City Attorney Carmen Trutanich blasted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s proposed city budget in harsh terms Thursday, declaring it an example of “fundamental failure of management.”

In a letter posted on his Web site, Trutanich said his office is being asked to take an 18 percent cut, far more than any other public safety agency or any other city department.

“The budget shows a remarkable lack of leadership and imagination,” Trutanich wrote. “The proposed budget is not a successful strategy to protect and promote the fiscal health or public safety of the city.”

The letter is Trutanich’s most direct confrontation with the mayor in his nearly two years as city attorney, although he has been critical of past efforts to reduce his budget.

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