Los Angeles mayor orders 1,000 city jobs eliminated

Disturbed by the council's inability to make a dent in a $212-million shortfall, Villaraigosa sent a letter to department heads saying he was accelerating the effort to shift as many employees as possible to vacant positions not paid by the city's general fund and would impose layoffs where necessary. Police officers would not be affected.

"If you think I'm not going to move ahead, you don't know me well," Villaraigosa told reporters during a late afternoon news conference. "I don't do this because I want to. I do this because I must."

This is the third consecutive year that Villaraigosa has raised the possibility of layoffs to address the city's long-troubled finances, though few pink slips have been issued in that time. But with tax revenues plummeting in recent months, the city's top budget official warned that the bleak financial situation was creating a fiscal emergency -- and putting the city's credit rating at risk.

City officials were able to avert firings last year by negotiating a deal with several unions that allowed 2,400 workers to retire up to five years early with full benefits. That process is expected to save $47 million this year and $111 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Still, the city has fewer options to address this year's $212-million shortfall, making layoffs more difficult to avoid, Villaraigosa said.