Mayor Villaraigosa ought to take a hint from former Mayor Richard Riordan: Let the City of Los Angeles file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
By empowering a federal judge to shred current employee contracts and permit the city to redraw its pension outlays, the City would save itself from certain political and fiscal disaster, while forcing the nasty and unpopular decisions on an unelected representative, thuse saving the skin of the weak-willed politicians dominating Downtown.
Following bankruptcy, Los Angeles' credit would be ruined, thereby preventing it from extending outrageous benefits to future public employees as well as forcing the municipality to restructure its role in the daily lives of its citizens.
Despite the implications of a metropolis defaulting on its debt, at least this severe course correction would put an end to the political gasping and infighting which has only prolonged the inevitable.