A large group of City of Seattle employees confronted Mayor Mike McGinn in his office lobby at noon to ask him to lay off senior-level employees instead of targeting the rank-and-file.

The group delivered hundreds of postcards to the mayor. "On your first day in office, you issued Executive Orders recognizing that the City is top heavy and relies too heavily on contracting out," they wrote. "With revenue shortfalls and a lack of follow through on your orders, employees are being laid off and City services are being jeopardized."

The mayor promised during his campaign he would cut senior-level employees. After he was sworn in in January, he began taking steps to cut 150 senior-level positions, but he backed off after managers organized to fight his proposal.

Now his office says he is "committed to reducing the number of senior positions" but won't say by how many. The mayor points out that 35 percent of the staff members cut during mid-year budget reductions were senior-level employees, even though those employees make up only 9 percent of the workforce.

The mayor greeted the employees in his lobby and thanked them for their service, but he didn't say much to put their minds at ease.

"I don't know that this budget gives me many either-ors," he said. "I'm looking at all of the above."

There is a $56 million shortfall in next year's budget. Many of the employees who signed postcards to the mayor have already learned their jobs are at-risk for next year.