Anyone live in Vallejo ? Is it really that bad they need to file bankruptcey ?? (San Francisco: fit in, city hall)

[heydade]

Vallejo Bankruptcy - Economy * US * News * Story - MSNBC.com

Pretty sad. Even more sad that they want o CUT the pay off firefighter and police officers. Can you imagine if YOUR boss all of sudden walked in and said you would be getting a 15% paycut ? Could you continue to afford your home and vehicle if still making payments on it ? Probably not. SHAME on Vallejo for using it's firefighters and police departments as it's scapegoats. They need to be held accountable and have the City Manager and his team fired for gross incompetence. Just because they are in a bind right now, does not give them the right to panic and make other city employees suffer. They should have thought about the "what if's" early in the game. It's too late to start with pay cuts and the like....you just ruin people's lives like that. I'm glad 20 or so of the firefighters retired after getting wind of the news....now the City is forced to pay a tremendous amount of overtime to fill in the gap in the meantime. SHAME ON VALLEJO....HOLD THE CITY MANAGER RESPONSIBLE since it is obvious he MIS-MANAGED the city.

[humboldtrat]

A large part of the problem is the "sweetheart" deals made with public employee unions. Police and firefighters can retire at age 50 after 25 or 30 years service and get 90% of their last year pay. In their last year, police and firefighters work as much overtime as they can to the point where they are making 6 figures in their last year and then they get paid 90% of that for life along with health care for life.

That's why many cities and counties will be going broke in the future. They are not setting aside enough (or in some cases any) money needed to cover these future entitlements. There are not many of us in the private sector, with many of us just getting by, who get a deal like that, but as taxpayers, we're suppose to fund this largess.

And please don't tell us that we should pay more taxes . Californians pay enough already.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by heydade

Vallejo Bankruptcy - Economy * US * News * Story - MSNBC.com

Pretty sad. Even more sad that they want o CUT the pay off firefighter and police officers. Can you imagine if YOUR boss all of sudden walked in and said you would be getting a 15% paycut ? Could you continue to afford your home and vehicle if still making payments on it ? Probably not. SHAME on Vallejo for using it's firefighters and police departments as it's scapegoats. They need to be held accountable and have the City Manager and his team fired for gross incompetence. Just because they are in a bind right now, does not give them the right to panic and make other city employees suffer. They should have thought about the "what if's" early in the game. It's too late to start with pay cuts and the like....you just ruin people's lives like that. I'm glad 20 or so of the firefighters retired after getting wind of the news....now the City is forced to pay a tremendous amount of overtime to fill in the gap in the meantime. SHAME ON VALLEJO....HOLD THE CITY MANAGER RESPONSIBLE since it is obvious he MIS-MANAGED the city.

Shame on Vallejo? Why? What did the people do? For that matter, most of the people who work for the city are totally in the clear too.

In fact,
you really cant point the finger too sharply at the CM either. His dilemma is quite more complex then overspending-which they didnt do.

Vallejo spends an exorbitant amount of money on paying out pernsion and retirement benefits to its former employees. I read that it actually accounts for more than half the city budget. The city is required by law to pay these benefits regardless as to how the economy is doing and regardless as to how their tax revenue flow looks. Its not as cut and dry as the media is reporting.

THE ONLY WAY TO LEGALLY GET OUT OF HAVING TO PAY THESE BENEFITS IS FOR THE CITY TO FILE BANKRUPTCY.

And this is why many city employees are rushing to retire before the city files for chapter 9. Meanwhile it really is awful if your someone whose been paying into the retirement pot for say 10 years.

There needs to be a major overhaul of municipal level retirement and pension programs across the country-otherwise this will continue.

I think the best thing to do is to have either one of three solutions.

1. Have all municipalities join their respective state employee retirement systems. California has the largest such system-The California State Employees Retirement System or CALPERS and this is a state agency yet it is independent of the fiscal problems of the state.

2. Create indendepent retirement systems for each city that is independent financially of the city.

3. The second largest retirement systems in the US is the California State Teachers Retirement System or CALSTRS. Perhaps police departments across the state should pool their retirement funds and create a single entity that oversees their retirement. Perhaps Firefighters should do the same and Clerical Departments and so on.

[humboldtrat]

And while I'm on a rant, let me tell you about the 10 foot long wheelchair ramp that San Francisco is placing in city hall for $1.1 MILLION . I could go to Home Depot and get some lumber and do it for a lot less.

And then there are the 25 San Francisco city employees who are working on global warming. One of these global warming aides to the mayor is "earning" $160,000 a year in a city that can't make the busses run on time, fill pot holes, is thinking about reducing hospital operating room hours and delaying playground improvement projects. And oh yes, the city has a large deficit. I could go on and this waste of taxpayer dollars will only get worse.

[berkeleyres]

humboltrat
I couldn't agree with you more. Goverment employees have been bilking taxpayers for years working ridiculously low hours and getting overtime in order to manipulate pensions. In fact, most companies don't even have pensions. Regular taxpayers actually have to save, not steal from the taxpayers like government employees. Just go to any DMV and see what you tax dollars get you

[CocoaBeanLover]

Is there any hope that any of this will turn around in the near future?

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by berkeleyres

humboltrat
I couldn't agree with you more. Goverment employees have been bilking taxpayers for years working ridiculously low hours and getting overtime in order to manipulate pensions. In fact, most companies don't even have pensions. Regular taxpayers actually have to save, not steal from the taxpayers like government employees. Just go to any DMV and see what you tax dollars get you

Uhhhh... I'm a government employee, and work full-time for not much money. Not to mention, I pay the same taxes as the rest of you, if not more! Please use specifics when talking about a group of employees, since we don't all fit into the same category. And yes, I know you're talking mostly about the "higher-ups," but even they aren't all corrupt. That being said, I agree that we need to re-evaluate how the money is being spent in our cities.

[CocoaBeanLover]

That brings me back to my original question ~ Is there a chance that this community could make a great turnaround? We are looking at moving into the Bay area and couldn't help but notice the more affordable housing up in Vallejo, but don't want to find ourselves in a city that has no police or fire protection, rising crime....and may be dying...I've never heard of a city filing for bankruptcy - aren't there measures in place to protect it from that? thanks for any insights!

[Cougar05]

Home prices in Vallejo may be more affordable, but trust me, you don't want to move here. I've lived here for almost 25 years and would love to get out of this town, but due to my circumstances, I am unable to at the present.

There is nothing in this town. There's no shopping, no restaurants (so we have a Kohl's and a Black Angus, big deal!). We don't even have a proper bookstore - and no, the adult bookstore does not count. Compare Vallejo to the nearby city of Vacaville and you'll see a BIG difference. Vacaville is bustling with new stores and a plethora of dining choices. But, I can't really blame business, such as Barnes & Noble and Trader Joe's, for not wanting to come here. Our inhabitants would have them trashed and tagged within a week of opening.

Furthermore, Vallejo is doing nothing to increase revenue. Instead of bringing in new business, they're driving it away. LNG (liquid natural gas) for example. Everyone was concerned that it would be hazardous to have that company here. I believe turning them away was more hazardous. Perhaps if they had been allowed to establish here the city wouldn't be on the verge of bankruptcy.

Regarding the the firefighters' salaries, the problem is that their BASE PAY is ridiculously high. Don't get me wrong, I understand its a dangerous job, and am in favor of them being fairly compensated. Nonetheless, that doesn't justify Vallejo being among the top ten cities in the nation, when it comes to high paying firefighter salaries. This isn't San Francisco or New York. Do you see any skyscrapers here? We don't have the kind of structures to warrant that kind of pay.

And no, I'm not saying that these high salaries that Vallejo pays to city employees is the only reason that Vallejo is nearly bankrupt. There certainly are other reasons. However, it is a big part of it.

Finally, ask yourself, do you really want to live in a town that sees a lot of drug traffic and has over 250 registered sex offenders living here?

[CocoaBeanLover]

Thanks Cougar05 ~ that is the kind of insiders' perspective I needed ~ good luck getting out soon!