Police Commission begins interviews today for next LAPD chief

The Los Angeles Police Commission is meeting today to begin interviewing candidates vying to become the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Four department insiders are considered the front-runners, according to those monitoring the confidential selection process. The top candidates are said to be assistant chiefs Jim McDonnell, Earl Paysinger and Sharon Papa, and Deputy Chief Charlie Beck.

They are seeking to replace outgoing Chief William J. Bratton, who is leaving to take a civilian job.

LAPD-watchers cautioned that the competition is far from over and that much rests with the candidates' interviews with the commission and later with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has the final say.

Read the complete story on the search for a new L.A. police chief.

-- Joel Rubin

Photos: Jim McDonnell, Earl Paysinger, Sharon Papa and Charlie Beck. Credit: Los Angeles Times

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Villaraigosa launches anti-poverty program using $18 million in federal money

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today unveiled a new anti-poverty program that will include 21 Family Source centers throughout the city as one-stop shops for applying for financial, educational and some healthcare assistance programs.

The centers are scheduled to open Jan. 4 and will be in some of the most impoverished pockets of the city.

Villaraigosa said the coordinated program comes at a critical time for many in a city where the unemployment rate is cresting near 14% and more than 28,000 families have lost their homes in the past two and a half years.

“Now more than ever we need to act," Villaraigosa said.

The program will receive $18 million in federal grants and stimulus money.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon said the program enhances L.A.’s ability to attract more federal money and grants from nonprofit foundations, and allows the city to provide more efficient and effective outreach to those in need even at a time when the city is struggling with a $405-million budget deficit.

“We have less to work with and more problems to address," he said. “The bottom line is we are going to provide better services to more people who need them more than ever."

Along with signing up for social aid, the service centers will be able to provide adults with everything from child care service to helping with job placement. For youth, the centers will provide educational assistance, offering tutoring, mentoring and arts instruction.

-- Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

Push for in-house DWP watchdog gains momentum

The push to create an in-house ratepayer advocate at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power gained new momentum today, with a majority of the Los Angeles City Council saying that the proposal’s time has come.

Although the DWP and representatives of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have resisted the idea for months, a succession of rate hikes and an $82,000 consulting contract with departing DWP General Manager H. David Nahai may have turned the tide, council members said.

Council President Eric Garcetti, known for smoothing over disputes between council members and the mayor, submitted a proposal today calling for a ratepayer advocate. His request comes two days after Councilman Greig Smith called for an inspector general — someone with “unfettered access to all records, personnel meetings, key documents and contracts” — to probe the utility’s financial doings.

“The ratepayers don’t trust the DWP,” said Councilman Richard Alarcon. “I believe a ratepayer advocate or inspector general could help build better trust.”

The DWP Board of Commissioners, a panel chosen by the mayor, rejected plans for a ratepayer advocate last year. That decision infuriated then-commission President Nick Patsaouras, who quit the panel soon after.

City officials and police union reach deal to avoid LAPD furloughs, but details are sketchy

Los Angeles negotiators have reached a tentative two-year contract agreement with the city police union that apparently will avert the need for officer furloughs and shave $50 million to $100 million from L.A.’s $405-million budget shortfall.

To become official, the proposed deal must be ratified by the 9,900-member Los Angeles Police Protective League and approved by the City Council. Details of the confidential contract agreement were not disclosed.

The council approved the tentative agreement during a closed-door session today. Council President Eric Garcetti said the proposal would save the city “tens of millions of dollars." He said a majority of members were opposed to furloughs or any other action that would reduce the number of police officers patrolling city streets.

L.A. mayor, council leaders strike deal to keep budget crisis from shrinking LAPD

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and two members of the City Council said today they have forged an agreement to keep the number of police officers from shrinking in the middle of a budget crisis.

With officials still trying to eliminate a $405-million shortfall, Council President Eric Garcetti said he “comfortably” has support from at least eight of the council’s 15 members to ensure that the Police Department continues to hire officers to replace those who resign or retire.

Villaraigosa, in turn, said he had no problem with the council’s plan for canceling Police Academy classes next month -- as long as such a move does not result in an overall reduction in the size of the nearly 10,000-officer force.

“There are no fights right now” between the city’s elected officials, said Garcetti, standing with the mayor and Councilman Dennis Zine outside the Los Angeles Police Department’s Topanga station.

The news conference provided a sharp contrast to last week’s debate over police hiring, which involved sharp words between Police Chief William J. Bratton and two council members. By comparison, Villaraigosa clasped hands with Garcetti and Zine today as they voiced support for continued hiring.

Still, at least one council member did not sound ready to join in. “I need to be convinced that this is a good option, because I don’t think it is at this point,” Councilwoman Jan Perry said.

Although a vote is scheduled for Tuesday, a spokeswoman said Garcetti would push for a delay.

Bratton says budget woes may endanger police hiring

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton signaled today that he might not prevail in his fight against a proposal to stop hiring new police officers because of the city's budget crisis.

The LAPD, which has added about 800 officers over the last three years, has been hiring only enough new officers to replace those who resign or retire. Bratton said that although he opposes efforts to scale back new hiring, the enormity of the city’s financial woes may cause the LAPD to retrench.

“The reality is, the city budget crisis is probably going to result in fewer officers, either by furloughs or attrition,” Bratton said during the last of his monthly news briefings before he resigns Oct. 31 to join an international security firm.

The city’s political leaders hope to eliminate a $405-million budget shortfall, in part, by securing financial concessions from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police officers’ union. Police officials, speaking for Bratton, have recommended furloughs if not enough money is found during those negotiations.

—David Zahniser and Joel Rubin at L.A. City Hall

Photo: Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, left, inspects a recruit class during graduation ceremonies last year at the Police Academy in Elysian Park for 42 LAPD officers, four Los Angeles World Airports officers and one Los Angeles Port Police officer.

Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

82% of L.A.'s signal-controlled intersections are now synchronized, mayor will announce

About 82% of Los Angeles' signal-controlled intersections are now synchronized, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will announce today when a new set of intersections comes on line in South Los Angeles.

The new project includes synchronizing 70 intersections to improve traffic flow.

Named the Hyde Park West Project, the effort will help quicken north-south traffic flow on Crenshaw Boulevard and Western Avenue, according to the mayor's office.

The total number of signal-synchronized intersections in the city now stands at 3,597.

Traffic-signal synchronization has been a priority of Villaraigosa since taking office.

In 2007. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Villaraigosa announced that Los Angeles would receive $150 million to synchronize the city's 4,385 intersections with signals -- claiming that it would reduce drive times up to 16%, or shaving about 5 minutes from a 30-minute drive.

They also said the plan would help the environment because cars would idle less.

But officials acknowledged at the time that reduction in drive times was general and that motorists who use jammed roads would probably not see much relief. The synchronized lights aren't very effective at intersections with heavy traffic, they said.

-- Ari B. Bloomekatz

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For years, the mayoral sports wager has been a fixture of postseason professional sports.

So it was no surprise that with the Dodgers squaring off against the St. Louis Cardinals, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa anted up with his counterpart, Francis Slay.

But those looking for high stakes may want to look elsewhere.

Outgoing DWP chief Nahai would keep full salary as consultant under proposal

Officials at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials plan to give a consulting contract to the outgoing general manager of the power agency that would pay him the same salary he was earning as the DWP's top executive.

Just days after he resigned, David Nahai is slated to receive nearly $6,300 per week as a consultant to the utility.The DWP commission, whose five members are appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the plan.

DWP commission President Lee Kanon Alpert said he personally asked Nahai to stay on as a consultant, saying such agreements are normal when an agency’s executives are in transition.

“There’s nothing nefarious about it, nothing complex about it. This is a reasonable business decision, nothing more than that,” Alpert said. “David’s resigned, and we need his institutional knowledge for the next few months.”

Nahai did not return a call to his home seeking comment. 

Metrolink installs video cameras in locomotives as safety measure

Metrolink officials today announced that video cameras have been installed and activated inside and outside all of the rail system's locomotives, a safety measure enacted as a result of the deadly 2008 Chatsworth crash.

Video records will be stored in a unit similar to an airplane's black box, installed in all 52 locomotive cabs, and the information will be downloaded daily for random review. The purpose of the recorders is to ensure that engineers adhere to bans on cellphones, text messaging and unauthorized passengers in the cab, issues that arose after a Metrolink crash killed two dozen people a year ago and during subsequent National Transportation Safety Board hearings in Washington.

The announcement was made at news conference by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Metrolink board chairman Keith Millhouse at the Metrolink maintenance yard near Elysian Park. Officials said the price to install the cameras was $1 million.

Head of L.A.'s water and power utility steps down

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's top executive, H. David Nahai, has resigned from the agency effective immediately, the mayor's office announced this morning.

In a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Nahai said he was leaving to take a position as an advisor to former President Clinton's climate initiative.

Nahai had served two years as a DWP commissioner before Villaraigosa elevated him to the post of chief executive and general manager in 2007. Ever since, he had been under fire from an array of forces.

He drew strong criticism from the head of the powerful International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, which represents thousands of DWP workers, who accused Nahai of doing too little to secure the passage of Measure B, a solar power ballot proposal that narrowly fell short of passage in March.

Neighborhood councils also complained of a proposal to increase electric rates. Residents of the San Fernando Valley have been upset in recent weeks over the DWP’s water conservation measures, which limited sprinkler use to two days per week. And residents across the city were perplexed by a string of water main breaks, including one that resulted in a sinkhole that gobbled up a portion of a fire truck.

Nahai did have support from environmental circles, however. Last spring, a series of environmental leaders sent Villaraigosa a letter urging him to ignore the complaints and keep Nahai.

"I would like to thank David Nahai for his four years of service at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where he led the team responsible for increasing the city's renewable energy portfolio, reducing water consumption to record levels, and putting us on the path to be coal free by 2020,'' Villaraigosa said in a statement released this morning.

Villaraigosa has asked the DWP's board of commissioners to temporarily appoint his top environmental advisor, David Freeman, as interim general manager of the utility. Freeman is a former DWP general manager and also served as president of the city harbor commission.

-- Phil Willon and David Zahniser at L.A. City Hall

Italian firm awarded MTA contract pledges to build new L.A. rail manufacturing plant with union labor

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board Thursday awarded a contract to the Italian firm AnsaldoBreda for 100 additional light-rail cars, clearing the way for a new rail manufacturing plant that the company has promised to build with union labor in downtown Los Angeles.

The decision was a victory for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who said the manufacturing plant would be a catalyst for his plan to attract clean technology companies to a four-mile-long industrial corridor straddling the Los Angeles River.

“This means that L.A. is going to be the center of green jobs in the nation,” Villaraigosa said after the 8-3 vote. “This facility will not only provide rail cars for the MTA, but for the high-speed rail authority for virtually every transit facility in the hemisphere.”

Though the board was not permitted to weigh the possibility of local jobs in its decision, the vote followed impassioned speeches from union workers who said many of their colleagues were out of work and losing their homes.

Concerned about the company’s past performance, three MTA board members voted no: Lakewood City Councilwoman Diane DuBois, Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who favored seeking competitive bids.

“The MTA’s return to sleaze once again has hung the taxpayers out to dry by selling out to the incompetent highest bidder,” Antonovich said. “Breda has failed to deliver on time in two previous MTA contracts, and the current contract is already three years behind schedule in delivering certified rail cars.”

Controversial rail contract approved by MTA board; Italian firm pledges to build plant in downtown L.A.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board today awarded a contract to the Italian firm AnsaldoBreda for 100 additional light-rail cars, clearing the way for a new rail manufacturing plant that the company has promised to build in downtown Los Angeles.

The decision was a victory for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has made green jobs a centerpiece of his agenda. He said the rail plant would serve as the southern anchor of his proposed clean technology corridor east of downtown.

Board members approved the $300-million deal on an 8-3 vote — with two members absent — after impassioned speeches by union workers who said many of their colleagues were out of work and losing their homes.

Art Leahy, the MTA's chief executive, had recommended against approval of the controversial deal. But at the last moment, AnsaldoBreda circulated an e-mail that provided additional financial guarantees from the firm's parent company, Finmeccanica.

-- Maeve Reston at L.A. City Hall

Schwarzenegger nominates friend of Villaraigosa to seat on California Horse Racing Board

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the nomination of one of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s closest friends and confidants, Keith Brackpool, to the California Horse Racing Board.

Brackpool, 52, is chief executive of Cadiz, a company that hopes to complete a water banking project in the Mojave Desert. Cadiz, based in Los Angeles, had tried unsuccessfully to sell the Metropolitan Water District on a $150-million water storage plan in the eastern Mojave Desert.

Villaraigosa worked as a consultant for Cadiz before he was elected mayor in 2005, and the governor's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, also used to work for Cadiz: In 2005, while Kennedy was serving on the state Public Utilities Commission, the firm paid her $120,000 in consulting fees.

Appointments to the horse racing board are subject to Senate confirmation, and compensation for the post is limited to a $100 per diem. Brackpool is a Democrat.

-- Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

L.A. City Council confirms Debra Wong Yang's appointment to police commission

The Los Angeles City Council this morning unanimously approved the appointment of former U.S. Atty. Debra Wong Yang to the city Board of Police Commissioners.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nominated Yang, who is also a former Superior Court judge, in August.

Yang joins the commission at a time when it is searching for a replacement for outgoing Police Chief William J. Bratton.

She fills a seat on the five-member panel vacated by former commission President Anthony Pacheco, who left to pursue a legal career.

-- Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

Former Villaraigosa aide joins law firm to handle renewable energy business

One of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s recently departed advisers has secured a job handling renewable energy business for an international law firm.

The mayor's former deputy chief of staff Dan Grunfeld stepped down from his post Friday. Today, the law firm of Kaye Scholer announced that Grunfeld, 49, will work in its Los Angeles office representing clients in such fields as green technology, alternative energy and compliance with environmental laws.

Villaraigosa has promised to make Los Angeles “the greenest big city in America” by pushing the Department of Water and Power toward more solar, wind and geothermal energy. Grunfeld, who spent two years as the mayor’s No. 2 policy adviser, said he is excited to work on alternative energy matters but does not expect that the firm’s work will intersect with the city of Los Angeles.

“They have an international practice when it comes to green technology and green development,” he said.

Kaye Scholer boasts on its website that it is one of the nation’s leading practices devoted to wind power and renewable energy transactions. Grunfeld, who will co-chair the firm’s litigation department, will also focus on healthcare and venture capital, the announcement said.

The DWP has been purchasing renewable power from various sources and has completed one wind farm, known as Pine Tree. The utility also has been considering a lawsuit against the city of Vernon to obtain property in Kern County that is considered a prime spot for a wind farm.

-- David Zahniser at L.A. City Hall

City Council passes early retirement as union leaders make 'hard concessions'; workers must approve pact

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously today to resurrect a plan to give early retirement to 2,400 employees, and reversed plans for imposing layoffs and furloughs on six of its civilian employee unions.

Negotiators for the city said they had persuaded the Coalition of L.A. City Unions to give up $78 million in “hard concessions” and convince its 22,000 members to contribute an extra .37% of their paychecks toward the city’s pension fund, covering more of the early retirement cost.

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the city’s top financial adviser, described the concessions as “solid.” But he also said the city’s $405-million budget shortfall is so big that some employees — most likely members of a separate union, the Engineers and Architects’ Assn. — would experience an unspecified number of layoffs and continue to experience furloughs.

“Nobody likes furloughs,” Santana told the council. “It’s not a way to manage any organization. But it’s a necessary thing to do when you’re facing this kind of crisis.”

LAPD opens new high-tech crime analysis center

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today officially opened the Los Angeles Police Department’s new high-tech crime analysis center.

The LAPD unit is housed in the same new building as the city’s $107-million Emergency Operations Center, the nerve center where officials will coordinate the city’s response to major earthquakes, wildfires, acts of terrorism and other potential disasters and public safety threats.

Officers and detectives in the LAPD’s new Real-Time Analysis and Critical Response Division will sift through a collection of data — 911 calls, the location of GPS-monitored parolees and up-to-the-minute developments at crime scenes — to assist with investigations, suspect information and geographic profiling.

Detectives also will have access to LAPD and Department of Transportation video cameras, the ability to use facial-recognition software to track down suspects, and software to pinpoint and decipher vehicle license plates on the video feeds.

“It’s the heart and soul of the emergency operations response for the city and for the region,’’ said Jim McDonnell, the LAPD's first assistant chief.

The new center is on East Temple Street, east of the federal courthouse.

—Phil Willon at City Hall

L.A. City Council may vote on labor package Friday

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top labor negotiator said today he will continue talks with six city unions in hopes of finalizing a labor agreement by Friday morning that helps eradicate a $405-million budget shortfall.

A bargaining committee comprised of Villaraigosa and four City Council members gave instructions to City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana to seek a new employee package for a 10 a.m. vote Friday.

Santana, facing reporters this afternoon, would not say whether the council has managed to resuscitate a plan for giving 2,400 employees early retirement.

The council took the first steps Wednesday to impose layoffs and furloughs if an early retirement plan cannot be reached. Villaraigosa has criticized the council over the last 24 hours for not moving fast enough.

But Santana said the instructions were given unanimously by the council and mayor this afternoon.

—David Zahniser and Phil Willon

Villaraigosa names new deputy chief of homeland security

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today picked a veteran federal prosecutor to be the city’s new deputy mayor for homeland security and public safety.

His choice, Eileen Decker, currently serves as chief of national security for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, responsible for counter-terrorism and counterintelligence investigations and prosecutions.

As deputy mayor, she will oversee the mayor’s public safety initiatives, emergency preparedness and counter-terrorism policies. She also will administer $400 million in federal and state homeland security grants awarded to the city.

“She has a monumental task ahead of her, but I’m confident that Eileen will serve with the integrity that’s become the hallmark of her career,’’ Villaraigosa said this morning.

Decker replaces former Deputy Mayor Arif Alikhan, who left to join the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

-- Phil Willon

L.A. council votes to impose furloughs and layoffs while talks continue on early retirement plan

The Los Angeles City Council voted today to move ahead with a plan to impose furloughs and layoffs on its civilian workforce, even as it called for two more days of talks with its unions to keep from having to follow through with that plan.

On a 13-0 vote, the council also declined to put an early retirement plan into effect on the grounds that it is too costly.

The council took the first step toward eliminating 926 positions and imposing 26 days of furloughs on the Coalition of L.A. City Unions in an attempt to eliminate a $405 million shortfall.

Council members said they hope to reach an agreement with the coalition before Sept. 28, when furloughs would begin to take effect.

“There’s been a lot of progress” during the closed-door talks, said Councilwoman Jan Perry who represents part of downtown Los Angeles.

Villaraigosa spokesman Matt Szabo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in recent days, the mayor threatened to veto a decision to move ahead with the early retirement plan on the grounds that it would save too little and place too large a burden on the city’s pension system.

Early retirement would have allowed 2,400 workers to leave up to five years early with full benefits. Although it was desigend to help address a budget crisis, the city’s top financial adviser warned last week that it would only save $12 million this budget year.

Despite those warnings, the proposal has drawn support from several council members, including Richard Alarcon, Paul Koretz and Janice Hahn.

Alarcon, who represents the San Fernando Valley, described today’s vote as a place holder, one that will buy time as the city’s negotiating committee tries to develop a new early retirement plan that is more financially viable. The vote “is a safety net, in the event that we aren’t able to come up with an agreement,” Alarcon said.

Union leaders said they will take similar steps, preparing a legal challenge against the city even as they continue negotiations. But they were upbeat after today’s vote, praising the council for searching for a new agreement.

“We’re finding common ground, and we hope to build on that common ground,” said Victor Gordo, secretary treasurer of Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 777.

-- David Zahniser and Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

L.A. council back in closed session debating budget cuts and early retirement plan

The Los Angeles City Council reconvened this afternoon and immediately went behind closed doors to discuss whether to salvage a costly early retirement plan or move to layoffs and furloughs in an attempt to eliminate a $405-million budget shortfall.

The council took no action Tuesday after nine hours of deliberations over an early retirement plan that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has threatened to veto on the grounds that it does too little to address the budget crisis.

Afterward, council members, mayoral aides, union leaders and the city’s financial advisors worked into the night in an attempt to reach a compromise with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions that would salvage early retirement while reducing expenses by a larger amount.

Councilman Greig Smith said he believed a compromise would require the coalition, which represents 22,000 civilian workers, to take unpaid days off. Until now, the union has been shielded from furloughs.

“There will be furloughs no matter what,” Smith said. “The question is, will there be massive layoffs?”

Top city official resigns amid rape investigation

A top Los Angeles city official under police investigation for allegedly raping a woman at his downtown condominium has resigned, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced in a statement today naming his interim replacement.

Andrew Adelman, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, had been on administrative leave since the allegations involving the July 10 sexual assault became public. Adelman has not been arrested or charged.

In a July 28 search warrant, Los Angeles Police Department investigators said they were told that the victim in the case had gone with friends on a "pub crawl" in the downtown area, had several drinks and then blacked out.

The next morning, the victim told police, she awoke and was being sexually assaulted by a man she later identified as Adelman, the affidavit alleges.

Council goes into closed session to discuss early retirement of city workers

After nearly two hours of public comment, the Los Angeles City Council retreated behind closed doors this afternoon to discuss whether to salvage a plan for giving early retirement for 2,400 workers.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who went on record Monday opposing the early retirement plan that he helped negotiate, took the rare step of attending the council’s closed-session meeting shortly before noon.

Negotiators worked late into the night on Monday, with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions saying they had identified $60 million in budget savings that would allow the early retirement plan to secure passage. The mayor’s budget advisors privately expressed skepticism about the proposal, saying it may only address a fraction of the city’s budget problem.

Villaraigosa has argued that early retirements would not save enough money to eliminate a $405-million shortfall. If he wants to defeat the plan, he will need to win over four council members today. (One seat is vacant and Councilman Dennis Zine is absent.)

Union leaders have said they would go to court if early retirement is defeated. And they warned that they would fight aggressively against the alternate budget plan, which would involve layoffs and 26 days of furloughs for each civilian employee.

“We will treat every layoff as an international incident,” said Victor Gordo, secretary-treasurer for Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 777.

-- David Zahniser and Maeve Reston

Photo: Michael Hunt addresses the Los Angeles City Council during public comments on  an early retirement plan for city workers. If the council rejects the plan, layoffs of nearly 1,000 city employees could result.
Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

More Photos > > >

Earlier: Showdown over L.A. city budget could result in layoffs

Villaraigosa pulls back on early retirement offer [Updated]

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today that he no longer supports the early retirement plan that he helped negotiate with labor unions earlier this year because it will not do enough to eliminate a $405-million budget gap.

The city’s top financial analysts warned last week that the proposal to allow 2,400 members of the Coalition of L.A. City Unions to retire up to five years early would “devastate city operations.” The early retirement agreement would have only saved $12 million this fiscal year and would have limited the options of city leaders by barring layoffs and furloughs of some 22,000 coalition workers for two years, city analysts said.

The mayor asked the unions to consider greater concessions in negotiations over the weekend.

[Updated, 4:10 p.m.: Attorney Victor Gordo, the secretary-treasurer for Laborers' International Union North America Local 777, said he still believes the City Council will approve the early retirement plan Tuesday in spite of the mayor’s statement.

If they don’t, he said, the coalition is prepared to challenge their decision in court by the end of the week. “Leaving close to $1.2 billion in employee wage givebacks [over five years] on the table is both fiscally irresponsible and stands to throw the city into a financial tailspin,” Gordo said.]