Share the city’s burden of debt

Re “Concessions or layoffs, mayor tells L.A. unions,” April 7

After giving the entertainment industry millions in tax breaks, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa now thinks that the solution for the $530-million deficit is to cut services and lay off city employees?

Yeah, right. When was the last time you’ve seen the price of a movie theater ticket go down? If Villaraigosa was really serious about shoring up the budget hole, he would reevaluate which businesses were given tax breaks and spread the pain a little more evenly, instead of consistently trying to balance the deficit on the backs of the employees who actually do the work that taxpayers need done.

If we’re going to talk about reopening union contracts, let’s reopen the agreements for tax breaks too.

Also, city (mis)management could use a haircut. A little more off the top, please.

Dan Mariscal

Montebello

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Villaraigosa’s idea of having city workers defer raises, cut hours and pay more for their retirement is a good idea to help balance the budget.

He should, though, clearly and widely announce that he and his staff members will be included in the program too -- along with the City Council and its staff.

Bruce Fane

Encino