City's actions despicable

Another uninformed and naive Vallejoan. Dig into the details, the salaries, the methods of keep those salaries high, the abuse of Union Business Leave, and on and on and on. If you're asking that everyone who is involved in the "bankruptcy scheme" to resign you have a few Union Leaders and their lawyers to talk to also. Union abuse of taxpayers has got to stop!

McCarthy's sense of what is despicible and what is not is in question here. How is it that our Union do-gooders are demanding we sell waterfront properties, and put their so called give-backs in a holding account for their future use? Our PSU'ers are insisting that the general fund is their and their only exclusive purview and that we should have to pay for infrastructure maintenance, non-profits by passing taxes and fee increases. Thanks but no thanks, let the judge rip up their gold plated contracts and let them go "serve" another City.

Unfortunatly the City of Vallejo has made many mistakes that have put it into this position(mare island, indstrial park, theatre, waterfront..). The contracts are just one more example of the long list of issues. The only way to invalidate those contracts is either the Unions agree to invalidate them with the city or bankruptcy.

My question is has anything changed, will the city council start making wise decisions or will they be in the same mess in a few years? Basically what is the plan

"Besides, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it - CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK."

Super Chicken wrote:

"Besides, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it - CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK."

Yea, where's that super sauce? Give the council a heapin helpin.

If you really want to understand why the City had no choice but to file for bankruptcy, go to www.ibvallejo.com and read the report that very clearly outlines why the union's offer was no offer at all.

Uninformed and naive Vallejoans might be fooled, but I highly doubt that a federal bankruptcy judge can be.

While I agree with the writer I would point out that there are many Americans that risk their lives to keep America going, that do not get anything near the level of benefits promised city workers. During the dot com boom it seemed as if Vallejo would be a city of internet millionaires. Sadly that did not pan out. City retirees will have to downsize their lifestyle like so many Americans that work in the private sector have.

Actually the collusion between the public employee unions and our past politicians who were being "supported" (read bribed by campaign contributions) by those same unions are the despicable parties in this matter.

It should be the public employees who resign from their unions and work for benefit and retirement packages that are like those paid in the private sector. Were that to happen there would be no need for bankruptcy.

Yes Letter Writer some of those people we hired to do the job in the past have failed us. Unfortunately they have moved on to retire or another job or elected position.

Now that we are in the fix we are there is only one route. Adjust the expenses to fit the revenue as the revenue can't be adjusted fast enough to bring on the money in time to save us from the Bankruptcy decision that had to be made.

One I get the feeling that you just don't listen to those who are handling our finances now and two you signed something because it was written for you by Henke and Company that will eat their young to get what they want.

One murder a month just in the downtown!!

Come on...you made that up.

It amazes me (not really) how the Haters continue to blame the FF's for the bankruptcy. How can One group that totals 9% of the operating budget of $275 million and 28% of the General Fund be the lone cause? It can't.. Let's look at facts.
No one heald a gun to the Council members heads when they signed the contracts.
No union member loaned from the General Fund $7 Million to redevelopment,$2.5 Million to transportation and $4 Million to the Empress Theater and $2.2 Million paid to consultant fee's. Oh by the way none of that Money has been re-paid to the GF.
The FF's didn't hand the keys over to Lennar for Mare Island.
Fact is Vallejo, it's a vendetta by a few past and current council members getting back at Henke.

I'll listen to McCarthy as soon as he is able to explain how it is appropriate for a public information officer in the Vallejo Police Department to get paid in one recent year over $400,000! I think the salary of the President of the United States is $400,000.

The Vallejo city union contracts were negotiated and agreed to in secret, behind closed doors, by previous City Council. The current Councilmembers are having to clean up the financial mess made by those incompetents in years past.

The public service unions have been gaming & milking the compensation agreements in those contracts for all they're worth, manipulating overtime provisions big-time, which some of them being paid over $200,000 a year. And the enormously fat, UNEARNED whopping pension plans under those contracts will burden this City financially for as far as we can see into the future. 90% pensions at age 50 or whatever it is! Absurd. Unjustifiable. Unearned. These people will be getting these fat pensions for more years than they worked as a police officer or fireman. The gravy train must stop.

We should all value the jobs done by police and fire department people, but what has been going on in Vallejo is absurd, irresponsible, and quite obviously has damaged this city a great deal.

tramky wrote:

I'll listen to McCarthy as soon as he is able to explain how it is appropriate for a public information officer in the Vallejo Police Department to get paid in one recent year over $400,000! I think the salary of the President of the United States is $400,000.
The Vallejo city union contracts were negotiated and agreed to in secret, behind closed doors, by previous City Council. The current Councilmembers are having to clean up the financial mess made by those incompetents in years past.
The public service unions have been gaming & milking the compensation agreements in those contracts for all they're worth, manipulating overtime provisions big-time, which some of them being paid over $200,000 a year. And the enormously fat, UNEARNED whopping pension plans under those contracts will burden this City financially for as far as we can see into the future. 90% pensions at age 50 or whatever it is! Absurd. Unjustifiable. Unearned. These people will be getting these fat pensions for more years than they worked as a police officer or fireman. The gravy train must stop.
We should all value the jobs done by police and fire department people, but what has been going on in Vallejo is absurd, irresponsible, and quite obviously has damaged this city a great deal.

Well Idiot, she was a Captain in the Police Force that retired and cashed in 30 YEARS worth of sick leave and vacation, it's called a PAYOUT. That amount is added to her wages for the year to reflect a year end balance. Or would you rather she just used the sick leave and vacation (causing another worker to have to take her place, thus paying out 2 times the cost) so she wouldn't lose what she earned? Yeah, you'd probably think that, and then you're surprised that Vallejo has morons running it......then there's the "Vallejo voters voted in idiots so we shouldn't have to honor anything they signed". Well, stick with that premise and Vallejo will be leading the pack in a City Government that won't be trusted and can't be trusted. After they're done screwing over their workers, guess who will be next? The only people left to screw with: the residents. Good luck with that one.
As for the Public Information Officer position, you can thank your hero Joe Tanner for that one, he ok'd the employment of Ms. West after she retired from the Police Force. So next time you're ready to point the finger, remove it from where it resides the majority of the time, stuck up your clueless nose.

Anonymous wrote:

If you really want to understand why the City had no choice but to file for bankruptcy, go to www.ibvallejo.com and read the report that very clearly outlines why the union's offer was no offer at all.
Uninformed and naive Vallejoans might be fooled, but I highly doubt that a federal bankruptcy judge can be.

First you need to learn how to read. Second, you need to read legitimate reports. Just save yourself some time and discomfort and wait till this goes to court and see what the judge rules.

Until then, everyone can only side with their own.

The IAFF recently put out a booklet titled "Surviving and Economic Crisis - A Hands-On Guide for IAFF Locals" that identifies problems, resources and strategies for responding when a crisis arrives. The booklet is so new that there is reference to the possibility of bankruptcy in Vallejo.

You shouldn't doubt for a moment that voices appearing on this board and supposedly independent voices would appear in the newspaper are doing so as part of a conscious effort to get the union's case before the public in the best possible light. Union leaders aren't stupid and they are battling every way they possibly can to protect their members from financial loss. Here is an excerpt of the strategy identified in the booklet around the issue of "compensation." There are also strategies around staffing, health benefits, retirement benefits, collective bargaining agreements, leave/hours of work.

"- Develop justifications for a compensation package, e.g., increased workload effectively decreases available staffing; responders now fulfill multiple roles in Homeland Security, EMS,WMD andHazMat response.
- Educate politicians and community leaders regarding elevated risks in the community and emphasize that such risks are met by multi-role fire fighters.
- Develop alliances: seniors, other labor unions, community associations, etc.
- Identify potential coalitions: labor, policy-makers, managers, etc.
- Explore administrative and legal options (grievances and injunctions) to prevent reductions.
- BE PREPARED TO LAUNCH A PUBLIC OR COMMUNITY GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN TO BATTLE ATTACKS.
- Scrutinize other areas of government for perceived inefficiencies.
- Propose innovative programs to improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery (i.e.: EMS response)."

So expect to read more letters to the editor and encounter more apologists for the unions on these boards. What ultimately matters is proceeding in a court not too far away. Keep your powder dry folks. This has the potential to get more ugly but also has the potential to lead Vallejo to a new era of labor relations that is founded on sanity rather than mutual back scratching between unions and elected officials. It is about time...

And as a footnote, the peanut gallery that follows me and Golden Retirement around claiming we're Doug and Tony are part of this illustrious crew of apologists for the union. They'll do anything to distort, distract attention from the fundamental issue. The cupboard is bare and they can no longer have seven course meals with merlot...

PS - Here is a link to the booklet that is available for download at the IAFF website. It makes interesting reading...

http://www.iaff.org/08News/040808EconomicCris...

As a matter of fact, I think I'll print out that report and file it myself with the BK court. I am quite confident that their report is accurate.

The Bankruptcy Court provides special procedures to allow unrepresented persons, also referred to as pro se litigants or as persons appearing in propria persona, to file and serve paper documents. As described on the Bankruptcy Court's website, bankruptcy petitions, pleadings and other documents on paper may be submitted for filing by mail or in person at the Clerk's Office public counters between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on all days except Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Paper documents may additionally be tendered for filing by placing them in a document depository located outside the entrance to the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse at 501 I Street. The Sacramento Division’s document depository is accessible twenty four hours per day, seven days per week.

Additional information regarding the procedures for filing by mail, in person or by the document depository may be accessed on the Bankruptcy Court's website by following this link: http://www.caeb.uscourts.gov/faq/faq.asp#16 .

Current Provisions of Chapter 9
Eligibility for Relief. Only municipalities, defined as a "political subdivision or public agency or instrumentality of a state", are eligible for Chapter 9. A municipality must satisfy four threshold requirements in order to obtain Chapter 9 relief:
1. have specific state authorization to be a debtor under Chapter 9;
2. be insolvent;
3. desire to effect a plan to adjust its debts;
4. satisfy one of four alternatives:
a. Has obtained the consent of at least a majority in amount of impaired claimholders under the proposed plan; or
b. has negotiated in good faith but has failed to reach any agreement with a majority of the impaired claimholders under the proposed plan; or
c. negotiation with such claimholders is impractical; or
d. has a reasonable belief that a creditor may attempt to obtain a preference.
Vallejo must satisfy ALL 4 of these before it can file for bankrucptcy protection under Chapter 9.
Municipal insolvency is defined as "financial condition such that the municipality is--
(i) generally not paying its debts as they become due unless such debts are the subject of a bona fide dispute; or
(ii) unable to pay its debts as they become due"
Vallejo can pay its debts as they become due and they are not yet unable to pay its debts as they become due. Employee contracts expire in tow years. The City could have used money from the remaining $100 million dollars in its budget to cover its debts. Sure some programs and redevelopement projects may suffer, but they can pay their debts. The employee contracts expire in 2 years! Filing for bankruptcy has sent employees into early retirement, costing the city dearly in vacation and sick leave payouts. The filing alone will cost the City something like 2 million dollars! Vallejos image has been tarnished so bad it wil take decades to recover. All because several city council members and a very small group of citizens have it out for th epublic safety unions. The cities financial problems immediately became the fault of the unions and the feeding frienzy started. I agree the contracts are too high for the city to continue paying and in 2010 changes could have been made. Now, Vallejo, a once proud, blue collare, pro-union American town is the laughing stock of the Nation. A symbol to all other communities of what not to do. Vallejo rest in peace.

I have to agree with RIP, at least on the insolvent issue. The City has been paying its bills, and can continue to do so by cutting back in other areas of the budget. The union contracts expire in 2010 and everything in them is up for grabs. You can't tell me th ecity could not have found a way to be solvent for the next two years. Richomd did it without Chapter 9. Yeah they closed the libraries for a couple years, and reduced funding to none essential programs and redevelopement ideas. But it worked and they even have a reserve now. Did our City Leaders even go sit down and talk to Richmond to see what hey did and how it worked. I doubt it. It sounds to me the elephant in the room was an axe to grind against the Fire Union boys adn th eother unions were sucked in with them. If Vallejo loses its bankruptcy filing for the insovency issue, I hope the unions file to have all their lawyer fees paid back by the City.

Anonymous wrote:

As a matter of fact, I think I'll print out that report and file it myself with the BK court. I am quite confident that their report is accurate.
The Bankruptcy Court provides special procedures to allow unrepresented persons, also referred to as pro se litigants or as persons appearing in propria persona, to file and serve paper documents. As described on the Bankruptcy Court's website, bankruptcy petitions, pleadings and other documents on paper may be submitted for filing by mail or in person at the Clerk's Office public counters between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on all days except Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Paper documents may additionally be tendered for filing by placing them in a document depository located outside the entrance to the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse at 501 I Street. The Sacramento Division’s document depository is accessible twenty four hours per day, seven days per week.
Additional information regarding the procedures for filing by mail, in person or by the document depository may be accessed on the Bankruptcy Court's website by following this link: http://www.caeb.uscourts.gov/faq/faq.asp#16 .

Wasnt there a June 22 deadline for filing things such as this?