Los Angeles City Council delays decision on cutting 1000 jobs

Unable to take more straightforward action on a shortfall that has grown to $212 million this year, the council voted to seek another list of possible job cuts and, after hearing pleas from a chamber packed with protesting employees and residents, promised not to act on layoffs for 30 days.

Members also postponed the elimination of three city departments as they search for new sources of revenue, including uncollected debts and federal stimulus funds.

Council leaders had hoped to strike a compromise between the group's budget hawks, who have been calling for layoffs for more than a week, and the doves who sought to save the jobs of civilian employees. But Councilmen Greig Smith and Bernard C. Parks, who favored the job cuts, said the series of votes had only added to the crisis.

"We're becoming Sacramento south," Smith said. "We're sticking our heads in the sand and hoping it goes away."

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana also voiced dismay, saying that he fears that Wall Street rating agencies will respond by downgrading the city's bond rating -- hiking the cost of borrowing and adding to the burden on taxpayers.