Antonovich Calls for Pay Cuts for All County Workers : Budget: Supervisor urges general salary reduction to avoid slicing deep into some services. Action on how to shrink health system is delayed until at least Thursday.

With Los Angeles County’s fiscal crisis far from over, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday heard one of its own members call for an across-the-board reduction in the salary of county workers rather than deeper cuts in the budget of the law enforcement, criminal justice and other departments.

Less than two hours after the verdicts in the O.J. Simpson trial, Supervisor Mike Antonovich introduced a motion calling for the employee pay cut or a furlough without pay to close another hole in the county’s already troubled budget.

Antonovich flatly rejected a proposal by Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed to cut spending by $47.7 million for most departments, with the sheriff, district attorney, probation and courts receiving the brunt of the reductions. “Slashing expenditures for public safety and other vital services is an unacceptable way to eliminate the budget deficit,” he said.

But board Chairwoman Gloria Molina objected to any cut in employee pay until deeper reductions have been made elsewhere in the county budget. And any reduction in pay must be negotiated with county employee unions, which have steadfastly refused to consider any rollback but are negotiating new contracts.

On a day overshadowed by the verdict at the Criminal Courts Building two blocks away, the supervisors delayed any action until at least Thursday on shrinking their beleaguered health system.

Burt Margolin, chairman of the county’s Health Crisis Task Force, was ordered by the board last week to come up with a plan for downsizing the nation’s second-largest public health system by Tuesday. But he said he has not been able to finalize his recommendations.

Margolin said he has been working on the county’s application for a waiver of federal law to shift Medicaid dollars from expensive hospital treatment to treatment at clinics and health centers.

Although a $364-million federal bailout announced Sept. 22 by President Clinton will prevent closure of any county hospitals, Margolin said the rescue package will not prevent health service cuts. “It certainly can’t restore all services.”

Margolin said he will suggest that the supervisors proceed with less drastic but still significant cuts in outpatient services at county hospitals, which initially had been targeted for a 75% reduction. “The hospital cuts will still be deep.”

The precise number of county health workers who will lose their jobs remains unknown pending the board’s action later this week. The supervisors agreed last week to postpone the layoffs or demotions of nearly 5,200 health workers until Oct. 15 at the earliest.

Without the money to solve the county’s continuing fiscal woes, the supervisors delayed any action on a request by the superior court for an additional $41.4 million to get through the fiscal year.

Superior Court Presiding Judge Gary Klausner sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Pete Wilson requesting a special legislative session to address the county’s fiscal crisis and the issue of funding for trial courts.

Klausner said the state was expected to pick up $432 million of the cost of operating Los Angeles County’s trial courts. But the state budget provided only $189 million, leaving a $243-million gap.

Without additional money, Klausner said the court system will run out of money before April, even if services are cut.

Behind closed doors and out of public view, the supervisors interviewed two finalists to replace the county Director of Health Services Robert C. Gates, who is retiring.

The board members interviewed Robert S. Caulk, director of Sacramento County’s Health and Human Services Department, and Mark Finucane, director of health services for Contra Costa County.

Finucane has had experience grappling with deficits and layoffs for at least six years. He told state lawmakers in 1989 that he would rather raise cigarettes taxes than lay off health workers.

Caulk oversaw cuts in Sacramento County’s mental health system over two years. Although such reductions would force mentally ill people onto the street or into jails, on May, 1994, he said: “If you’re spending more than you’re taking in, you have to make cuts somewhere.”