The Los Angeles City Council is expected today to enter the next phase of reorganizing how city government works as it copes with a more than $200 million shortfall over the next four months and deal with a $400 million deficit next year.

A 41-point program proposed by City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana that deals with everything from eliminating some politically popular programs to shedding the city of managing some of its assets over the next three years will receive its first hearing before the council.

"This is the start of a conversation," Santana said. "We haven't thought of every issue. Our goal is to put it out there and get direction from the council in areas they want to explore for the future.

"This is all part of a process we need to go through to examine what the city needs to do."

Also on the agenda is looking at how to bring in more revenue. Proposals include everything from improving debt collection to creating a revenue review task force to look at other options.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week took some of the heat off the council when he ordered layoffs to begin on 1,000 workers. He was met with some defiance, however, from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who said he will not lay off 100 people in his office.

"The City Attorney believes he can find the savings in his office without having to lay anyone off," spokesman John Franklin said. "At this point, they are looking for savings of $3 million or $4 million for this fiscal year. We believe we can find that. And, if they are looking for $10 million next year, we believe we can find that."

Chief Deputy City Attorney Bill Carter sent out an e-mail to staff last week assuring them that Trutanich - as an independent elected official - had no plans to lay off any workers.

"The City Attorney has no intention of laying off any of our staff unless and until such action is compelled by action of the City Council," Carter wrote. "We are working with all our might to avoid that eventuality."

Carter said the City Charter protects elected officials. The mayor's directive applies only to the department heads he appoints and who are authorized to order layoffs, Carter said.

Villaraigosa and Trutanich met for an hour on Monday to discuss their differences, and the two officials agreed to work together on ways to find savings.

"The mayor and the City Attorney agreed to work with one another and implement savings the City Attormey suggested," spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said.

Also, she said many of the workers in the City Attorney's office are part of the Coalition of City Unions, whose contract prohibits any layoffs.

Outside of the Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Department, Trutanich has one of the largest budgets in the city, at $95.2 million, making it a target for cuts.

Santana said Trutanich also has proposed a number of programs, from creating a strike force to go after bad debt to saving money by increasing administrative hearings.

"All those are things that have merit," Santana said. "If he is able to generate the ongoing savings, that's what we are looking for."

Beyond this year, however, Villaraigosa and Santana are calling for a major restructuring of what services the city provides and developing a three-year budget and strategic plan to cut back in a number of areas.

Although the City Council has put on hold a plan to eliminate some departments, Santana has proposed eliminating the Human Services Department and transferring the work of several other agencies into other departments.

Council members have said they want to offer assurances to the community that programs, such as those for the disabled and involving the environment, will continue even if the departments are eliminated.