So government can't be all things to all people? Why didn't someone tell us?

This is only the first of government bankruptcies. Every city, county, and school district in the state is watching and taking notes.

Why does this not surprise me?

Two words:

Government Pension Liabilities.

Ok, three.

Gee, do you suppose that the city government migh have been spending irresonsibly? Naw? Government is the answer, right?

Cut every department in government by 5 percent. Do it again.

Lets hope and pray that this is the first of many in California, and God willing the State will file BK.
I can see no other way out of the uncontrolled Government spending.

Eyeamok

” looting of the city’s coffers by the state “

I guess I don’t know enough about this story to understand the above line.

I think that if I was close to retirement and I worked there, I’d be taking early retirement and choosing the lump sum option. That retirement system is going down.

More of the continuing trend.

Government acts irresponsibly with regard to benefits and costs. What a surprise.

Look at California. In order to appease the squeaky wheels, regulations, taxes and loss of personal liberties skyrocket.

As Mike Church (King Dude) has commented, our personal liberties are being stripped away by Democrats and Republicans alike (not all Republicans are conservatives).

I spoke at a UC-Berkeley housing and mortgage conference at the St Francis Hotel in SF on Tuesday. Listening to the GREENS was horrifying. Their feeling of entitlement was apparent. “We must rid ourselves of yesterday’s technology and embrace the future! (lightbulbs and building “skins” for solar power).” I asked: “Why not just allow drilling in ANWR and off the Florida coast? Problem solved!” They acted like I had committed treason!

Everything was about the “government stepping in” to solve all problems. Where is the Constitution does it allow for such extreme intervention? I really needed The King Dude or Mark Levin to speak along with me.

Nancy Pelosi’s nephew was a speaker. What a piece of work.

There are municipal, county and state governments across the country, that went on an orgy of spending and new social programs, due to increased tax receipts from sales and property taxes. Those tax receipts are on their way down now, but the debt and funding obligations remain. Jefferson County, Alabama is having a similar problem, and it’s no small matter. It’s a large county, home to the city of Birmingham, and if it defaults, it would be about triple the amount of Orange County, CA, back in the nineties.

I guess I don’t know enough about this story to understand the above line.

Typically, it involves altering the formula for distribution of state sales tax monies, to the disadvantage of smaller municipalities and unicorporated areas.

When I hear the leftists calling for government intrusion in a new area, I always say that such a level of intrusion sounds Fascist to me and reminds me of a program that Mussolini intoduced as he moved from International Socialism as covered by the Communist agenda to his socilaistic solutions of Fascist programs.

They love hearing how they are now fascist.

Somewhere, Bob Citron (who in the early 90’s ushered in the era of the governmental bankruptcy option) is either jumping for joy in his mansion paid for by the State of California, or doing cartwheels in his grave, depending on his life/death status.

After 20+ years as the Orange County treasurer with unlimited power, his downfall was derivatives, which didn’t take into consideration a possible decrease in interest rates—designed by brilliant Harvard MBA’s who forgot about that remote possibility.

With a modest drop in interest rates, Citron crashed Orange County to the tune of about $2 billion, with criminal aiding and abetting by the wizards of Wall Street (who took advantage of Citron’s stupidity).

As I’ve said before, if you hire a Harvard MBA because you want the title he/she tacks on to his/her name, better be prepared to tack on many, many zeroes to the LOSSES you will no doubt experience.

No group of wunderkinds can lose money at a faster pace than Harvard MBA types.

The city government was impacted by the same situation our state government is afflicted with. Public employee unions have gained so much power, and used members dues to ‘buy’ so many politicians, that they can virtually dictate the terms they want in their contracts.

I watched the Vallejo meeting, and there was one sign of hope in the whole four hour discussion. Many, many, members of the public were finally standing up and demanding that their elected officials act as responsible guardians of the public’s purse instead of as slaves to the whims of the fire union. It's long overdue, and, if it spreads, it offers some hope that the public will finally start to give a damn about recovering control of its government.

Agreed. In NJ the municipal unions are breaking the towns and there will come a time when the pensions paid to retired workers will come to a screeching halt. Many say the Towns are powerless to do anything because of their need for the services provided. This is nonsense because the peoples ability to keep paying higher and higher property and other taxes in this State are not infinite.

Let them strike if that is what it takes. In the eye of the public when it is explained what the union demands will mean to the citizens the public image of the employees will sink. besides what will they do if they don't get their demands met? Where does a Fireman go to earn $100,000 plus a year if all the surrounding municipalities are in the same boat? Ditto with Policemen, Sanitation workers and the rest. faced with a cut in benefits and a smaller raise or no job at all which do you think they will ultimately choose?

I think I know.

>“Why not just allow drilling in ANWR and off the Florida coast? Problem solved!” They acted like I had committed treason!<

I mentioned ANWR at college once. Mostly, I was met with blank stares, but there was an arab who looked at me like he wanted to kill me right where I sat.

I guess he must have known I don’t want US money to be willingly given to our enemies and financially aiding them in our destruction.

you forgot to add:

REPEAT AS NEEDED

Monthly.

OK, I’m trying to stir up a few memory cell, but here’s what I remember.

I liked Pete Wilson, but I know a lot of people around here don’t. He was, however, a real fiscal conservative. He also didn’t trust local governments and public-service unions. He assumed that local politicians would be willing to give away anything to keep getting reelected, so he had the State raid local property taxes, and then, metered the money back to the local governments. This worked pretty well to keep costs down for as long as he was Governor.

But Wilson was replaced by Gray Davis, who stayed true to his tax-and-spend principles, and kept the local money and used it for a down payment on massively expensive government programs.

Schwarzenegger was elected by promising to “Blow up Boxes” in Sacramento. I’m still waiting to see that happen. The unions won every ballot initiative in 2006, and since then, they’ve owned the keys to the State treasury.

Geez it is simple...

Tell the unions that they need to cut their pay so they can have money to spend on reducing greenhouse gases to save the endangered spotted owl

The liberals’ heads will explode trying to figure out which side to be on

Listening to the GREENS was horrifying.

That sounds like listening to Don Imus' wife lecturing others on how to 'conserve the world' while Imus was sitting in his running limo watching the election returns Tuesday night (he thought it was funny). They are hypocrites.

I cannot speak for California. But I can tell you in the Bible Belt, you see a lot of local governments increasing spending into a declining population, an aging population, and a less affluent population. And that is not a prescription for anything but a train wreck.

“...Going forward, the people of Vallejo are going to have to learn new expectations for their city services

In time, Vallejo’s plight may be contagious.....”

Thanks. I seem to remember some of it now.

Oh, Harvard MBA types are well up the list when it comes to blowing great chunks of capital into thin air with amazing speed, but they by no means head the list.

Hunter (no Harvard man, he) @ Amaranth blew 6 billion+ in less than 60 days' time. Societe Generale (very few if any Harvard men there, I can guarantee you) blew at least 10 billion in 90 days' time. Nick Leeson blew a few billion in his stint as a rogue trader at Baring's -- the time frame is hard to determine, but it was way under a year, and likely enough under six months, and he was never anywhere near HBS. The Bank of Montreal (which favours McGill grads, not HBS) blew at least 800 million in under a month speccing natgas.

So, while certainly giving HBS grads their due in terms of mismanagement, poor trading, and using dubious mathematical models, one cannot really award them the top...or would that be bottom?...spot.

I hope Fairfield (9 miles north of Vallejo) is paying attention. This is what awaits it if Travis AFB should ever close. Vallejo has also failed to curb gang violence and get a handle on crime, and FF is creeping in the same direction.

There are so many firemen, policemen, teachers making $100K with matching pensions for life, they are always complaining for more. In reality, and historically, these should be lower-paying positions. $100K for a fireman is quite insane, if you think about it.

In the City where I am employed, the PD and FF unions have what is called “interest arbitration” which is the tool they use to drag out negotiations for years before finally getting everything anyway (All other unions get a take it or leave it contract offer). It always comes down to the same ruling that management acted in bad faith...

With OT & incentive pay (fitness, education, bi-lingual, etc) our officers make more than all department heads and a couple make more than the City Manager. They all have an etitlement attitude because they are “out there putting their life on the line”... Couple this with a Chief that does not know how to control his department budget and they put the City $1.5 million in the hole last year...

OBTW both of those unions contracts are up this year even though the FF haven’t settled the original contract offer 3 years ago...

It’s Bush’s fault... and Global Warming...

Vallejo had salaries set at a percentage above average salaries in the area, but the area was defined to include cities such as Palo Alto. They’d also ceded to the fire department the right to determine what appropriate staffing was. When the financial problems became severe, the city shut down two fire stations. The firefighters dragged them into arbitration (maybe similar to the ‘interest arbitration’ you mentioned) and the city was forced to re-open those stations, blowing a million and a half dollar hole in the city budget.

The thing that struck me about the meeting Tuesday, was the exhibition of the same sense of entitlement you mentioned. It was reinforced by sitting through a meeting down here in the south end of the state last night that had a fire staffing issue on the agenda, and also had the same attitude on display.

Fortunately, our local elected officials haven’t been dumb enough to let the public safety unions control the budget, but I’m not sure it isn’t just a matter of time.

Even after the budget problems and over runs in the PD, Council directed staff to see if the unions would forego their 3% COLA to help the budget problems. Basically PD & Fire said HELL NO!!! The union rep for the FD stood before council and whined how if he had to give up his COLA that it would cost him “X” number of dollars in retirement...This guy is all of 30 years old and he had the balls to stand up there and whine about his retirement pay!!! I nearly came out of my chair...

Although my PW works staff was willing to give up the COLA (they figured having a job at their current rate was better than not having a job at all) after hearing the PD & FD they had no choice but to go stand up and take their 3% COLA because they figured they better get all they could before PD and Fire emptied the till...

BTW I lived in Vallejo 67-68 when I was was a little chilren...

Of course it is and it will come to an end in good time. It will only take the nerve of the politicians(I know, I know) to stand up and tell the Unions that this is what we can pay you and if it isn't enough then go elsewhere and we will hire replacements. As soon as the unions realize the alternative and the Town is facing bankruptcy, they will go along.

For years, Vallejo benefited from Mare Island Naval Shipyard, which was located there (separated by a strait of the Napa River). I was stationed there for five months back in the late 1980s. The base was decommissioned in 1996. The loss of revenue has probably contributed to Vallejo’s downslide, I’d think.

Most of the troubles we have today can be traced back to career politicians with little talent for anything besides getting reelected.

EDITORIAL: Ominous signs in Vallejo

Nothing ominous there.
Criminal incompetence.

Read my tagline.

I guess I don’t know enough about this story to understand the above line.

The state stopped paying for local necessities, so obviously the state is "robbing" local government.

The fire chief makes $400,000 a YEAR!!!
what a bunch of Union Thieves!!!!

As I’ve said before, if you hire a Harvard MBA because you want the title he/she tacks on to his/her name, better be prepared to tack on many, many zeroes to the LOSSES you will no doubt experience.

I wonder how many Harvard MBAs are behind bankrupt Corps.
I’d like to see a List!!!

Got me there!

Bet the geniuses at those overseas financial institutions used Harvard business school models in their corporate planning though!

Tell the unions that they need to cut their pay so they can have money to spend on reducing greenhouse gases to save the endangered spotted owl

I love it! Sometimes, a plan just comes together.

The most famous, or infamous if you prefer, model of all is the Black-Sholes-Merton derivatives pricing model, a product of the genius of both the University of Chicago and Harvard.

Pays your money, takes your choice.

;^)