Mayor signs off on budget

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday signed off on a $6.7 billion city budget that slashes city services, raises fees and could lead to up to 1,700 layoffs. Daily News.

Villaraigosa made only one minor line-item veto to the spending plan, rejecting the City Council's effort to assert partial control over anti-gang programs that now operate out of the mayor's office.

Villaraigosa told the council he appreciated the work it had done to balance the budget in difficult economic times, and he agrees with most of the changes it had made to his original proposal. He noted that the plan maintains officer staffing levels at the Los Angeles Police Department.