The Long Beach City Council's closed session on Tuesday was about as closed as it gets.

In an unusual circumstance, only Mayor Bob Foster, City Attorney Bob Shannon and eight council members - Councilman Patrick O'Donnell was absent - were in that closed session meeting.

Everyone else, from City Manager Pat West to finance director Lori Ann Farrell to Mayor Bob Foster's chief of staff Becki Ames, was left sitting outside of the council lounge at City Hall with all of us plebes.

The council spent a little more than an hour discussing negotiations to get pay raise concessions from the Police Officers Association and other employee unions. The city needs employees to forgo their contractual pay increases to cut $23 million from a $43.3 million general fund budget deficit.

The council's been discussing contract concessions in closed sessions for months, so it wasn't unusual to see them meeting again.

But the fact that West and city officials who have been handling the union negotiations were left out certainly was.

So, what was being said in there? Is the city going to reach a deal with its unions? Are the unions willing to relinquish their pay raises? Can the council come to an agreement? Or will negotiations break down?

Neither Ames nor West nor Foster (when I spoke to him Wednesday) would say why the council booted everyone out.

There must have been some intense exchanges in there, if comments by Councilwoman

Lowenthal made a motion to delay an item for a week, but seemed a little distracted.

"I do wish to bring this back," Lowenthal said Tuesday, which was July 14. "I don't know what the date is next week. July 21? Thank you. I guess I could have added seven. Fourteen plus seven. It's been a stressful day."

We can only imagine.

Concessions, wetlands meeting today

Those employee concessions discussions that are so key to balancing Long Beach's budget aren't over yet, though it was a surprise Wednesday to learn they would continue today (Thursday).

The City Clerk's Office announced that the council will have a special closed session meeting at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

In addition to the employee contract negotiations, the council will discuss the controversial deal that is designed to preserve and restore Los Cerritos Wetlands.

At least 33.7 acres of the 175-acre Bixby Ranch portion of the wetlands in southeast Long Beach would be exchanged for the city's 12.1-acre public service yard by the Los Angeles River. Critics have questioned whether the city is getting its money's worth in the deal and whether now is the right time to be swapping valuable city land.

The wetlands discussion had been on the agenda for a closed session at Tuesday's council meeting, but it was removed because of time constraints, city officials said.

Is today's session a big meeting? Could be.

Even O'Donnell, who was absent Tuesday because he's out of town, will participate in today's meeting via teleconference from Monte Rio, according to City Clerk Larry Herrera.

It's hard to say if there will be a vote or any reportable action.

The council could possibly vote on the wetlands deal, either to have city management ink the deal or to kill the proposal entirely, though the land exchange would still have to return to the council for a vote in open session. Any changes to the employee contracts also would have to be voted on in open session.

paul.eakins@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1278