LA Just Avoided 1600 Layoffs. Is That a Good Thing?

The city of Los Angeles recently announced that it saved 1,600 jobs that were at risk of being cut to balance its $1 billion budget deficit. But did it actually fix anything, or is it just shuffling money around to hide the problem? What role do unions play? And what should cities actually do when facing a major budget deficit?

Strong Towns Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt dives into these questions with guest host Norm Van Eeden Petersman in this episode of Upzoned.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• “Mayor Bass says layoffs averted after labor negotiations, "creative solutions" for next year city budget” by Chelsea Hylton, CBS News (September 2025).
• Finance Decoder
• Become a Strong Towns member to access weekly Ask Strong Towns Anything sessions.
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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