VALLEY BRIEFS The Inside Track City officials are rolling out the welcome mat this week for business leaders, residents and others throughout the Valley and citywide. The Access City Hall 2003 event will be held Thursday, Sept. 18 from 7:30 a.m. to noon at the newly restored city hall downtown. Business leaders and others will be offered a chance to meet with city lawmakers and discuss issues that impact them and their employees, including business tax reform, contracting with the city, the LAX modernization plan, housing, economic development, film production, transportation and crime. The event, which is being presented by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of commerce and The Gas Company is free, however, space is limited. For information, call (213) 580-7531. Countrywide Cuts 565 Jobs Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp. has cut 565 jobs held by temporary or contract employees mainly in its loan origination unit since July as a response to a decline in its refinancing business. The company’s actions come as interest rates have been on the uptick in recent months, said company spokesman Rick Simon. “The goal is to keep the staff aligned with the market environment,” Simon said. The job cuts which impacted the company and its various offices in several Western states, is only about 1.5 percent of the company’s total staff of 35,748 people. Simon said the cuts impacted loan origination in the company’s Countrywide Home Loans unit, its Full Spectrum Lending and at its LandSafe title units. “This is an initial step in adjusting our staffing levels in order to keep pace with a changing market environment,” Simon said. He added that the company is continuing to hire sales staff for its loan servicing department. New Spread For Jerry’s Following several delays and a series of mercurial announcements since 2002, the owners of Jerry’s Famous Deli’s flagship store in Studio City say the doors will finally reopen Thursday, Sept. 18. Company officials first announced that Jerry’s, shuttered since a fire broke out in the kitchen in May of 2002, would reopen in October of 2002, then delayed the date until January. Then company officials said they would be forced to delay the date until April, and then again delayed the opening until July. Officials have long-insisted that the $375,000 rebuild was taking more time than normal because of the need to upgrade many of the original eatery’s features. “It’s been a long, long road for us to open, but we’re finally doing it and we just want to say thanks to our customers who’ve been waiting,” said Guy Starkman, Jerry’s vice president and director of operations. Jerry’s closure not only impacted its regular customers. Jerry’s deli and bar also served bowlers at the adjacent Sports Center bowling alley since the 1950s. But since the closure, patrons have been ordering drinks from a temporary, makeshift bar, provided by Jerry’s, and ordering food for delivery from local restaurants. Another strike was delivered to Sports Center patrons July 15 when the bowling alley shut its doors for renovations, resulting in canceled leagues and delays in start-up dates for fall and winter leagues.