Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa |
LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the elimination of two city departments Friday to help the city cope with a growing budget deficit.
Villaraigosa eliminated the city's Environmental Affairs and Human Services departments and vowed to make further cuts to reduce a massive budget deficit unless labor unions agree to pay cuts.
"On Monday, I will begin a series of in-department budget reviews with the general managers of every city department to identify positions and services for elimination," Villaraigosa said at an afternoon news conference in City Hall.
"These are the first two (departments axed), but there will be more," he said.
The mayor's move is expected to save the city $3.2 million and eliminate 46 positions.
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said it is not clear if all employees occupying those positions will be laid off, as some may be transferred to other departments.
Villaraigosa said the functions of the Environmental Affairs and Human Services departments will be transferred to other departments and offices.
He urged labor unions -- including those representing police officers and firefighters -- to agree to pay cuts in order to preserve services and avoid layoffs.
"There's a way to avoid this," Villaraigosa said.
"I believe that police and fire should have salaries cut like everybody else," he added. "Here's an example, with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions and with police, we had an agreement where they could defer their raises.
That was last year. We can't afford that this year. This year, I'm asking them to take a cut."
Villaraigosa stressed, however, that he did not want to lay off any police officers or firefighters, citing public safety concerns.
His comments came a day after the City Council refused to exempt police officers and firefighters from a motion that calls for eliminating up to 4,000 jobs by July 1.
The city's $212 million budget deficit is projected by city budget analysts to grow to $485 million next fiscal year, $785 million by 2011-2012 and almost $1 billion by 2012-2013.
The credit-rating agency Moody's Investors Service put Los Angeles on its negative watch list earlier this week, saying the city "underestimated the full effect of the recession on its revenues and was slow in implementing and planning cost savings for the current fiscal year."
Santana said the city intends to close this year's budget deficit by withdrawing most of the money from its $230 million reserve fund.
Santana estimated that eliminating 4,000 positions will save the city $260 million, which can be used to reduce next year's deficit.
Villaraigosa eliminated the city's Environmental Affairs and Human Services departments and vowed to make further cuts to reduce a massive budget deficit unless labor unions agree to pay cuts.
"On Monday, I will begin a series of in-department budget reviews with the general managers of every city department to identify positions and services for elimination," Villaraigosa said at an afternoon news conference in City Hall.
"These are the first two (departments axed), but there will be more," he said.
The mayor's move is expected to save the city $3.2 million and eliminate 46 positions.
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said it is not clear if all employees occupying those positions will be laid off, as some may be transferred to other departments.
Villaraigosa said the functions of the Environmental Affairs and Human Services departments will be transferred to other departments and offices.
He urged labor unions -- including those representing police officers and firefighters -- to agree to pay cuts in order to preserve services and avoid layoffs.
"There's a way to avoid this," Villaraigosa said.
"I believe that police and fire should have salaries cut like everybody else," he added. "Here's an example, with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions and with police, we had an agreement where they could defer their raises.
That was last year. We can't afford that this year. This year, I'm asking them to take a cut."
Villaraigosa stressed, however, that he did not want to lay off any police officers or firefighters, citing public safety concerns.
His comments came a day after the City Council refused to exempt police officers and firefighters from a motion that calls for eliminating up to 4,000 jobs by July 1.
The city's $212 million budget deficit is projected by city budget analysts to grow to $485 million next fiscal year, $785 million by 2011-2012 and almost $1 billion by 2012-2013.
The credit-rating agency Moody's Investors Service put Los Angeles on its negative watch list earlier this week, saying the city "underestimated the full effect of the recession on its revenues and was slow in implementing and planning cost savings for the current fiscal year."
Santana said the city intends to close this year's budget deficit by withdrawing most of the money from its $230 million reserve fund.
Santana estimated that eliminating 4,000 positions will save the city $260 million, which can be used to reduce next year's deficit.
