The Los Angeles City Council voted to ask Mayor Reardon to seek an independent mediator to end the MTA operators' strike, citing increasing hardship for transit-dependent residents and workers.

Councilmember Alex Padilla, who introduced the motion, said the city needed mayoral leadership to break a stalemate that had left buses off the roads for 28 days. "Enough is enough," Padilla told the council, saying the strike had cost the city "$50,000,000 in lost wages and in lost business." Padilla asked members to send a clear message to the mayor to exercise his authority and bring the parties back to the table.

The call for action followed a string of public comments from bus drivers, transit-dependent riders and community leaders. Tom Louie, who identified himself as a bus rider and teacher, told the council that if services were not restored his class would be left without transportation to school. Driver Diane Young and library employee Wendy McPherson described the strike's impact on riders and the workforce; McPherson said the MTA and mayor were "stonewalling the drivers." Reverend Jesse Jackson and other faith leaders urged mediation and appealed to the council to press the mayor to intervene.

Alan Lipsky, chief operating officer of the MTA, said the agency wanted the strike ended and described the latest offer as a prepared, consolidated settlement reflecting bargaining positions. "We are not out to bust this union," Lipsky said. "We want our operators to come back to work with a new contract."

City Attorney Hahn told the council that the Brown Act generally limits actions on items not posted on the agenda, but that an exception applied because a "best and final offer" had been made after the agenda posting and the situation was urgent. The council first approved the required legal findings and then took up the motion.

The council approved the motion urging the mayor to seek a mediator and to act to resolve the strike. The roll call on the finding enabling immediate action was recorded at 12 ayes; the subsequent motion calling on the mayor was adopted with the same tally.

Council members who spoke in support framed the issue as both an economic emergency and a public-safety concern, noting disruptions to schooling, medical appointments and work. Several council members proposed names for mediators; speakers had specifically mentioned Reverend Jesse Jackson as someone with mediation experience. The motion also included a direction to waive certain rally fees and other urgent administrative steps tied to strike-related events.

The council's action is advisory to the mayor and the MTA board. No binding changes to the MTA contract or board composition were enacted in the council meeting itself; speakers referenced separate legislative proposals to alter MTA board appointments and add elected positions pending at the state level.