The City Council left last week for a summer recess even though solutions to the budget crisis threaten to unravel. Contract talks with public safety employees have grown acrimonious, with Villaraigosa denouncing a publicity campaign by the firefighters union against more cuts. A proposal to give early retirement to 2,400 civilian workers -- slashing $200 million each year from the payroll -- has run into problems over how the city would pay for it. And city financial advisers privately have begun warning that even if the council signs off on early retirement and wins new public safety employee agreements, the city will still fall short by an estimated $40 million. In the meantime, the Planning Department has been hit by furloughs. The Fire Department has begun shutting down rescue units and ambulances on a rotating basis. And Los Angeles Police Department commanders have begun developing a contingency plan to furlough officers at least two days a month starting in October. If negotiations with police and fire unions reach an impasse, the city has the authority to unilaterally slash paychecks for officers and firefighters -- as well as the number of hours they are on duty. 'We are moving toward impasse, and that's a shame because ... there is a way out,' Villaraigosa said last week. 'I certainly understand that it's tough to make those sacrifices. But what's the alternative, to go into bankruptcy? No, we can't do that.' Villaraigosa and council leaders have asked police to accept a 14 percent cut in overall compensation -- salaries, bonuses, overtime and benefits. At the same time, the mayor has vowed to continue his campaign pledge to expand the department by 1,000 officers, saying it is essential to holding down violent crime. The president of the police union, Paul M. Weber, countered that it makes no sense to continue hiring when the LAPD still needs to cut $130 million. 'I call it my Octomom theory,' Weber said, referring to the Southern California woman who made headlines for giving birth to eight babies. 'You can't keep adding to the family if you can't support the kids you've already got.' Union leaders at the Los Angeles Police Protective League and United Firefighters of Los Angeles City said they have already offered substantial cost-saving concessions, only to be rebuffed. Negotiations with the firefighters have started to resemble a schoolyard brawl. The union last week sent a mailer to voters with images of last year's Metrolink train disaster in Chatsworth, contending that if it happened again fewer rescuers could respond. Villaraigosa called the mailer 'shameful' and said the union has 'absolutely refused' to consider any salary or benefit concessions, which has forced the service cuts. Firefighters, like police, are being asked to accept salary and benefit cuts that average 14 percent. The troubled talks have added to a larger sense of uncertainty over the city's financial future more than two months after the council and mayor pieced together a $7 billion spending plan that reduced services at nearly every agency. Staff writer Maeve Reston contributed to this report. 