Tag "San Bernardino"
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Pension follies: New Jersey adopts insane San Diego approach
California leads the way when it comes to government pension dysfunction. The first big city to be stricken by pension costs in the U.S. was San Diego, leading to the memorable 2004 New York Times’ description of it as “Enron
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San Jose Mayor Reed folds on pension initiative
In a disappointing indicator of the challenges facing public pension reform, outgoing San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has shelved his statewide ballot initiative designed to address the problem. The mayor blames a time crunch and unappealing language used in Attorney
Read MorePRI report examines bankruptcy as tool for struggling cities
The Pacific Research Institute has released a report that couldn't be more timely. “Going Broke One City at a Time: Municipal Bankruptcies in America” by economist Wayne H. Winegarden. buy a paper One of Winegarden's key conclusions: “If used appropriately, bankruptcy
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Why Arnold owes U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars (non-bullet train edition)
Two interesting pieces published recently make a strong case that government can be made far more efficient if we actually tried empirically to evaluate what worked and what didn't. On the Zocalo Public Square website, Pepperdine academic Pete Peterson takes
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Federal judge rebuffs CalPERS, OK’s San Bernardino bankruptcy
In a victory for taxpayers, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that the City of San Bernardino is eligible to file for bankruptcy. That trumped the claims of the California Public Employees Pension System that the court had the paramount right
Read MoreCalifornia government as organized looting, chapter 237
April 5, 2013 By Chris Reed The longer I’ve lived in California, the more governance here seems to resemble organized looting of taxpayers. It’s not just the showy and ridiculous things, like the longtime president of the CalPERS governing board
Read MoreBankruptcy judge rejects CalPERS’ claim to protected status
April 3, 2013 By Chris Reed As John Seiler pointed out here Tuesday, Monday’s court ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein isn’t seen as definitive. Yes, the city of Stockton can proceed with its bankruptcy filing. No, Klein doesn’t yet
Read MoreJudge: Stockton can go belly up
April 2, 2013 By John Seiler It’s official: The city of Stockton is bankrupt. On April 1, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein ruled that Stockton’s bankruptcy can proceed. “It’s apparent to me the city would not be able to perform
Read MoreReuters bests state media at covering San Bernardino’s collapse
April 1, 2013 By Chris Reed If you had to fashion a nut graph to explain why so many local California governments are in deep fiscal trouble, here’s my nominee for an honest generic overview: Over the past 20 years,
Read MoreMore CA cities should declare bankruptcy
March 8, 2013 By John Seiler Last year, three California cities declared bankruptcy: Stockton, San Bernardino and Mammoth Lakes. Atwater nearly did. Mammoth Lakes lost a lawsuit. But for the other cities — as well as for the Vallejo bankruptcy
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