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Mayor Threatens Layoffs , More Furloughs
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On Monday Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa threatened to implement a new round of employee furloughs and layoffs if Los Angeles City Council members were unable to reach an agreement on budget cuts.
"The council's Budget and Finance Committee was unable to reach agreement on a series of proposals to make up for a potential loss of $53 million in revenue because of the city's inability to put together a lease-sale deal for its parking garages," reports the Daily News.
The core discussion of the lease-sale of nine city garages to private operators has been "under study" for the past two years with recent opposition heard from council members and a community activists. The city owes a reported $140 million on the garages, and the lease-sale would pay off that debt. Villaraigosa urged city council members, who are paid $178,000 a year, to accept "economic reality" and start focusing on providing service to city's residents.
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