Comments on: Making Public Pay for Budget Cuts

By: Greg.c

Greg.c — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:51:32 +0000

hi every one !
Im a cab driver in sacramento downtown and i have a story to share about our law enforcement agents.
i used to work at a convenience store before i start working as a cab driver, what i noticed as a clerk i used to see police officers comes in with 4 to 5 cop cars and stay in enjoying “free snacks” authorized by the owner to all police officers laughing and talking about stupid subjects while they are on radio putting calls on hold , and when i asked them about it they said “its just a mucilaginous” calls they can wait.
at that point i didn’t know exactly what was going on until i worked as a cab driver and start having direct contact with all kind of customers and some of them they lead you to call the cops wich is never gone well , every time i have to wait over 2 hours for an officer to show up and some times no one shows up until i leave without my rights as a us citizen. i pay taxes for those people to serve me and serve the community but i never get served.
what should we do in this case because its the first in the hole nation that when u needed help from officials they never put you first as a citizen.
god bless all america and bless our citizens.

By: Ms. White

Ms. White — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:14:35 +0000

The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive. Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions;for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one. We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the cities into rural districts, where the houses are not crowded closely together, and where you will be free from the interference of enemies.–Letter 5, 1904.

The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.–Letter 200, 1903.

By: CityTaxpayer

CityTaxpayer — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:17:46 +0000

AlamedaVole – what’s your point? Who cares who said what? The fact is these guys stood around for over an hour and watched a guy die, when all they had to do was wade into the water and pull him out. They’re supposed to be heroes, not a bunch of rule-spewing wimps. As far as I’m concerned, the public bystanders were nearly as culpable as the firefighters. Why didn’t anyone wade into the water and help this man? Couldn’t three or four civilians have gone in there and done a team rescue? Hell, they could have gotten a rope and thrown it around him and dragged him in, if they were afraid he may have had a sharp weapon. The idea that trained firefighters whose job is to take risks to protect the public couldn’t go in and save this guy is disgusting. In a properly run organization, they would all be fired for negligence.

By: David from Oceanside

David from Oceanside — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:55:14 +0000

“The public-sector unions also have assured that cities cannot contract out police and fire services to private bidders, where competitive pressures might improve customer service and efficiency.”

Steve, can you confirm? If an unincorporated county are,a with no prior labor agreements forms a city, current law precludes a private firm contracting fire or other services? Municipal water is another ripe area for privatization. Park services, building and safety, the list is long.

If so, this is very sad news. Reason TV has a great piece on a Georgia town which has contracted out everything but police. The police however do not have pensions, they have 401K type retirement. The city is entirely set up on pay as you go with the large majority of services contracted out to the private sector.

By: CalWatchdog

CalWatchdog — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:53:42 +0000

It was Division Chief Ricci Zombeck who made those comments and the stated reason for the policy was budget cuts that ended the training for cold-water rescues. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/06/budget-cuts-kept-firefighters-police-on-beach-as-suicide-victim-drowns/1

By: AlamedaVole

AlamedaVole — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:45:51 +0000

Mr. Greenhut, your article raises important questions/discussion points, but the inaccuracy in your presentation of the Alameda situation calls into question your use of facts to back up predetermined positions.

Just for the record: It wasn’t the Fire Chief who was quoted and it wasn’t budget cuts that were cited, it was a city policy that explicitly prohibited public safety officers from entering the water