With two of the state's largest cities voting to roll back pension benefits for workers, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Thursday for Los Angeles officials to speed up his proposal for reducing pensions for new city employees.

In a letter to City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, Villaraigosa asked that his proposal to increase the retirement age, require larger contributions from workers and a cap on benefits move ahead as quickly as possible.

Voters in San Diego and San Jose on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved separate proposals designed to rein in pension costs.

In San Diego, voters said they wanted to freeze all salaries for six years and require new employees to be switched over to a 401(k) type pension system.

In San Jose, voters called on current employees to increase their pension contributions or agree to accept reduced benefits.

Villaraigosa said L.A. needs to directly address pensions, one of the biggest expenses the city faces in its $7.2 billion budget.

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