San Rafael public-safety bond needs more votes to win

Time to thoroughly dismantle Union thugs and government administrators---- and tackle their over-bloated pensions next.
Too much FRAUD and the people ARE ANGRY NOW.

Thank you San Rafael for voting this Measure down. We all want the government and its administration to change their habits, cut down on pension, cut down on union crap, cut down on Mayor's pet projects, cut down on spending, and live within your limits.

I am sick and tired of City hall lies, and fraud.

"San Rafael voters Tuesday rejected an $88 million bond to build a public-safety building in downtown San Rafael and fix aging fire stations, but across Marin County other money measures emerged triumphant."

Wow-our overpaid loafers had some nerve.

I'm still shocked they got 61%? What are people
thinking? Marin has become a huge speed trap and
local governments are power happy.

san rafael_anger wrote:

Time to thoroughly dismantle Union thugs and government administrators---- and tackle their over-bloated pensions next.
Too much FRAUD and the people ARE ANGRY NOW.

Ya, 39% of the people are really pissed off.

Ugh! They don't get it. Heller is a train wreck. Bad choice,folks. Time to kick these tax and spend BUMS OUT!
The people have more work to do -- to dismantle unions, over-bloated pensions and corrupt government officials. Crooks all of them! 2010 is OURS to win. Boxer and the CA legislature needs the AX!

Good decision San Rafael. Bad timing and way too many chief's.

I am sure they will find money somewhere to build their palace.

san rafael_anger wrote:

Ugh! They don't get it. Heller is a train wreck. Bad choice,folks. Time to kick these tax and spend BUMS OUT!
The people have more work to do -- to dismantle unions, over-bloated pensions and corrupt government officials. Crooks all of them! 2010 is OURS to win. Boxer and the CA legislature needs the AX!

Maybe you should have stuck it out in the military or maybe if you were able too hold onto the public employee job you once had you would have a pension by now. The military just got a 3.6 percent raise on top of the one they got last year. That will help with the pensions. Thank You President Bush!

I was hoping for a bigger rejection of G but I'll chalk it up to a win.

San Rafael needs upgrades to it's fire stations. Measure "G" was a good example of how the San Rafael city council does it's job. They rushed this measure through and wrote a really bad piece of legislation. Specifics on Measure "G" were vague. They did manage to get 61% of the voters to agree. Now the San Rafel city council needs to do it's job and get funding for the work needed on the exsiting fire stations. I think re-modeling each station, one at a time can be done with the exsisting budget.

GIJOE wrote:

<quoted text>
Maybe you should have stuck it out in the military or maybe if you were able too hold onto the public employee job you once had you would have a pension by now. The military just got a 3.6 percent raise on top of the one they got last year. That will help with the pensions. Thank You President Bush!

Maybe you should do your homework. Bush actaully fought to decrease this military pay raise to 3 percent. Bush vetoed two military pay increases and only passed the last one after preasure from Republicans up for re-election. Bush is no friend to the Veterans Administrations either as he cut every VA budget presented to him.You are stooopid if you think this military pay increase was Bushes idea. Fool...it was a Democratic bill that Bush finally signed. He used this bill to play politics and waffled many times.

To all of you who voted no on G . . . when the next disaster hits and you are not prepared, don't come crying to the police and fire departments for services that they may not be able to provide because their own insufficient structures are damaged.

No site identitied
Thats the problem lack of details
Plenty of less expensive options especially given glut of empty buildings
Rather than buy land and build a whole new Taj Mahal facility build something on the exiting parking lot at City Hall (you own the land already) and incorporate the existing structure into it
Temporarily lease substitute space (empty Home Depot building at 5 and H?)
Use the parking structure at 5th and C or D for parking City vehicles
They should have had detailed plans and renderings before asking for the $ so people could see what they are getting
And when the new fire department is done sell the old one to pay off the debt
More office space tends to get filed with more bodies

"It's too bad - it's really a shame because the people just didn't understand the need," Heller said.

Actually, I understand it perfectly and voted no, don't talk down to me.

A small victory, but too many people still vote blindly when asked by their "leaders" to spend more money. And there is no way I would trust these whoring bums with any more of my money when I KNOW they'd steel it for other uses and be back before the voters NEXT year with their hands out again! And the people in the rest of the county who voted in more school money, you're a bunch of fools. I'll bet most of them have no idea where that money goes, and it's almost guaranteed it doesn't go to help the kids. I want to see a ballot measure to consolidate all the 19 seperate school districts in this county. Then, MAYBE I'll vote for school funds...after they trim down their way over bloated budgets and administrations. No need for more than one district in this tiny county.

Saveourplanet wrote:

<quoted text>
Maybe you should do your homework. Bush actaully fought to decrease this military pay raise to 3 percent. Bush vetoed two military pay increases and only passed the last one after preasure from Republicans up for re-election. Bush is no friend to the Veterans Administrations either as he cut every VA budget presented to him.You are stooopid if you think this military pay increase was Bushes idea. Fool...it was a Democratic bill that Bush finally signed. He used this bill to play politics and waffled many times.

Thanks for the information. That will not make some people happy to now it was the democrats who gave all the raises in the last few years. Here is the 2009 update.

2009 Update: The 2009 military retired pay cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be 5.8%, nearly 2% higher than the 3.9% 2009 Military Pay Raise. This increase, which goes into effect on December 1, 2008, also applies to SBP annuities, Social Security checks, and VA disability and survivor benefits. Retirees will see the increase in their January, 2009 checks.
Note: This annual Cost-of-Living-Adjustment is NOT in anyway related to the annual military pay raise for active duty and reserve servicemembers. In fact, this years COLA increase is larger than the 2009 military pay raise of 3.9%.
All retirees who retired before January 1, 2008 will receive the 5.8 percent Cost-of-Living-Adjustment.
Retirees who first became a member of the uniformed services before Sept. 8, 1980 and retired on or after January 1, 2008 will receive the 5.0 percent Cost-of-Living-Adjustment.
Retirees who first became a member of the uniformed services on or after Sept. 8, 1980, and retired in 2008 will receive a Partial COLA on a prorated basis as follows:
• Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2008, will receive 5.0%
• April 1 - June 30, 2008 will receive 3.8%
• July 1 - Sept. 30, 2008 will receive 1.2%
• Those who retired after Oct. 1, 2008, will see no COLA this year.
Retirees who first entered the military after Sept. 8, 1980 and retired before Jan. 1, 2008 will also receive the 5.8 percent COLA.
Retirees who first became members of the uniformed services on or after Aug. 1, 1986 and elected to receive a Career Status Bonus at 15 years, and retired on or before Jan. 1, 2008, will receive an increase of only 4.8 percent.

I don't get the 59 MIL for Mill Valley schools.
Somebody did some fast talking there!

Well guess what? The bond didn't pass, but the need to fix these facilities is still there. I bet everyone that voted no didn't take the time to walk through them during the open house opportunity, they are atrocious. The lack of planning and foresight in the past is a shame. Setting small amounts of money earmarked for future infrastructure needs should be a priority and part of the budget in the future. Oh, and don't blame the line personnel... They're just doing their job the best they can with what they're given.

Good ... no, great!

If the "powers that be" had made G truly "fair" and structured it as a parcel tax (where everyone pays the same amount) instead of pandering to the Prop 13 crowd, I might have gotten behind it.

Of course, according to their polls, that would have meant alienating all of our esteemed "seniors" and losing their vote ... cause, ya' know, they're all for supporting measures wherby they pay a lesser amount that the rest of us Newbies!

kitty wrote:

No site identitied
Thats the problem lack of details
Plenty of less expensive options especially given glut of empty buildings
Rather than buy land and build a whole new Taj Mahal facility build something on the exiting parking lot at City Hall (you own the land already) and incorporate the existing structure into it
Temporarily lease substitute space (empty Home Depot building at 5 and H?)
Use the parking structure at 5th and C or D for parking City vehicles
They should have had detailed plans and renderings before asking for the $ so people could see what they are getting
And when the new fire department is done sell the old one to pay off the debt
More office space tends to get filed with more bodies

I agree, in this economy creative re-use is the answer. Our city fathers & the supporters [detailed in other posts] have been promoting this "Gold Plated" solution for months and months with tours and mailings. Do they care? It is not their money. Tax and spend, spend and then tax some more, they know that the source of funds is unlimited. Time for some "new blood" with new solutions. Fiscal responsibility and planning for the future please.