It's starting...
A year and a half ago, I wrote about what I believed
would be the #1 story in 2010 - the collapse of state
and local governments.
I was wrong.
It's taking a bit longer than I originally thought,
it will be the #1 story for 2011.
Things are starting to unravel, but won't reach a tipping
point until next year.
Here's a glimpse of what to expect...
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Hard Times In Vallejo
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latimes.com
By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times
May 26, 2010
First came the break-in at the combination electronics repair shop and real estate agency. Then came the burglar bars on the store's plate-glass window.
But Jimmy Mozaffar, owner of Data Days, sounds less angry with the criminals than he does with the crime-stoppers here in hard-knock VALLEJO, the largest city in California history to file for bankruptcy.
The thieves made off with laptops, but it was the pared-down Police Department — which has lost a third of its officers — that stole Mozaffar's peace of mind. When Mozaffar called the department to report the burglary last fall, a recording directed him to a website.
"Nobody came out," he said. "They said they'd deal with it."
Since filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection two years ago, this scrappy Bay Area bedroom community has come to symbolize the fiscal troubles — now faced by many cities — that helped push it to the brink: unrestrained spending, out-of-control pension costs and a burst housing bubble.
"I don't think other cities look at us with a jaundiced eye because we've filed bankruptcy," said Mayor Osby Davis. "Other cities … look at us and say, 'Wow, we're a step away from where you are. We just want to know, how are you getting through this?' "
The answer, so far, is not so well, although "the hardships visited on VALLEJO residents are not because of the bankruptcy," said Marc Levinson, the city's lead bankruptcy attorney.
"The bankruptcy is an attempt to fix it," he continued. "If it hadn't been for the bankruptcy, the problem would have been worse. The city could not pay its bills."
Evidence of municipal misery is widespread. Foreclosed homes are sold in front of the Civic Center so often that City Hall is plastered with signs warning auctioneers not to conduct business at the lobby information desk or the monument to fallen firefighters and police officers.
Sixty percent of all borrowers in the VALLEJO area owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth in the first quarter of 2010, according to CoreLogic, compared with 24% of borrowers nationwide and 34% in California.
Property and sales tax revenue are expected to drop 18% and 10%, respectively, in the current fiscal year. The city's general fund has plummeted 20% in the last two years.
Trees go untrimmed, potholes unfilled. The economic development staff has been slashed to one. Even Wal-Mart has decamped from this city of 121,000. VALLEJO has stopped funding senior centers and libraries.
"The unofficial civic motto used to be, 'VALLEJO, come for the crack, stay for the hookers,' " joked writer David Corbett, who moved here in 1994 and sets some of his gritty novels in a real or imagined VALLEJO. "Since bankruptcy, it's been changed to, 'VALLEJO, where your hope comes to die.' "
Municipal bankruptcies are rare and drastic measures. California's largest and best-known was the 1994 Orange County filing, which was spurred by losses in the investment market. Desert Hot Springs also declared bankruptcy in December 2001 after an adverse court judgment.
In the current economic climate, however, talk of bankruptcy has become more commonplace. Former Mayor Richard Riordan recently co-wrote an opinion piece about Los Angeles for the Wall Street Journal predicting that "Between now and 2014 the city will likely declare bankruptcy."
Miguel A. Santana, the city administrative officer, rejected Riordan's contention, telling the City Council that deep spending cuts have put the city "on our way to financial stability."
Nearly 20 years ago, the VALLEJO City Council appointed a citizens committee to review the municipal finances, which were tottering even then.
J.D. Miller, a certified public accountant who served on the committee, remembers standing in front of a whiteboard on which he had drawn a simple graph. A steeply climbing line showed expenses — entirely labor costs. A flatter one showed revenue. The two were set to intersect in 1994.
"The contracts they had with all of their employee groups in 1993 were unsustainable. That's why the two lines collided," Miller said, adding that the City Council "continued to give raises and benefits."
Although the council did begin cutting costs, VALLEJO ran through its reserves and sought bankruptcy protection in May 2008.
Three of its four unions objected to the filing, but a federal judge ruled that the city was insolvent and eligible for bankruptcy.
VALLEJO officials have reached new contracts with all but the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2376, which represents about 240 city employees. Arbitration with the IBEW began this month.
Salary increases were eliminated for firefighters and management workers. The city had not paid police officers past salary increases; the union agreed not to demand repayment. VALLEJO imposed lower interest payments to bondholders and missed three interest payments entirely.
The city has not altered worker pensions, Levinson said, wanting to avoid a costly legal battle, among other reasons. The city hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the year, he said.
Nowhere are Vallejo's troubles as apparent as in public safety. Since the filing, the city has closed two fire stations and may shutter a third.
In the last several years, police ranks have dropped to about 100 from 155, as officers took jobs elsewhere and were not replaced. Only two have been laid off.
But the renegotiated police contract calls for a 7% raise starting July 1, a pay increase that the city says it cannot afford. If that raise goes through, as many as 15 to 20 more officers may be let go.
Police officers no longer patrol the schools, and the department has ended its community policing program. The detective ranks have been cut in half. VALLEJO used to have five police dogs; now there are two.
"If there's an emergency, officers will break from what they were doing and respond to that situation immediately," said Lt. Abel Tenorio, a department spokesman. "But we have had occasions where several emergencies have occurred at the same time."
That's when the city has had to call for help from the Solano County Sheriff's Department and other nearby police agencies.
In February, VALLEJO was hit with a weeklong crime wave that — fairly or not — focused attention on the city's financial troubles.
On Feb. 1, Harold Cabral, a 47-year-old city backhoe operator, was beaten by a crowd of more than 40 people. He suffered a fractured skull, jaw and collarbone and broken teeth.
Two days later, Amarjit Kaur, a 39-year-old widow, was shot in the chest and seriously wounded during an attempted robbery of her ice cream truck.
Det. Mat Mustard, president of the VALLEJO Police Officers Assn., said there was "absolutely" a cause-and-effect relationship between the drop in officers and the spike in crime.
"There is one reason government was established: to provide public safety to its citizens," Mustard said. "The city of VALLEJO is failing at that."
Critics blast the police union for capitalizing on tragedy to further its political ends and note that suspects were arrested within days of the attacks on Kaur and Cabral.
"Do we want more police officers on the street? Of course we do," said Councilwoman Marti Brown. "But it's unfair to say those crimes wouldn't have happened if we had 150 police officers instead of 102."
The father of a suspect in the Cabral beating was slain a week later in what police say was an unrelated crime.
Eric Safire, the attorney for the 17-year-old suspect, said that because of the bankruptcy, "defending the case has been an absolute nightmare. The Police Department is frequently closed during the week. I can't make an appointment to view the evidence, because no one answers the phone."
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Flint shootings, homicides lead to calls for help from Governor, National Guard.
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mlive.com
By Ron Fonger | Flint Journal
May 25, 2010,
FLINT, Michigan -- Shootings have become so widespread in the city that two former state representatives are talking about calling in the National Guard to help calm violence on Flint's streets.
Former state representative Vera Rison said Tuesday that help is needed immediately, and during a meeting of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners today, Brenda Clack quizzed Sheriff Robert Pickell about the potential for getting help from guardsmen as well.
Current state Sen. John Gleason, D-Flushing, said he will also deliver a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm by noon Wedensday, asking that she use "any and all powers" at her disposal to help end increasing violence here.
Although a Gleason aide said he will not ask Granholm for troops, the governor has the authority to issue an executive order to activate the National Guard. Her office has no immediate comment when contacted today.
Violence and shootings have exploded in Flint during the last 30 days, including more than 100 reported assaults and nine homicides.
(UPDATE: Flint Mayor Dayne Walling authorized additional police patrols overnight, hours before fourth deadly shooting in five days.)
Brenda Clack"This is civil unrest," said Clack, currently a county commissioner representing part of Flint. "Criminals feel like they have the freedom in this city ... (and) people feel like they are prisoners in their own homes."
Vera RisonRison said she has been in discussions with Gleason's office and also plans to ask Granholm to bring in the National Guard.
"It's out of hand," Rison said this morning. "I'm asking for the National Guard. That's what I want."
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling on Monday introduced a program called Cease Fire that he said will involve comprehensive training for community police officers who will be deployed Thursday, training for volunteers and partnerships with church leaders.
[SOTB: Remember Obama's call for a domestic security force "as large, and as well funded as the military" - because it's coming.]
But just hours after Walling spoke at a press conference about the new program, there were several more shootings Monday night, one leaving a 19-year-old dead and at least two other victims in critical condition.
"We don't have time for trainning," Rison said of Walling's response so far. "It's time to take care of business."
The Flint Journal could not immediately reach Walling for comment today, but some residents shouted when he spoke about recent shootings at Monday's City Council meeting and one man told the council that citizens are arming themselves because they don't believe police can protect them.
Public Safety Director Alvern Lock said he doesn't think the National Guard is needed in the city, and said no one has contacted his department or the mayor's office about bringing the Guard into Flint.
"We're not at that point," Lock said.
Walling said Monday that the number of assaults during the past month is higher than the same period last year and called every violent death in the city a tragedy. There have been 21 homicides in Flint so far this year. In all of 2009, there were 35 homicides, according to preliminary numbers issued by the FBI this week.
Much of that violence has come since 46 Flint police officers were laid off from their jobs in late March because of budget cuts at the city.
Lock said the city has it's own police force, mayor and city council and said county officials like Clack shouldn't offer extreme advise without communicating with Flint officials.
But Clack, a longtime city resident, said violence is rising to "unbelievable" levels.
"For the first time in my lifetime in Flint, I'm concerned (for people's safety)," Clack said during a county commissioners meeting this morning.
Clack asked Pickell to help the city in whatever way he can and asked about circumstances under which Granholm might issue an executive order, calling the National Guard to help keep peace in Flint.
Clack said she doesn't like the thought of seeing guardsman on street corners, but prefers it to seeing victims gunned down in the street and families living in fear.
Pickell said the National Guard was called into Flint during civil disturbances in the late 1960s and said said the governor would likely not make such a move unless there was "civil disorder" in the streets.
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There are literally hundreds of these stories that could be told,
and the mainstream media is working hard to keep them surpressed.
You saw the story about the Sheriff from the largest county
in Ohio, which has only one patrol car on duty to patrol a
320 sq. mile county - tell his citizenry that they need to
get armed, and are now responsible for their own safety.
You've seen more than one community ask for National Guard patrols.
You see what's happening on the borders.
Two years after the collapse of the housing bubble - 200,000
Americans are still losing their homes each and every month.
Millions are scheduled to lose their unemployment benefits
over the coming months.
40 million+ Americans are now on food stamps - you don't see
the bread lines - but, they're there.
We still have a real unemployment rate of 20% and
there is no sign of a jobs recovery on the horizon.
It's all a numbers game...
At some point in time, there will be enough cold, hungry,
homeless, and angry people... people who never in their
worst nightmares, ever envisioned themselves being out of
work and unable to find any job, let alone homeless,
and hungry.
I don't know what the number is, but I have feeling we're getting close.
Gerald Celente said it best:
"When people lose everything and have nothing more to lose,
they will lose it."
Congress just gave Wall Street everything it wanted
in the Finance Reform bill, and is now going to try to
push through a Bankster-Gangster Cap & Trade bill.
They also left for a holiday recess without funding extended
unemployment benfits which expire on June 2nd.
And wait until Obama tries to push through amnesty for illegals...
In case you were wondering what Richard Russell meant when he said:
"You won't recognize America by the end of the year."
...now you know.
Might not be "the end of (this) year" but it's coming - all by design.
Why - "by design?"
Because the elite know through experience, that they can not
bring in a new system (financial and governmental), until the
old system has been completely destroyed.
Is America still salvaegable?
Yes.
Is the battle still winnable?
Yes.
And we've got until November 2010 to do it.
There's no time left to hide your head in the sand people.
It's now, or never.
3 choices:
Fight, Flight, or Freeze.
Fight back and do it now.
Freeze and do nothing.
Take Flight and get the hell out of Dodge, while the gettin's good.
SOTB |
