and there will be less services abused, so more taxpayer dollars rest in the city.
Proof that liberalism is a failure.
They’ve known about this crisis for a long time and did nothing about it. Crisis = power.
They had their foot on the accelerator knowing there was a cliff ahead. At the cliff edge they cry “help”. Typical.
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