QuoteBloomberg News
San Bernardino Third California City to Choose Bankruptcy
San Bernardino's City Council voted to become the third California city this year to file for bankruptcy, as it struggles with declining tax revenue, growing employee costs and accounting discrepancies in its ledgers.
The council voted 4 to 2, with one abstention, last night to authorize a filing under Chapter 9 of U.S. bankruptcy law. The city of 209,000, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, is so broke it can't make its Aug. 15 payroll, interim City Manager Andrea Travis-Miller said.
"If the employees are not paid on Aug. 15, on Aug. 16 there will be a mass exodus of city employees," City Attorney James Penman told the council before the vote. "People are not going to work when they don't get paid. Most of our employees will not show up to work. That would include police, fire, refuse, everybody. The city will virtually shut down."
A San Bernardino filing would follow Stockton, a community of 292,000 east of San Francisco, which on June 28 became the biggest U.S. city to go into bankruptcy. Mammoth Lakes, a mountain resort of 8,200, filed for protection from creditors on July 3 saying it can't afford to pay a $43 million judgment, more than twice its general-fund spending for the year.
The Chapter 9 filing would allow the city to suspend payments to creditors while it seeks court approval for a plan that balances its revenue with its debt. Travis-Miller said a filing could take a month to prepare.
Confronting a $45 million budget shortfall, San Bernardino is facing insolvency because of accounting errors, deficit spending, pension and debt costs, and lack of revenue growth, according to a June 26 budget analysis posted on the city's website. Officials have declared fiscal emergencies, negotiated for concessions from employees and reduced the workforce by 20 percent in four years.
'Life Support'
"Reorganization may be the only way to keep the city of San Bernardino on life support," said Wendy McCammack, one of the seven council members. "This is the hardest decision this councilwoman has ever had to make."
A law signed by Governor Jerry Brown that took effect this year requires municipalities to pursue mediation or declare a fiscal emergency before seeking bankruptcy protection. The law was sought by public-employee unions after Vallejo, a city of 120,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area, which went bankrupt in 2008 and asked a court to help it void labor contracts.
It was unclear whether San Bernardino would need to go through mediation.
Penman said during the meeting that former city employees had understated the extent of San Bernardino's fiscal woes in "falsified" reports to the council and mayor over the past 16 years. He declined to name anyone. Mayor Patrick Morris, who took office in 2006, said it was the first time he'd heard such allegations.
'New Information'
"This is a wholesale indictment of all of the officials who have served over a number of years," Morris said in an interview after the meeting. "It's new information to me."
San Bernardino is the seat of San Bernardino County, which at more than 20,000 square miles is the largest county by area in the contiguous U.S.
San Bernardino County and neighboring Riverside County form a metropolitan area that had the third-highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. in May, according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, California-based data provider. The area's unemployment rate was 11.8 percent that month, compared with 8.2 percent nationwide, according to U.S. Labor Department data.
The city and its agencies have $243 million of debt outstanding, including $48.6 million of taxable pension- obligation bonds, according to financial statements. Per-person debt was $1,506, or 5.4 percent of personal income.
"Cities are running out of options," Michael Sweet, a partner specializing in bankruptcy at the San Francisco office of law firm Fox Rothschild LLP, said yesterday in a telephone interview. "As they see pension contribution obligations and retiree health-care costs going through the roof, revenue is at best stable if not declining."
Mammoth is probably the nicest of those three. -_-
True.
Wonder if America will follow the Japanese model and have massed city mergers.
Though things are on a much bigger scale over there with it being cities going broke not villages and towns....
Quote from: Tyr on July 11, 2012, 08:31:02 AM
Wonder if America will follow the Japanese model and have massed city mergers.
Though things are on a much bigger scale over there with it being cities going broke not villages and towns....
Well there's also the issue that 2 of the cities/towns listed above are really in the middle of nowhere.
Detroit and Scranton should follow their lead.
Excellent thread title; entirely appropriate for the home of the breast implant. :cool:
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 11, 2012, 11:34:24 AM
Detroit and Scranton should follow their lead.
Not all states allow municipalities to declare bankruptcy.
Quote from: mongers on July 11, 2012, 12:34:13 PM
the home of the breast implant. :cool:
Oddly enough California barely makes the top 5 in plastic surgeons per capita.
Fabulously wealthy state, far more prosperous than most small nations, and they're a financial basket case. What a tragedy really.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 11, 2012, 12:38:54 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 11, 2012, 11:34:24 AM
Detroit and Scranton should follow their lead.
Not all states allow municipalities to declare bankruptcy.
And apparantly Pennsylvania is one of them. Don't know about Michigan.
Quote from: KRonn on July 11, 2012, 08:20:28 PM
Fabulously wealthy state, far more prosperous than most small nations, and they're a financial basket case. What a tragedy really.
The American obsession with tons of government services with no taxes makes them unstable.
Quote from: Neil on July 11, 2012, 10:37:49 PM
Quote from: KRonn on July 11, 2012, 08:20:28 PM
Fabulously wealthy state, far more prosperous than most small nations, and they're a financial basket case. What a tragedy really.
The American obsession with tons of government services with no taxes makes them unstable.
Comparatively, California's taxed out the ass.
Another proof socialism doens't work.
Quote from: Siege on July 11, 2012, 10:46:03 PM
Another proof socialism doens't work.
:unsure:
No, its proof that taxing your people nothing more than whatever spare change they happen to have lying around doesn't work.
Quote from: Tyr on July 12, 2012, 06:15:26 AM
Quote from: Siege on July 11, 2012, 10:46:03 PM
Another proof socialism doens't work.
:unsure:
No, its proof that taxing your people nothing more than whatever spare change they happen to have lying around doesn't work.
Or that offering your people the moon while not having money to pay for it doesn't work.
Quote from: garbon on July 11, 2012, 12:42:58 PM
Quote from: mongers on July 11, 2012, 12:34:13 PM
the home of the breast implant. :cool:
Oddly enough California barely makes the top 5 in plastic surgeons per capita.
Who's ahead of them?
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 11, 2012, 10:44:42 PM
Quote from: Neil on July 11, 2012, 10:37:49 PM
Quote from: KRonn on July 11, 2012, 08:20:28 PM
Fabulously wealthy state, far more prosperous than most small nations, and they're a financial basket case. What a tragedy really.
The American obsession with tons of government services with no taxes makes them unstable.
Comparatively, California's taxed out the ass.
Compared to other states, but not in an absolute sense.
Mind you, they also have the disadvantage of being part of the United States, so various mistakes like your political system, your legal system and your health care system are wasting a lot of money.
Quote from: Neil on July 12, 2012, 08:10:08 AM
Mind you, they also have the disadvantage of being part of the United States, so various mistakes like your political system, your legal system and your health care system are wasting a lot of money.
The Department of Defense appreciates your co-pay for NORAD.
Quote from: Neil on July 11, 2012, 10:37:49 PM
Quote from: KRonn on July 11, 2012, 08:20:28 PM
Fabulously wealthy state, far more prosperous than most small nations, and they're a financial basket case. What a tragedy really.
The American obsession with tons of government services with no taxes makes them unstable.
Plenty of taxes are paid, especially in California and many other states with the big government. My state of Massachusetts is supposedly the next in line to Cal in highest ratio of debt to GDP.
The problem is with how we've been doing our government spending across the board.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 12, 2012, 08:13:21 AM
Quote from: Neil on July 12, 2012, 08:10:08 AM
Mind you, they also have the disadvantage of being part of the United States, so various mistakes like your political system, your legal system and your health care system are wasting a lot of money.
The Department of Defense appreciates your co-pay for NORAD.
Sort of. Yeah, we pay, but the main thing we're bringing to the table is our vast territories.
Quote from: KRonn on July 12, 2012, 07:27:37 PM
Quote from: Neil on July 11, 2012, 10:37:49 PM
Quote from: KRonn on July 11, 2012, 08:20:28 PM
Fabulously wealthy state, far more prosperous than most small nations, and they're a financial basket case. What a tragedy really.
The American obsession with tons of government services with no taxes makes them unstable.
Plenty of taxes are paid, especially in California and many other states with the big government. My state of Massachusetts is supposedly the next in line to Cal in highest ratio of debt to GDP.
The problem is with how we've been doing our government spending across the board.
If all these services are required, then you're not paying enough tax.
One thing that's causing this is the Governor changed the way the car registration tax money is distributed. Brown needed the money to shore up the state budget and now the cities aren't getting their share anymore.
Fiscal Crisis in States Will Last Beyond Slump (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/in-report-on-states-finances-a-grim-long-term-forecast.html?_r=1&hp#h)
Quote from: viper37 on July 17, 2012, 01:07:56 PM
Fiscal Crisis in States Will Last Beyond Slump (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/in-report-on-states-finances-a-grim-long-term-forecast.html?_r=1&hp#h)
No kidding. Just wait till next 2013-14, when the austerity measures kick in because the knuckleheads in DC couldn't come to a deal. That's when the shit's really going to hit the fan.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 17, 2012, 01:58:17 PM
No kidding. Just wait till next 2013-14, when the austerity measures kick in because the knuckleheads in DC couldn't come to a deal. That's when the shit's really going to hit the fan.
How so?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 17, 2012, 02:11:59 PM
How so?
The sequestration kick-ins from the 2011 Budget Control Act. Slicing off that much that fast is gonna hurt.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 17, 2012, 02:16:38 PM
The sequestration kick-ins from the 2011 Budget Control Act. Slicing off that much that fast is gonna hurt.
Through the effect on the real economy or through some other mechanism?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 17, 2012, 02:18:07 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 17, 2012, 02:16:38 PM
The sequestration kick-ins from the 2011 Budget Control Act. Slicing off that much that fast is gonna hurt.
Through the effect on the real economy or through some other mechanism?
I think the impact on the real economy would be enough.
QuoteMore than 42,000 Coloradans could lose their jobs through a process known as sequestration if Congress cannot agree on a plan to reduce the federal deficit, according to a study released today.
The study's analysis explores the economic impact on both defense and domestic jobs if the Budget Control Act goes into effect on its Jan. 2 deadline.
The Act will automatically cut military and space budgets by nearly $500 billion unless lawmakers create — and agree on — a new plan. Colorado has the second-largest aerospace economy in the nation.
"This is an unprecedented level of budget cuts and the industry does not know how to plan, so it is crippling the industry," said Vicky Lea, aviation and aerospace industry manager for Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.
The new estimates place Colorado's losses at more than 18,000 defense jobs and more than 24,000 non-defense jobs by 2013.
"The impact of this will be just as bad on the domestic side as the defense side," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., at a Tuesday morning press conference.
Aerospace Industries Association commissioned George Mason University's Stephen S. Fuller and Chmura Economics and Analytics for the study, which is being publicized by both Republicans and Democrats.
"We all know that we have a fiscal crisis to address," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., at the press conference. "But the way the sequestration works is irresponsible."
With nearly 50 percent of Colorado's aerospace companies employing fewer than ten people, Lea worries that many of the smaller companies may not survive the budget cuts.
Not saying it isn't necessary; just saying it's gonna hurt.
Oh, found another article on the study--
QuoteNew Report Predicts Widespread American Job Losses
Government Employees, Teachers, Nurses Among At-Risk Workers
ARLINGTON, Va., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new economic impact analysis concludes that 2.14 million American jobs could be lost if the Budget Control Act's sequestration mandate takes effect on January 2, 2013. That is the date that budget cuts of $1.2 trillion start throughout government unless Congress and the administration agree on a solution.
Dr. Stephen S. Fuller, Dwight Schar Faculty Chair and University Professor and Director for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, in conjunction with Chmura Economics and Analytics, conducted the study on behalf of the Aerospace Industries Association.
"The results are bleak but clear-cut," said Fuller. "The unemployment rate will climb above 9 percent, pushing the economy toward recession and reducing projected growth in 2013 by two-thirds. An already weak economy will be undercut as the paychecks of thousands of workers across the economy will be affected from teachers, nurses, construction workers to key federal employees such as border patrol and FBI agents, food inspectors and others."
The analysis concludes that the automatic spending cuts mandated in the Budget Control Act of 2011 affecting defense and non-defense discretionary spending in just the first year of implementation will reduce the nation's GDP by $215 billion; decrease personal earnings of the workforce by $109.4 billion and cost the U.S. economy 2.14 million jobs.
"This report shows that sequestration is not just a defense problem, it's an American problem," said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. "Unless our leaders in Washington take action, massive cuts have the potential to devastate our economy. In addition, more than one million defense-dependent jobs on the line will risk our national security, economy and the technological innovation that keeps America Second to None."
According to "The Economic Impact of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on DOD and Non-DOD Agencies," 48,059 jobs in healthcare, 98,953 in construction, 473,250 in manufacturing and 617,449 federal jobs are at risk. The study outlines the impacts in all 50 states with California, Virginia and Texas experiencing the largest potential jobs loss and most states taking five-digit job losses.
The threat of sequestration is bringing many voices to the table. At the July 17 press briefing releasing the numbers, participants said:
Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH): "Military leaders have been clear that defense sequestration will deprive our troops of the resources they need and undermine our national security for generations," said Senator Ayotte, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee. "This new study underscores that sequestration will also crush our economy, devastate our defense industrial base, and put tens of thousands of Americans out of work. Republicans and Democrats must work together now to find alternate spending reductions that will not add a national security crisis to our fiscal crisis."
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH): "I want to thank the AIA for conducting this study, which looks at this question in the proper context of the entire problem. Focusing on only one half of the problem creates the impression that we only need half a solution, but that won't work," Shaheen said. "We cannot continue to avoid tough decisions on the future of our debt and deficit. We should continue to work on a comprehensive solution that puts everything on the table. It's the right thing to do for our national security, for our economy, and for our people."
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton: "The report's findings are proof that Arizona faces serious job loss - nearly 50,000 high-wage jobs - at the expense of Congress's failure to deal with looming, indiscriminate cuts to our aerospace and defense industries," Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said. "We can't afford to take that kind of a hit. We know some cuts will happen, but we need to be strategic, propose a solution and protect jobs to keep our momentum going forward out of the recession, not backward."
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders: "Like every other city in the country, San Diego has been struggling to recover from the worst national recession in nine decades. Arbitrary, politically motivated cuts to the national defense budget are the last thing our city needs right now, given that a quarter of all jobs in this region are tied to the defense industry."
Well, we'd get a new lower baseline from the Pentagon out of it.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on July 17, 2012, 02:44:21 PM
Well, we'd get a new lower baseline from the Pentagon out of it.
Won't they find enough "support our troops!" representatives and senators to somehow exempt defense spending?
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on July 17, 2012, 02:44:21 PM
Well, we'd get a new lower baseline from the Pentagon out of it.
And I can appreciate that. However, I don't think this is really the way to do it. Just ask the UK.
Now, I know the defense industry has a vested political interest in killing the sequestration kick-ins and have acted accordingly, but unless the DOD takes a cold, hard look at how they deal with the procurement process and contractors--not just defense contractors, but the out-sourcing it pays for contractors to provide services--then the budget cuts will hurt harder than they really need to.
Quote from: Zanza on July 17, 2012, 02:52:33 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on July 17, 2012, 02:44:21 PM
Well, we'd get a new lower baseline from the Pentagon out of it.
Won't they find enough "support our troops!" representatives and senators to somehow exempt defense spending?
They're trying that now. Hell, the House Republicans tried that play practically the moment the Act was passed.
They'll have time to make a move after the election. Nothing is going to get done before that.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 17, 2012, 02:53:25 PMunless the DOD takes a cold, hard look at how they deal with the procurement process and contractors--not just defense contractors, but the out-sourcing it pays for contractors to provide services
That's true of all departments, not just defense. Believe me.
The thread title reminds me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn6Bsg32AI8&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn6Bsg32AI8&feature=related)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll - Blue Oyster Cult
http://news.yahoo.com/san-bernardino-short-term-proposal-suspend-debt-payments-194153400.html
QuoteSan Bernardino, California, which is planning to file for bankruptcy, would suspend payments on pension obligation bonds and other debt under a three-month proposal to be submitted to the city council on Tuesday.
A package of materials on the city council's website included the plan for July-September of this year.
City staff recommend deferring $3.6 million in debt and lease payments, including on pension bonds and infrastructure bank loans.
"The Council is being asked to authorize City staff to defer payment on the City's debt coming due between July 1, 2012 and September 30, 2012, administratively 'freeze' non-essential vacant positions, curtail spending organization-wide, suspend all equipment purchases, and defer any new Capital Improvement Program projects," the materials said.
The city of about 210,000 people located 65 miles east of Los Angeles would become the third city in California to seek protection from its creditors since late June, after Stockton and Mammoth Lakes, and the speed with which its situation has deteriorated has shocked residents and observers.
In a few weeks the city has declared a fiscal emergency and begun preparing for a bankruptcy filing, revealing a $45.8 million shortfall for the budget year that began this month.
Quotehttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/31/vallejo-back-from-bankruptcy/
Life after bankruptcy: Problems persist as Vallejo, Calif., touts efforts to bounce back
Vallejo, Calif., does not look like a city on the rise. About half of its downtown retail space is empty. The list of foreclosed properties continues to grow, prompting auctions every day on the steps of City Hall.
And yet, this city of 118,000 northeast of San Francisco believes that after hitting rock bottom in 2008 it is now recovering from three years in bankruptcy.
"Nobody wants to be from a city that's a bankrupt city," Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis said. "And when we emerged from bankruptcy it was like we were having a party. Now we're moving ahead."
Moving ahead slowly.
Vallejo officially came out of bankruptcy in November 2011. The result has been a smaller city government with a noticeable shortage of services and police protection.
"We don't meet all the needs of the city today," City Manager Daniel Keen said. "We have stretched the limits of small police force."
The police department is down from 138 to 93 officers partly because the police union refused to take a cut in pay or benefits. The other three public employee bargaining units have agreed to concessions, mainly in their pension plans and health care benefits. Police officers, meantime, still enjoy free health care coverage for life and the ability to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their last year's pay.
Vallejo City Council member Stephanie Gomes says the unions were able to negotiate those gold-plated packages because they essentially owned the city leaders, whom they helped get elected.
"When I first ran, I was in an interview with all the unions and the question they asked me was, 'If we endorse you will you stay bought?'" Gomes said.
Gomes never did get that endorsement and has been a critic of the unions and their contracts ever since. She said bankruptcy has been good in that it lays the city's finances open so everyone can see the sacrifices that need to be made.
Vallejo's fiscal crises has been a long time in the making. The Navy closed its Mare Island Shipyard in 1996, draining millions of federal dollars out of the economy. The city managed to get by thanks to rising property values. When real estate values started to tank, Vallejo's tax base was hit hard.
City government has shrunk 25 percent. Two fire stations were closed. Streets have not received any maintenance in five years. The police force is so small the city installed cameras to monitor areas cops could not adequately patrol. The cameras are monitored back at police headquarters by unpaid volunteers.
One of the biggest changes in Vallejo post-bankruptcy is residents expect less from their government and many are willing to do more to fill the void. The playground at City Park is a good example. With the city broke and cutting back on all services, 2,000 residents bought the material and built a sprawling play structure.
Volunteers also clean alleys, parks and remove graffiti. They report city code violations. And they patrol their own streets. The number of neighborhood watch groups has grown from three to well over 300.
Kathy Beistel started a watch group called the Kentucky Street Watch Owls.
"Bankruptcy wakes people up," Beistel said. "You can't just sit back, you need to take care of yourself. Just don't expect everybody else to do it for you."
Beistel's street no longer is infested with prostitutes and drug deals. But across town, business owner Manny Melenbrez is not as optimistic.
"I haven't seen a drastic change at all yet," Melenbrez, who owns Momo's Cafe, said. "People think negative about the city. They don't want to visit because they think the crime rate is high."
While bankruptcy wiped away $32 million in debt, defaulting on its bond payments will make it very difficult for Vallejo to borrow money in the future. Voters helped last November by narrowly approving a 1 percent increase to the sales tax, which will generate $10 million a year.
But the legal bills alone from bankruptcy are $16 million. The bankruptcy court proceedings may be over, but the lingering effects will drag on for years.
"I think Vallejo's story is a lot like other cities in California," Daniel Keen said. "It's a story of excess. We are trying to rebuild confidence in this city."
Quote from: KRonn on August 01, 2012, 05:46:03 PM
The police department is down from 138 to 93 officers partly because the police union refused to take a cut in pay or benefits. The other three public employee bargaining units have agreed to concessions, mainly in their pension plans and health care benefits. Police officers, meantime, still enjoy free health care coverage for life and the ability to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their last year's pay.
Fight the power. :punk:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 01, 2012, 06:02:20 PM
Quote from: KRonn on August 01, 2012, 05:46:03 PM
The police department is down from 138 to 93 officers partly because the police union refused to take a cut in pay or benefits. The other three public employee bargaining units have agreed to concessions, mainly in their pension plans and health care benefits. Police officers, meantime, still enjoy free health care coverage for life and the ability to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their last year's pay.
Fight the power. :punk:
No shit. That kind of package isn't generous, it's robbery. I mean, damn.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 01, 2012, 06:11:04 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 01, 2012, 06:02:20 PM
Quote from: KRonn on August 01, 2012, 05:46:03 PM
The police department is down from 138 to 93 officers partly because the police union refused to take a cut in pay or benefits. The other three public employee bargaining units have agreed to concessions, mainly in their pension plans and health care benefits. Police officers, meantime, still enjoy free health care coverage for life and the ability to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their last year's pay.
Fight the power. :punk:
No shit. That kind of package isn't generous, it's robbery. I mean, damn.
Kind of sad, because if benefits, retirements like this could have been done more rationally then the need for layoffs, or at least radical layoffs, may have been averted. I bet this kind of thing happens often. I often wonder in my own state, when they do teacher or other public worker layoffs if someting like this helps eat up the funds, causing more layoffs.
Quote from: KRonn on August 01, 2012, 08:15:19 PM
Kind of sad, because if benefits, retirements like this could have been done more rationally then the need for layoffs, or at least radical layoffs, may have been averted. I bet this kind of thing happens often. I often wonder in my own state, when they do teacher or other public worker layoffs if someting like this helps eat up the funds, causing more layoffs.
Yup, and they can be, with alternative retirement options like a DROP; apparently the knuckleheads in the local FOP lodge didnt think of that, despite more police agencies and other public employees going in that direction.
Dont think outside the call box, fellas; go ahead and dicks, and get people fired. Dummies.
Quote from: KRonn on August 01, 2012, 08:15:19 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 01, 2012, 06:11:04 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on August 01, 2012, 06:02:20 PM
Quote from: KRonn on August 01, 2012, 05:46:03 PM
The police department is down from 138 to 93 officers partly because the police union refused to take a cut in pay or benefits. The other three public employee bargaining units have agreed to concessions, mainly in their pension plans and health care benefits. Police officers, meantime, still enjoy free health care coverage for life and the ability to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their last year's pay.
Fight the power. :punk:
No shit. That kind of package isn't generous, it's robbery. I mean, damn.
Kind of sad, because if benefits, retirements like this could have been done more rationally then the need for layoffs, or at least radical layoffs, may have been averted. I bet this kind of thing happens often. I often wonder in my own state, when they do teacher or other public worker layoffs if someting like this helps eat up the funds, causing more layoffs.
It happens frequently. The remaining cops are likely the older ones who got seniority enough to fuck over the younger guys. The teachers unions around here are infamous for that kind of thing. In Lowell, for example, the union was given the option of no layoffs and no raises or some layoffs and a decent raise. you can guess which one the old hacks took.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on August 02, 2012, 07:23:13 AM
In Lowell, for example, the union was given the option of no layoffs and no raises or some layoffs and a decent raise. you can guess which one the old hacks took.
They chose solidarity with their fellow workers?
Quote from: Valmy on August 02, 2012, 08:05:10 AM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on August 02, 2012, 07:23:13 AM
In Lowell, for example, the union was given the option of no layoffs and no raises or some layoffs and a decent raise. you can guess which one the old hacks took.
They chose solidarity with their fellow workers?
No, the older teachers chose the raises.