Orange County

Layoffs From Fiscal Crisis: Orange County Chief Executive William J. Popejoy is expected to tell county supervisors this week how many county employees may need to be laid off to accommodate sweeping budget cuts. The figure is expected to approach 2,000. The expected layoffs in the 15,000-member work force would represent the biggest reduction of personnel yet in the fallout from the county’s bankruptcy declaration of Dec. 6. “The personnel reduction component alone may well involve termination of between 1,500 and 2,000 employees,” Popejoy wrote in a Feb. 24 memo to supervisors. His figures were based on preliminary estimates received from county department heads, who have been asked to slash 28% of their budgets.