Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa returned to Sacramento on Tuesday for the second time in three weeks, leading a delegation of mayors trying to block state legislators from taking local funds.
At the same time, hundreds of city workers descended on Los Angeles City Hall to protest plans to furlough workers 26 days and close down basic services twice a month.
Villaraigosa, joined by the mayors of San Diego, Santa Ana and Sacramento, pleaded with the state to repay any funds that it takes from cities. "We want to be able to look our constituents in the eye and say we did all we could to protect our revenues," Villaraigosa said. "We recognize they have the ability and the authority to take money, but we want to see them pay it back. A core principal is that there be a repayment schedule."
Villaraigosa and the other mayors said their main concern is the potential loss of gas tax money - which would require the cities to divert money to repair streets and potholes.
"They are saying it will not affect public safety, but for me it's 120 firefighters and 120 police officers," San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said. A 100-member business delegation led by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce plans to head up to Sacramento today for its own lobbying effort.
"These are hard times, as hard as I've seen and the worst since the Great Depression," said Gary Toebben, chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, heading a 100-member delegation going to Sacramento.
"I think a business delegation will have some impact with state officials, because we have had to do what they are looking at - cutting and reducing our costs to stay in business. We hope to bring a message that we are all in this together and the faster everyone realizes that, the sooner we can move ahead."
Villaraigosa and the others said their meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger found him willing to talk, but feeling he had few options. "What he said to us is that he did not want to take from cities, but he felt he had no options left - that they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for money," said Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.
Back home at Los Angeles City Hall, hundreds of workers - janitors, librarians, sanitation workers, electricians and others - protested the proposal to have workers take off without pay two days a month to make up $100 million of the more than $500 million deficit.
The workers, wearing red, white and blue T-shirts reading "Proud to Serve L.A.," urged the council to adopt an early retirement plan rather than furlough or lay off workers. Villaraigosa and the council rejected the retirement incentive plan because of the increased pension costs.
Many workers carried their children to emphasize the impact on their families if they are forced to take a 10 percent cut in pay as well as the impact on the public.
"We are the people who wash your cars, who clean your streets, who clean your offices," one worker said.
City officials said they were sympathetic.
"We don't have much choice," said Councilman Bernard Parks, who chairs the council's Budget and Finance Committee. "Eighty percent of our budget is personnel. The only way we can close the gap is through furloughs or layoffs."
Parks said he believed any reductions should be citywide as he objected to a Los Angeles Police Protective League campaign to build public support against any furlough of officers.
"I believe we should have the shared sacrifice citywide, and that includes public safety," Parks said. "I say to them they wouldn't be out there if there weren't people to pave the roads, fix the cars, maintain the radios, take in the calls.
"We need to see everyone sharing."
Council President Eric Garcetti thanked the workers for the jobs they perform and said the council did not want to order layoffs or furloughs.
"We are working every day to see we don't have to do that," Garcetti said. "But, we also don't want to be in the position of the state where we will be running out of money. That would cause even more harm."
