David McNew/Getty Images

Mayor Villaraigosa tries to keep cool at last year's State of the City address

A shut-down of at least two days of city services per week; layoffs of city workers totaling 4,000; deeper spending cuts to every department in the city government. The dire predictions of drastic cutbacks to the way Los Angeles does business have been flying fast and furious out of Mayor Villaraigosa’s office for the past few months, as has the pushback from a frustrated City Council that has picked fights with the Mayor over DWP surcharges and the depth of the city’s budget crisis. This afternoon with Mayor Villaraigosa’s “State of the City” address there’s an opportunity for both sides of this intra-city political feud to back away from the cliff—the Mayor will dial down his projections for layoffs and cutbacks of city services and ask the City Council to meet him halfway to cut a gaping $485 million budget gap. Will the détente work?

Guests:

Eric Garcetti, President of the L.A. City Council representing the 9th District

Barbara Maynard, spokeswoman for the Coalition of LA City Unions