City of Vallejo FY 08/09 and 09/10

By Robert Schussel, Ph.D

The purpose of this article is to document the cost of consultants to the City of Vallejo's General Fund for fiscal years 08/09 and 09/10. The data in this document was obtained from the City of Vallejo using the California Public Records Act. It is believed that this is the first time that this information has been provided.

CAVEATs

1) The definition of consultants includes all consultant expenditures to the General Fund including legal services.

2) The expenditures for FY 09/10 are estimated. The estimate was made by taking the number provided for the first 6 months of FY90/10 and doubling it to get an estimated FY09/10 cost.

FINDINGS

1) For fiscal years 08/09 and 09/10 it is estimated that the total cost for consultants in the General Fund is $8,585,518. About 51% of the monies went towards bankruptcy lawyers and those law firms involved with concession (union) bargaining. (see table in at end of article for detailed listings)

The People's Garden

3/7/10

By Marc Garman

Principal Joel Julien is not afraid to get a little dirt under his fingernails. Julien, the principal at People's High School in Vallejo was joined Saturday by youth advocate Ruscal Cayangyang, Janna Besch of the Solano Green Alliance and around 40 volunteers of all ages. They are intent on transforming the vacant space at the back of the school into a garden for the students and community. “We want to teach them about global warming, the environment and healthy eating.” said Julien

“The plan is to make this into a big beautiful garden.” said Ruscal Cayangyang as he leaned against a shovel.

Here are some pics from the gathering: