Date: Jun 12th 2008 | Author: iAMbs |
Political greed at all levels
Some of you may have heard that the city of Vallejo, California, has filed for bankruptcy - the largest city in California ever to do so. There are disagreements as to the exact causes of Vallejo’s financial woes, but the short answer is long-term fiscal mismanagement.
Mayor Osby Davis has proposed a short answer for better short-term management - cut city employee salaries from the top down:
Mayor Osby Davis went beyond proposed reductions, saying during a budget study session that salary and benefit cuts should start from the top down as soon as possible, and particularly with City Manager Joe Tanner’s position.
Tanner received $454,708 in salary and benefits in the 2006-2007 fiscal year, with a base pay of $305,843, according to information collected by the Reporter, of Vacaville.
Bear in mind that, although Vallejo is often included as part of the larger “SF Bay Area,” it is by no means a wealthy place. An estimated 7% of Vallejo families live in poverty, the median income is about $47,000, and the unemployment rate is about 9%, well above the national average. Given that the average home price is $436,200 and average rent is $1,065, that average $47,000 doesn’t go very far.
So bravo to Mayor Davis for proposing a sensible, if partial, solution that will show immediate results! And BOO to Councilwoman Joanne Shivley who thinks the city should trim its payroll from the bottom up. And BOO to Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes who said “reassessment of city employee pay…should be the subject of a council retreat this summer. She contended there was not enough time to restructure the whole system by the end of June.”
A council retreat my @ss! Get off yours and DO something! The whole system doesn’t need to be restructured in order to review and revise the top salaries!
Filed in: Uncategorized |
A council retreat? A few days at the four seasons, to Brainstorm about where the money went, maybe? I have been watching how some nearby cities are managing their finances, and they don’t look much better. You can expect to see more bay area cities following Vallejo down the hole. Berkely, as a result of their little temper tantrum this past spring has been steadily losing businesses, eroding their tax base at a time when they are doing all they can to kill any federal funding they might have gotten. In San Jose, where they have been over budget for years, they are busy going around building huge new library/community centers, and such necessary improvements as built up islands between traffic lanes on city streets. At the same time, CA is where a large percentage of the illegal immigrants flooding the country go, and California law mandates that they are entitled to the full menu of social services, putting further strain on local governments all over the state.
Your observations are right on the mark! If California wants to drive business away, discourage new business, TAX old business and encourage non-Americans to use American health-&-welfare services, then golly whillikers, WHO’S GONNA PAY, Mr Bill?