LOS ANGELES, April 19 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Monday sent the City Council a letter indicating he proposes laying off 750 city workers to help balance the budget.
The letter, in advance of the State of the City address Tuesday, listed the layoffs in a plan to eliminate 3,546 positions, LA Weekly reported.
"We will not know the salary savings until the process plays itself out," the newspaper quoted mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton as saying.
The Los Angeles Times reported the job-culling total includes up to 2,400 employees taking an early-retirement deal and more than 300 transferred to new jobs. There had been recent predictions the layoffs would be as high as 4,000 jobs, as Villaraigosa looks for ways to close a $485 million budget gap, the Times said.
Councilman Paul Koretz told the Times throwing out the high number of 4,000 "frightened a lot of people at City Hall for nothing."
"I'm sure there will be a lot of relieved people that find they're not on the chopping block," he said. "But you know, we never should have put their heads there to begin with."
Los Angeles has about 35,000 employees.
