Watching as well.   |August.01.2010 Au contraire: It's the Employee Unions especially PSUs and their hatred of Vallejo that is obvious here - look at "Poor Vallejo"'s post. And we also have proof positive "Cut the staff all you want, we wanna be paid". That statement I think more than anything cost you your binding arbitration.

Just Watching   |August.01.2010 Anonymous said: "We'll be the ones laughing when the city contracts your job out and you're working at Burger King and have to live in Richmond because you can't afford Vallejo." That statement, in a nutshell, speaks volumes to the level of hatred VIB and its supporters have for the city of Vallejo employees and as a result, their lack of willingness to concede any more than they already have.

Anonymous   |August.01.2010 Laugh at our property values all you want. We'll be the ones laughing when the city contracts your job out and you're working at Burger King and have to live in Richmond because you can't afford Vallejo.

IT'S AUGUST   |August.01.2010 Hey Scream - can you start an August thread? thanks!

Oh please...   |August.01.2010 The Vallejo news story was followed by three equally bad stories in other East Bay cities. 47 firemen laid off in San Jose. 80 Police officers laid off in Oakland. Palo Alto and San Jose going to try to get rid of Binding Arbitration, Muni and AC transit unions holidng SF and Oakland hostage by not taking concessions. Do I need to go on? BYW in Oakland and SF strong armed robberies of retailers is so common the media does not even report on them anymore.

Poor Vallejo   |July.31.2010 Poor Vallejo is the lead into KTVU again tonight with more armed robberies. Got to love Vallejo. How are your property values doing.

In Your Face   |July.31.2010 Yes, where is my new editiion of In Your Face? --er, I mean in Your Town. Notice they say YOUR because they can't say OUR. They don't live in Vallejo. Edition #4 will come out next year around campaign season and will prominently feature Johnathan Logan. Mikey Wilson and Erin Hannigan. Maybe Ozzy if they like homophobes.

silasbarnabe   |July.31.2010 So Richmond to date has 12 murders which is what Vallejo had for all of last year......crime decrease?

Delusional PSU   |July.31.2010 Anonymous You are a Pathetic troll. If these 10 cops were so great why weren't they effective in Vallejo. Maybe because this is due to their excessive use of LSD or mushrooms.After awhile they start to see and hear things. Why don't you post this on the VPOA site and in their "magazine". Oh,I forgot they only are active when they are trying to scare Vallejo or trying to get more of our tax dollars.

Anonymous   |July.31.2010 I see there a big drop in crime in Richmond drhttp://www.ktvu.com/video/24460581/index.htmlop What is cool is that much of the proactive work they talk about is being done by some of the 10 Vallejo officers who went to Richmond PD and got a pay raise.

Oakland PD   |July.30.2010 More interesting stories about the Oakland PD. It seems the 80 officers that were laid off are working for free as reserve officers. Also interviews with officers reveal that quite a few live in Oakland. Vallejo cops like to tell us all the reasons they cant live in Vallejo. such as they dont want to run into criminals that might recognize them, or its too "dangerous?" Send "Oakland loving" Nichelini home to his loveley city of Oakland, we need a "new sheriff in town."

Mr :)   |July.29.2010 @Curious: "Why is it that the poorer the community, the greater are the salaries paid to publc employees? Like Bell, like Vallejo. Is there no Federal or State oversight for these rapacious compensations? RICO?" Congress just tossed another $60 billion down the Afghanistan rat hole. Bell is annoying but small change in comparison.

Someone Else   |July.28.2010 Argh, missed a critical fact. Bell voted in August 2005 to become a Charter City. Just in time to let those sky high salaries sale on by.

Someone Else   |July.28.2010 Curious, there is state oversight. It only applies to General Law cities, not Charter Cities (like Vallejo). Bell became a Charter City by public vote (something line 400 people voted in a August special election) just before the new state salary oversight went into effect. It's easier to game things when you are a Charter. Fewer major players to object.

Curious   |July.28.2010 Why is it that the poorer the community, the greater are the salaries paid to publc employees? Like Bell, like Vallejo. Is there no Federal or State oversight for these rapacious compensations? RICO?

Downtown Vallejo   |July.27.2010 Kroger Co. climbs into Bay Area grocery wars http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_15614199?nclick_check=1 NOTE: Kroger is to serve the "underserved areas" in East Oakland. Would be good to have a kroger store in Downtown Vallejo, especially with the new artist place scheduled to be next door of Empress Theater.

Anonymous   |July.27.2010 I haven't seen the contract but if it is truley cost plus x percent then the contractor has every incentive to raise cost as much as possible because it increases profit in absolute dollars. A million dollars in cost provides 100k in profit regardless if you are efficient or not. But if you can increase cost by increasing payroll, dumping fees (and I seem to remember something about Vallejo paying higher dumping fees), and vehicle maintenance costs to 1.2 million then the profit goes up to 120K. There is zero incentive for the trash company to bargain with their suppliers. In fact there is a disincentive to do so. Hold down payroll costs, why? Lots of room for abuse in this type of contract, and that's probably why Vallejo pays more.

Anonymous   |July.27.2010 I think Cost Plus contracts are a remnant of the GOBs. Remember, the Garbage Co hosts a Chamber mixer every year. Chamber once had a $1/year lease for 50 years (1956-2006). Back-scratching bygone days have to end. We need a service congract. Recology has no incentive to control costs when they are simply able to pass everything on to the ratepayer (along with their guaranteed profit!). Reminds me of the pre-Prop 13 days. Cities never bothered to control costs, they just passed it on to the taxpayers, some who were getting taxed out of their houses. Taxpayers took control with a draconian 1% parcel tax. (I think Vallejo's prop tax was 11% at the time, some CA cities were as high as 22%!). Time for taxpayers to take control again, of this cost plus contract if our council majority can't negotiate a good deal for us. And knowing how lame they were while they had the protection and opportunity of bankruptcy, I expect very little of their negotiating abilities in this regard.

Someone Else   |July.27.2010 Would an educational piece here on VIB on the difference between cost plus vs service contract (or what ever it is called when you pay a set amount only). I certainly don't know enough about how to structure contracts to comment in a truly educated manner. For example we pay more for bus service than the City of Modesto, though we use the same contractor. Vallejo has a cost plus contract, while Modesto has a service contact. (I know someone who works for the City of Modesto that compares their transit system to ours, and we do pay more per rider with the Ferry excluded). Could that be why American Canyon has lower rates? If that's the reason, we should push for a city policy of service contracts only.

Anonymous   |July.27.2010 John K, if the contract guarantees profits is there any contract language/controls for costs? Considering the history of contracts in Vallejo I'm guessing no. The Vallejo city council, with a history of obligating taxpayers to excessive monopoly contracts MUST NOT cram another bad deal down the taxpayers fiscal throats. Vallejo can't afford anymore mistakes. My fear is that council will do what they always do which is listen to the citizens complaints and then vote to give away more money, whithout any kind of study or financial impact statement. I'm looking forward to the day that Vallejoans go the way of the citizens of Bell, Ca. It would be interestind to compare this companies compensation and profits to the norm. My guess is it wouldn't paint an equitable picture.

John K   |July.27.2010 Haven't read the agreement, but I think the contract gives Vallejo Garbage (aka Recology?) a monopoly that prevents competitive bidding. The contract expires in the year 2017. To allow competition, wouldn't we have to break the contract? What's the procedure?

Michael Tatham   |July.27.2010 The only thing that will give the residents a better deal is competetive bidding. Evryone else has it. The REAL question is why we don't?

John K   |July.27.2010 Vallejo Garbage Contract - NO EXTENSION Thank you, Michael Tatum. I feel the outrage and others will too... Tonight on the Vallejo Council agenda, according to Jessica York, "Vallejo City Council members will consider throwing out the existing garbage contract tonight and forging a new one, extending the agreement for undetermined period." Last time the rate hike topic came up, Sept-Oct 2009, we learned that a previous council blundered and bestowed a 30-year monopoly contract with guaranteed profits to the garbage company. Seems like there are still about 7 years left. This company frequently hits us up for rate increases. I believe the last rate hike included yearly 4.5% salary increases for the garbage company employees in a zero economy. We heard that Vallejo residents pay twice as much as American Canyon residents for the same service. At some time in the past, Vallejo gave the company a guaranteed 10% profit contract that will not expire till the year 2017. Same company, I believe, that charges American Canyon half of what we pay in Vallejo. I'm expecting Council to decline any offers that kick the can further down the road. They should simply inform the garbage company that unless they do a better job for ratepayers, their days are numbered. Do not approve any contract extensions.

Michael Tatham   |July.27.2010 Where is the outrage? The city council is going to give the garbage company a "lesser" rate increase if we give them a longer contract. The prvious contract was for 30 years. Vallejo garbage rates are 40% higher then county rates, which service properties side by side with Vallejo properties. Why? Becasue THEY HAVE COMPETETIVE BIDDING? We have a city government that locks into one company with a guaranteed profit. I have bought this up over the years to numerous city council people (including some present) mayors and anyone else who will listen . They all shrug their shoulders and say they will look into it. I am sure their will be some outrage on this blog but after a day or two everyone will forget about it and life goes on. There has been no call for an investigation by anyone on this matter. I feel like I am in the twilight zone where people just pat me on the head and say tsk tsk, this is too bad as they walk away.

Oakland tax on ballot   |July.27.2010 According to the SFGATE article, if the tax measure does not pass, then the Oakland PD are going to refuse to pay 9% into their retirement benefits. So "take that Oakland citizens."

Anonymous   |July.26.2010 Oakland council puts parcel tax on ballot http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/26/BAC91EK52A.DTL&tsp=1 Controversial measure to fund police and fire services is the key to hiring back the 80 cops laid off July 13.

Anonymous   |July.26.2010 I have to agree with your assessment. let's try and chart a course where the chief can make a graceful exit from Vallejo. It would do none of us any good to try and disgrace the man into leaving. Vallejo does need some big time out of the box thinking in all areas of city government and chief Nic may not be the best fit for this situation.

Need a new chief   |July.26.2010 I think the truth of the matter is, Chief Nichelini is no longer interested in Vallejo. He longs for the glorious City of Oakland, abeit his "hometown." Today in the sfgate, SFpolice chief is re-engineering the police dept, they are going to have civilian investigators who will investigate non violent crimes and take reports. The Oakland chief of police has pulled police off desk duty, and put them in squad cars. He has called from the list of "injured" to fill the desk jobs. What do we get from Nichelini? Half the squad cars patroling. TIME FOR A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN! Nichelini can retire to his home in Oakland, a place where 3000 police officers could not stop it from being one of the most dangerous cities in America! Viva Vallejo

Retired_IBEW   |July.26.2010 to new math- If American Canyon is staffing 5 patrol positions with 23 cops 24/7 they are either paying overtime for some of that, or their cops get very minimal time off. Cops don't work 160 hours a month, once you deduct sick leave, annual leave, training time, court appearances the real number of hours worked per month is quite a bit lower. I figured that it would take around 25 cops to staff American Canyon with 5 patrol cops 24/7, and that is if they work five 8 hour shifts, if they work 4/10's it would take more cops. A rough guess is that it would take 51-55 cops to have 10 assigned to patrol in Vallejo 24/7 (fewer if they were working five 8 hour shifts). I totally agree with you that it should be doable, but it would require getting cops out of desk jobs that others can do for much less money, and eliminating some of the 'special divisions'. I don't see that it will ever happen, the Council is unlikely to tell Nichelini who to run the PD, and it doesn't seem that he has any desire to make patrol a priority.

Anonymous   |July.26.2010 Using your logic Vallejo could have 20 officers on the streets if they committed 84 officers to patrol. What are all these officers assigned to if not patrol?

new math   |July.26.2010 There are 16.8 shifts per week. Vallejo Police work 10 hour shifts.Each officer works 4 shifts.Thus it takes 4.2 officers to cover all of the shifts. If you wanted 10 officers on each shift you would need 42 officers committed to patrol cars. If you use the same formulae for American Canyon 23/4.2=5.5 officers per shift. Can anyone tell me why Vallejo couldn't put out 10 officers per shift. And why do they have to now put 2 per car. Isn't 10 cars enough to cover the City and provide quick backup

Anonymous   |July.26.2010 According to a Herald articlethis article, There are 23 sworn officers on the American Canyon force, with five out on patrol at any given time. How does that compare to Vallejo's numbers? http://www.topix.net/forum/source/vallejo-times-herald/TA212BP39T14S7PKD

Living In Oz   |July.26.2010 All reasons the Chief Nichelini needs to retire or be forced out.

Retired_IBEW   |July.26.2010 to 'years ago': I don't know about fire, but the PD had citizen volunteers, senior volunteers, explorer scouts, police reserves (who volunteered thousands of hours, and were paid minimally for 'special events' like directing traffic at a public event,in those situations PD was reimbursed for the wages the reserves received by the leaders of the event) Part of the elimination of reserves, civilians and volunteers has to be with VPOA and the Chief wanting to protect sworn positions and expand their numbers, but there is another reason. Some Police Chiefs, and some cops- think that only sworn officers are ethical, honest, and smart enough to work in a police department- anyone who is not sworn is considered to be deficient in one or more of those areas. The truth is that what makes cops 'special' are the two powers granted them by law, and the training that enables them to perform those duties: They are empowered to use deadly force, and to make arrests based on probable cause. If you put cops in jobs that will never require them to use a gun or arrest someone, you are wasting serious money.

Years ago   |July.26.2010 I have been told that "years ago" Vallejo did have volunteers in both the police and fire departments. They stop encouraging volunteers and tried to blame it on lack of interest by the citizens. You can understand that the Unions would never want volunteers to do jobs that they could get the city to pay an employee to do. In case you havent noticed, Vallejo is pretty much running on volunteers who do a great job, from the BVHS to the library, Mira Theatre, Florence Douglas center, parks and rec. Saturday graffiti paint out, and the school district. Its really the Unions worst night mare. Because of volunteers who give and give, the City will be able to keep on functioning and one day will make a good turn around, all driven by volunteers who want to see the turn around of the city. Hey, how are the new graduated Police Dept volunteers doing? You know the one that Chief Nic said would not want to work for free? I believe there are now 28 Police Volunteers?

Retired_IBEW   |July.25.2010 Civilians can and do testify in court, collect and process evidence, take police reports, and investigate certain categories of crimes in thousands of police departments. Civilians used to perform many of those functions in Vallejo until Nichelini started his 'non-sworn' purge, he basically used the economy as an excuse to lay off every employee except dispatchers that he could. Then, because the jobs of those civilians still had to be done, he took cops off the street and assigned them to those jobs. Contrast that approach to a similar sized City in Southern California where a friend of mine works. She said that when they realized they were going to have to cut the PD's budget, the Chief put a freeze on all unfilled Officer positions, removed every Police Officer from functions that did not require a 'badge and a gun' and put civilians in those jobs, by doing so he was able to actually increase the number of Officers on patrol with fewer cops. Civilians manage evidence, process crime scenes, take routine police reports, and do telephone follow up on investigations. The public gets the same level of service it did before, it's just that certain jobs are now done by civilians rather than cops. when Chief Dart was in charge of Vallejo PD, he was a strong advocate of augmenting sworn personnel with civilians and reserves. After Dart retired, Chief Galvin openly expressed a mistrust of civilian employees and narrowed the scope of what they could do in the PD, but generally tolerated them. Enter Nichelini who has unashamedly made it clear that it is his agenda to rid the PD of those pesky civilians. A Civilian police employee generally earns 30-50k, or about 1/3 to 1/2 of what a police officer earns, they do not have the same generous retirement plan or other benefits that police enjoy. How a Police Chief can sell the idea to the public that ONLY a sworn officer can do all of the jobs in a Police Department just baffles me, it is analogous to a Hospital administrator arguing that every job in a hospital, from bed pan washing to cooking meals needs to be done by a board certified physician.

Just wondering   |July.25.2010 Mission complete? http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/GovSite/default.asp?serviceID1=288

SUGGESTION   |July.25.2010 May I suggest that you post Ruscal's email address in the weekly Whazzup? People may want to make him aware of future events, or to let him know of events that he might have missed.

Someone Else   |July.25.2010 I did a search for "Police Civilians" of SF gate and came back with this: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/25/BAFV1EHQVM.DTL LAW ENFORCEMENT Civilians to answer nonviolent police calls Officers wary of program set for test run in January This story is exclusive to the Chronicle's Sunday print edition and will not appear on SFGate.com until 40 AM on Tuesday, July 27. To buy an electronic version of the Sunday paper now, go to http://sfg.ly/9hZRui. Print subscribers can go to http://sfg.ly/a0EgVK to sign up for free e-editions. So we'll have to wait until Tuesday before we can read up on what SF is looking into.

3rd Rail. Dare I have these th   |July.25.2010 The more I read the more I wonder whether the decision to put 2 officers in a patrol car is just a scheme by VPOA to cause more pain. Yes,2 officers are probably safer but is it a significant difference. It reminds me of IAFF saying they were being endangered because Vallejo didn't follow national staffing recommendations. Later it was revealed that almost no city in the bay are followed the national standard. What I find very puzzling and troubling is Nichellini never mentioned going to 2 officers per car as part of down sizing. Is this really his idea or did VPOA suggest this to the the Chief?

A SOLUTION FOR VALLEJO COPS   |July.25.2010 In sundays SF Chronicle is an article about how SF is starting a pilot program to use civilan investigators for non violent crimes--car break ins,burglaries etc.I can't find a link.Can anyone help. Benefits are faster response times and their salary is about 50% of a cops.They also are cheaper to equip. People call in and set up appointments Why doesn't Vallejo consider this as an option. Clearly VPOA will be opposed but maybe it is a solution. Police say civilians shouldn't collect evidence and testifying in court. But "civilians go to court and everyday and testify about evidence" (SF Police Chief) Mesa AZ tried and saw 9% drop in emergency response time versus 5% in areas that didn't have the program.78% of victims dealt with in less than one hour.

Suzanne   |July.25.2010 Modoc county - What the newspaper didn't tell you is that the folks who live in Surprise Valley, 24 miles from the County seat, assess themselves around $350 a year to keep their hospital open, while they pay taxes that were used illegally to keep the Modoc Medical Center operating. Their County Supervisors are as disfunctional as our own City COuncil.

Anonymous   |July.24.2010 Binding arbitration strikes again (and Vallejo is used as a positive example - yay Yes on A!): http://www.contracostatimes.com/daniel-borenstein/ci_15589637?nclick_check=1

Me   |July.24.2010 Speaking of volunteer fire fighters. Did you know that Pasadena has an all volunteer dept? http://pasadenavfd.com/

John K   |July.24.2010 Someone Else: good reminder, well said. Thank you.

Green Valley   |July.24.2010 Today I had the pleasure of spending time in Green Valley, just up the road on highway 80, wow the infrastructure, the nice streets, parks, and general overall appearance show that Fairfield does not spend all its general fund money on Police and Fire, they actually spend money on infra struture and improvements. BTW found out lots of volunteer fire fighters in the area. In Suisun, there are 43 fire personel, one chief, two captains and 40 volunteers. What do you think of that?

Someone Else   |July.24.2010 Yes, let's take a page out of Modoc County's play book and improperly use tax payer funds then turn around and ask for a bail out because the market's wont talk to us. What Modoc did is what our Police and Fire unions have been asking us to do. Improperly move money from one fund to another to keep a critical element of civic life afloat. And put further elements of civic life in danger in the process. Not only is the hospital even worse off now, but the entire county is trouble because they can't get loans to on the market. Vallejo's problems aside, at least we were willing to face reality and declare bankruptcy. We didn't steal from other funds to plug the hole, and pay that price.

Mr :)   |July.24.2010 Struggling Calif. county hopeful about state loan (bailout) http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15588048 When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you If your heart is in your dream No request is too extreme When you wish upon a star As dreamers do

Anonymous   |July.24.2010 Laura Wells for Governor Check out her website. A legitimate candidate who is willing to work for a sustainable future. Check it out at Laurawells.org

Empress theatre   |July.24.2010 What the heck is happening at the Empress Theatre? Why is it so poorly run with so few events? The UPtown just opened in Napa, and they have scheduled in one month more events than are scheduled for a year at the Empress. Is the Empress run like the rest of our city, poorly and non-profit?

Anonymous   |July.23.2010 This is what should happen at VCUSD ASAP...... D.C. school system fires 241 teachers http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/07/23/district.of.columbia.teachers.fired/index.html#fbid=l9ALjZGFWTf Washington (CNN) -- The District of Columbia public school system announced Friday that it is letting 226 employees go for poor performance under the education assessment system IMPACT. Another 76 employees will be terminated because of licensing issues, schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said in a news release. Of the 302 employees who are losing their jobs, 241 are teachers, she said.

Anonymous   |July.23.2010 Also, make sure to view the video of the mayors comments regarding the city managers compensation (Bell). What is equally troubling is that CalPERS allows for this to happen, and doesn't seem to have mechanism in place to red flag this type of abuse.

Anonymous   |July.23.2010 Annonymous That question is answered in one todays articles that can be found on the pensiontsunami.com website.

Anonymous   |July.23.2010 How a city manager of a small, poor CA town made $787K (SFGate.com) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=68559&tsp=1

curious   |July.23.2010 Our only hope is to vote out the State Democratic Legislators so the new governor of any stripe is not fighting the intrenched Union shills. So No on Allen, Miller, etc. That is the only way we are going to get the message across. Enough trying to influence the top dog.

Anonymous   |July.23.2010 Some excellent articles from the past two days on the pensiontsunami.com website, including "Brown Details Plan for California state worker pension reform".

Someone Else   |July.23.2010 Meg may say she wants to reform pension but I doubt she'll be able to. Look at Schwarzenegger, who could have made HUGE changes to how the state deals with unions yet have every proposition voted down. Meg will be no better that our last "outsider" governor. With Brown, your hope is "only Nixon can go to China" with the unions. A long shot. Not a bet I'm willing to take. Both suck.

Another Anon   |July.23.2010 I think that California Repubs are not the same as Repubs from most states generally speaking. What is needed is a Repub that works hard on making the economic decisions needed and to stay away from the social conservative agenda. Just act in the best interest of all CA and Whitman seems to be that person. I believe in redemption but Brown does not need a second chance at something this big.

No on Jerry Brown   |July.23.2010 If I cross party lines to vote, and I'm considering it, what worse thing will I get that I don't know about? Will California's coast be dotted with oil platforms? Will Buble reading become part of school curriculum? What will I get that I'd later kick myself for? Where are the evils and whose are lesser?

NoNoNo onJerry Brown   |July.23.2010 Remember Jerry Brown allowed police and fire to unionized and Davis gave the unions 3% at 50. They must both be very proud of their accomplishments of putting California into near bankruptcy, as well as contributing to Vallejo's bankruptcy. WE NEED TO CROSS PARTY LINES WHEN WE VOTE!. Throw the bums out!!!

No on Jerry Brown!   |July.23.2010 "In California's current race for governor, Republican nominee Meg Whitman has proposed restructuring state employee pensions to reduce their cost to government. Democratic rival Jerry Brown has proposed limits on public pension benefits, his campaign says." If that don't say it all. Whitman is a Repub and is saying she'll restructure the pension system (which we all know is very very broken). Brown is just proposing limits on benefits (which is like putting a bandaid on a gaping wound). He is giving us politico-speak that says nothing and tries to appease both sides. Jerry Brown is the biggest union whore out there. His "limits" will be, if any at all, just a little scratch. Don't forget to watch the wink and nod he gives his union pals when he "limits" their benefits. I'm a Lifelong Dem but will NEVER vote for Jerry Brown. What to do?

Anonymous   |July.22.2010 Ann Arbor (Michigan) lays off firefighters; Buys $850,000 'water sculpture' http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/13219

John K   |July.22.2010 Good article, Anonymous. Interesting note by Marcia Fritz: "Fritz noted it is not unusual for retired firefighters in California to get bigger pensions than those paid top U.S. military officers who retire much later after many more years in uniform." http://tinyurl.com/28jsndl

Anonymous   |July.22.2010 California city manager's pension could top $30 million http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66K6BX20100721

Inigo Montoya   |July.21.2010 Armyoftherich and Shakespeare, you palinistas, you! Hey Joe Feller, stop complaining about people hijacking your name. Be a jolly good fella and register. That way, you can even use an avatar. May I suggest Wal Mart logo?

The Real Joe Feller   |July.21.2010 And now this guy is posting here in my name. Wow, what a guy. At least I agree with what he wrote here (I presume it is a he and don't wish to be sexist) as opposed to the Fairgrounds article. I expect that someone is laboring under a litany of presumptions about my life and my views. Hopefully, something good happens to this person so that they can get their own life. About the fairground article, a friend recommended that I read the notes. After reading them, I must say that they are probably more incisive than the article (and pithy also). I loved item 8 and 9 which show the hypocracy of both the Chamber and the Board. Great stuff!

Anonymous   |July.21.2010 "Palo Alto could be a test case for repealing binding arbitration" http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15552437 Vallejo gets no respect, or maybe they just haven't heard the news?

Shakespeare   |July.20.2010 @Army -- sounds like a term I'd coin. Gotcha!

armyoftherich   |July.20.2010 I hereby refudiate all those people who don't agree with me.

Someone Else   |July.20.2010 Like I said Joe, "willing or able". We're rapidly entering a phase where the local press is non-existent, not just beholden to the powers that be. You don't get city manager salaries of $800K via corrupt connections to the local media. At the end of the day we're all tax payers, and very few of could keep that secret without being on the take. You're more likely to get this situation when there is no local press to report on the latest raise the council gave itself. According to Wikipedia Bell voted to become a Charter City, like Vallejo, in 2005. This would give city leaders far more latitude to make stupid decisions than if they were a California General Law city. They may have written the charter in a way that made it easy to enrich themselves. It was the LA times that broke the story. Not a local paper or blog. Think of it this way - would the Chronicle be apt to monitor the goings on of the City Council in Benicia with any regularity? No. The council could do what ever it wanted until an $800K salary hit the press.

Anonymous   |July.20.2010 The situation is worse than a non-existent media. The "media" is working in collusion to pick and choose "news" to report. "According to records obtained by The Daily Caller, at several points during the 2008 presidential campaign a group of liberal journalists took radical steps to protect their favored candidate. Employees of news organizations including Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic participated in outpourings of anger over how Obama had been treated in the media, and in some cases plotted to fix the damage. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/#ixzz0uHaCMr7X

Joe Feller   |July.20.2010 Newspapers are not the answer to corruption as we have seen first hand with the Horrid. The paper's editorial board decides what to print and for the Horrid that Board is packed with GOBs. The internet is the answer to the corruption. The GOBs can't control all of the people all of the time. Even though VIB keeps seeing red-herrings and garbage posted by the trolls and dementors especially when the discussion is about something the GOBs are trying frantically to slip under the radar of public scrutiny, the truth eventually comes out.

Someone Else   |July.20.2010 Situations like Bell happen only when you don't have a local media willing or able to report on things like salary information. It's criminal. Even if it was done by legal means. I've heard the death of newspapers will spawn the greatest growth in corruption (legal or otherwise) we've ever seen. Thank you VIB for being willing and able to call BS on what you see.

Anonymous   |July.20.2010 CA Official's $800,000 Salary in City of 38,000 Triggers Protests (Bloomberg) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-20/california-official-s-800-000-salary-in-city-of-38-000-triggers-protests.html Hundreds of residents of one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County shouted in protest last night as tensions rose over a report that the city's manager earns an annual salary of almost $800,000. An overflow crowd packed a City Council meeting in Bell, a mostly Hispanic city of 38,000 about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, to call for the resignation of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and other city officials. Residents left standing outside the chamber banged on the doors and shouted "fuera," or "get out" in Spanish. It was the first council meeting since the Los Angeles Times reported July 15 that Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637 -- with annual 12 percent raises -- and that Bell pays its police chief $457,000, more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck makes in a city of 3.8 million people. Bell council members earn almost $100,000 for part-time work.

Anonymous   |July.20.2010 City of Pomona looks at contracting out police to County Sheriff. POA mounts PR effort to rile up residents. Too familiar. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pomona-police-20100720,0,3651606.story

Someone Else   |July.19.2010 The Time Herald deleted the comments section on today's article regarding Rochelle Hamilton, the student who successfully sued the school district for harassment. They where up this morning, but are gone now. The article has been stripped entirely from the Topix site. And the trolls say VIB is bad about censorship.

WSJ Article   |July.19.2010 Strapped Cities Rent Police, Janitors (WSJ) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704334604575339153865582376.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

Uh-Oh   |July.18.2010 "Oakland faces a recipe for fiscal disaster" Probably could change the name of the city to Vallejo and the story is still 98% accurate http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_15536013

Waz up wid dat   |July.18.2010 Curious, you are "right on," keep telling it as it! Many Vallejeons have no idea of the reasons that Vallejo suffers from so much section 8, and why the City has turned a blind eye to it for years. Its all very political!

Anonymous   |July.18.2010 For all you CalPERS critics out there read this article about the pension funds concurrent retirement policy. A teacher/city council person can receive a 20K annual pension for a job that pays 9K annually. It can actually be much more but that's how it pencils out in this example. http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_15539588

curious   |July.17.2010 When you find concentrations of poor people who are not grounded in homeownership, you find people who are not invested in their dwelling, the neighborhood or schools. Concentrations of poverty mostly mean single mother households where kids have no father figure to provide guidance and mothers that ignore bad behaviour. Then these groundless, poor kids who know they have no future pack up with similar kids and wreak havoc. These kids get a good start in the revolving door of the prison system. One of my daughters got beat up at school for no sin other than being white, blond and smart. Why would anybody send their kids to schools like this? When people bleat about "racism", they forget that statistically blacks have a lot of unjustified anger toward people because of the color of their skin. (My ancestors fought and died on the Union side to end slavery) Concentrations of poverty over 15% of the population are not sustainable economically. Vallejo easily has much more than that. If you want the City of Vallejo to come back from the dead, then Vallejo must increase the number of owner occupied homes primarily in the older neighborhoods that are over 80% rentals. Craig Whittom often reports that the homeownership rate in Vallejo is somewhere around average ..65%. But statistics skew reality. Some newer neighborhoods are almost 100% owner occupied while others are 20% owner occupied and those are the neighborhoods clustered around the dead downtown. When you look at the ferry takeowner by Don Perata to benefit his buddy Alameda County developer Ron Cownan, you can see how Valley fits into the regional political system. We are prey. Our politicians use our "fairness" liberal guilt to beat the drums for more subisided housing and more social programs here when propering nearby communities keep those out because they are detrimental. Unfortunately, this economic strategy is no longer viable. The Feds and the State no longer have the money to keep dumping it into a bottomless pit. This is trige time and Vallejo is being left to bleed to death in the hall.

Anonymous   |July.17.2010 Vallejo is a gold mine for real estate with or without the corrupting influence of subsidized housing. The proximity to SF and the relatively low cost of the housing stock right now is making new future millionaires. If you're skilled at home repair and have the cash to purchase you can realize a 10% return on investment based only on the rent cash flow. If you join the section 8 program as a landlord your returns can be even higher, perhaps up around 13%. This tells me two things. 1.) Buy real estate now. 2.) The section 8 rent schedule is inflated and should be lowered by at least 10%. The schedule needs downward adjustment and if there is a way we could lower the local rental rates then we should pursue that.

Mediterranean Avenue   |July.16.2010 I've come to believe: Vallejo is like the cheap monopoly streets: Mediterranean & Baltic Avenues. The Bay Area needs a cheap (but sort of nice) place to start (or stay) in order to build one's RE empire. Or the PS unions to start the ground work for their "market",

curious   |July.16.2010 The people who control Vallejo politics like the current subsidized housing system and other programs that farm the poor just the way they are. The shootings and crime feed the fear that the PUS's have played into their obscene salaries that fund the politicians who then profit from the system. It's easy. All of the "investors" who of own these Vallejo Projects include some good friends of the really big kids like Nancy. So if Vallejo wants pork like the stupid ferry garage then our local GOBs just do what they are told. Of course there are laws. The City of Vallejo is well known for its complete disregard for them. It comes down to political will. Heard anything lately about the ordinance Hannigan was pushing to have owners pay a fine for too many calls for service?

beelzebub   |July.16.2010 Politicians have sold their souls to the devil: The unions will never be a part of the solution, they will "bloody their noses." From the Philly article (referring to rolling closures of fire statiomns) " 'he's playing Russian roulette with people's lives,' said Bill Gault, President of Local 22, the firefighters' union.'

Idea For Vallejo   |July.16.2010 Idea For Vallejo Philly Mayor Wants Rolling Firehouse Closures To Ease Budget Woes http://cbs3.com/local/Philadelphia.Fire.Department.2.1807094.html

Marina Vista Apt   |July.16.2010 Second set of shootings at 201 Maine St/Marina Vista Apt. The owner has had a lot of crime in his "project based apts" He pays very little in taxes and receives Federal dollars to pay for his "project." He does not pay for all the police and fire calls, nor does he pay for all the social services that the poor folks that live in his apts require from the City of Vallejo. "CURIOUS" can you explain how this all takes place? Can the City say "no" to such projects? Can the owners be forced to do something about the crime? Be fined for all the police services this apt project demands?

Anonymous   |July.15.2010 I think you are embelishing their credentials.

Anonymous   |July.15.2010 They're just adolescent regressives with very tiny peni$es that match their brain sizes.

CRRAAAZY   |July.15.2010 If Grissle and Even Dirtier are our examples of "Vallejo's Finest" I say get rid of all of them. We can find incompetent, whining public hating cops for much cheaper than we are paying now. This whole thing about VD being a top tier police force is absolutely hysterical. Even when fully staffed Vallejo crime problems were ridiculous. We obviously are not getting what we pay for.

Private Services   |July.15.2010 Can Hiddenbrooke, Mare Island and Glen Cove contract out a private company to provide fire services?

Anonymous   |July.14.2010 "Many of you embrace your anti-government rants while you support two hypo-critical "government worker" city council members." We're not anti-government, we're working for better government. We're also not anti-union, but we are anti-union abuse and outright theft. You don't like "hypo critical" councilmembers, then they're obviously asking the right questions. Makes you nervous? A little threatened? Good! And I didn't know that Vallejo council members were no longer able to earn a living as govt employees in other cities, states, counties or the Feds. When was that rule implemented? Damn, guess that rules out your darling J-Lo-gan, doesn't it?

Municidal Hater   |July.14.2010 New word: Municide http://johngaltfla.com/blog3/2010/07/15/thursday-morning-municide-vallejo-returns-with-the-consequences-of-stupidity/ Was this guy watching last nights Council meeting? The consequences of stupidity sums it up nicely.

Math wiz   |July.14.2010 Reality Check According to your numbers your wages are $135,652. With 3%@50 your pension with 30 year service and contributing 23% it would be $122,086 per year. Assumming that you contributed $31,200 per year ( which is very high) you would receive $4,952,795 over 30 years for your contribution of $936,000( the amount contributed would probably be closer to $450,000).A guaranteed return on your investment which is almost unheard of.

Reality Check   |July.14.2010 I'm not enraged. No lies here, just the truth that none of you choose to hear. I could go on and on but whats the point. Many of you embrace your anti-government rants while you support two hypo-critical "government worker" city council members. You see, you are fundamentally conflicted which leads to repeated acts of stupidity. Well done VIBERS this town will be full of hookers, drug addicts, no business' and,slum lords.

Anonymous   |July.14.2010 "For the record VIB drones- I pay 23% towards my retirement, Vallejo FD pays 13%" Where do you work? If the Vallejo FD agreed to pay 23% toward their retirement that would be helpful.

Anonymous   |July.14.2010 So how'd that retaining officers work out for you, Hannigan? Or keeping our fire stations open? You spend our money like a drunken sailor and then whine about having to pay for it? Go away Hammy.

Anonymous the XIV   |July.14.2010 From the article: "But Erin Hannigan, one of five council members who voted for the agreement at the time, says promising competitive wages was necessary to retain officers. She adds that if crime in Vallejo worsens, that will hamper its economic rebound." OK, smartypants Hannigan. 7% raise, how much does that cost and how many officers will be laid off because of it? Great way of retaining offices you got there. Hey Lady! HEY LADY! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704075604575357652357427326.html

Anonymous   |July.14.2010 Vallejo made the Wall Street Journal: Tough Budget Arithmetic Puts Vallejo in Bind http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704075604575357652357427326.html

silasbarnabe   |July.14.2010 captain as you proved reality check's numbers do not add up, Reality Check provide us with your city of Vallejo compensation or continue to be a lying enraged (t)urd.

Reality Check   |July.14.2010 For the record VIB drones- I pay 23% towards my retirement, Vallejo FD pays 13%

Captain   |July.14.2010 Math Wiz Put another way, that $346,666 salary would equate to a pension of $312,000 per year given the 3@55 formula (90%).

Math wiz   |July.14.2010 Reality check. If you contribute $2,600 a month to your pension that $31,200 per year. If you contribution is 9% of your wages that means your total wages are $346,666. If you pay what you claim ,you are you are getting robbed.

Captain   |July.14.2010 Reality Check, you have no idea what you're talking about. First of all pensiontsunami doesn't provide any content. The only thing they do is provide links to articles. I also doubt you pay 2,600 per month toward your retirement. And if 55 is the age you can retire you don't work for Vallejo public safety. If you really believe calpers is a good deal, for anyone other than calpers members, you should spend some time educating yourself. Your story doesn't check out, Reality Check.

silasbarnabe   |July.14.2010 Reality Check, I would support your view about how much you pay into PERS if they would remove from the California constitution the law that forces the State to bail out PERS from the State general fund like we did for $300,000,000 this year. In short remove the taxpayer bailout clause in the constitution and I would support your cause.

Living In Oz   |July.14.2010 Don't forget that Mayor Davis also said that the night he voted for the VPOA contract in January 2009, he must been been asleep when Financial Director Stout advised the council that the city would be facing a $10 million deficit beginning July 1, 2009, and the deficit number of $10 M would more than likley increase to $12 M or more that time, and continue to grow for the following fiscal years if property taxes continued to decrease and the economy got worse. So our Mayor was asleep when being advised about a $10M deficit, but awakens to vote for a 4 year contract that includes a 7.5% raise? He did not litsten to anyone; he was asleep!!!

Reality Check   |July.14.2010 Captain- Regurgitated info from pension tsunami BS, is far from an unbiased source for the truth. They are funded by big money, small government advocates who caused the collapse of our countries' economy. Assuming your a working class person, they depend on you delivering their spoon fed propoganda as if it were the gospel while they laugh in your face and sail-off with our money. Look at PERS numbers over the long haul, not just an expose of the last three years of economic collapse. PERS is successful over the long haul do your homework. If you rated any investment firm over the past three years it would look exactly the same. I pay 2600 a month towards my retirement monthly. How much do/did you pay? I hope I will be alive long enough to recoup a fraction of what I paid in. My retirement will be on base pay only NO OT, No fringe benefits, no social security. I pay taxes just like everyone else. I retire at 55 because Public Safety is a young persons game. You don't want a senior citizens climbing 100 ft aerials with 80 lbs of gear or wrestling cranksters for a gun. Thats why Safety members retire before 65. Americans will need to pull together to face the challenges confronting the country. Let's pull together, sacrifice, and stop attacking each other.

silasbarnabe   |July.14.2010 From my perspective Schivley has been voting like Gomes and Brown for her entire current term. Learning from ones mistakes is an invaluable tool in life ;however, Hannigan, Wilson, Sunga, and Davis voted not once but twice on conracts they knew we could not afford. I was disgusted when Ozzie tried to say he took Joe Tanner's recommendation to vote for the VPOA contracts, this is the same ozzie that demoted Tanner from negitiations, dismissed Tanner's study on employee union leave abuses, and interfered with negotiations. One has to wonder why the change of heart of Ozzie to mistrust and dismiss Tanner's expertise and then all of sudden decide to trust his recommendations? Ozzie is spineless and has demonstrated he can not own up to his decisions despite the pleadings of local experts for hours telling he, Sunga, Hannigan, Wilson, and Bartee that Vallejo could not afford the contracts.

Captain   |July.14.2010 Reality Check You need a reality check. Calpers is both a complete disaster and a nightmare in progress. The truth is that the employees contributions have been made every year, and the city of Vallejo has paid exactly what Calpers has told them they need to pay, every year. And the difference between a Calpers Pension and a 401K is that the taxpayers are stuck trying to fund/rebuild their own retirement, while at the same time pouring money into the public employees Calpers fund so that you don't have to worry. The Vallejo calpers account is about 56% funded, which means it is about 44% underfunded (life support in pension terms). Vallejo owes 200 million dollars of retirement benefits to it's employees. The contribution rate, to help raise the funding status to 75% funded, is on its way from 28.31% to over 53% of every dollar an employee earns (2015-16), so far anyway. Calpers works on a calendar year and they were able to improve on their 27% loss in 2008 (really more like 35% because not only did they loose billions but they also didn't make their 7.75% expected rate of return(net of expenses), with an 11.8% return in 2009. Sounds good but they are so far behind the eight-ball it isn't much to get excited about, especially when you consider the it takes a 100% gain to recover from a 50% loss, and that doesn't account for the additional 7.75%, or their expected return rate. I believe that calpers finished 2010 with 205 billion in assets, much lower the than their peak of something like 260 billion (when they were only 80% funded, I believe). This year, as of today, their assets are 203.7 billion. What that means is they are down 6/10 of one percent with 5 1/2 months left in the year, so they will need to return about 8.5% between now and December 31. Annualizing that number means that Calpers will need to be nothing short of amazing in the second half od 2010. I think they've only met their target twice this past decade, so exceeding the annual target in less than six months is highly unlikely. What that means, really, is that the additional losses of 2010 will start being piled on top of past losses (in 2012 because Calpers has a two year lag), and the 53% contribution rate I mentioned earlier will probably grow to 57% by 2015-16. And those numbers will get worse when calpers lowers their expected rate of return (Feb 2011). So a PD officer will contribute 9% toward his/her own retirement, and the taxpayers will contribute the other 57%. here is an example of what you should expect: A PD captain who is making 200K per year will contribute 9% (18K) toward his pension and the taxpayers contribute 57% (114K)on top of that. And I didn't even factor in the 7.5% raise, or the increased cost from lowering the expected rate of return. BTW, when Calpers pushed SB400 on the unions behalf they claimed it wouldn't cost cities a single penny extra for the next decade, and projected the DOW would reach 25,000 by 2010. That was the justification/snow job behind 3@50. A final note, an article I read today on the pensiontsunami website is predicting that both Calpers & Calstrs will be out of money by 2027. The Mayor doesn't get it. Someone tell the mayor their is a problem. And tell him he needs to re-read Girard Millers 6 principles of good governance (especially the rule about defering costs - I thought the council agreed to these principles), and listen to the young man that added the seventh rule last night - represent the citizens!

Anony 3   |July.14.2010 Anon 2 says "when [Schivley]...ran for Mayor, instead of re-election to Council, they left her in the dark and she they started her vendetta." Kurt Henke/IAFF/Alan Davis went after he with a vengence back in 2001 (when she ran for council). I remember those ads. No revisionist history.

ANON 2;   |July.14.2010 FIREBUG: What you say is very true, but how to you justify leaving Schively un-marked. Gomes and Brown, I fully agree that they tried to straighten up the ship, but Schively is who started this massive giveaway during her first 2 terms (8 friggin years)..She tried so hard to get labors support for her relection, that she caved in on every request they made. And then when she ran for Mayor, instead of re-election to Council, they left her in the dark and she they started her vendetta. But too compliment her now shows your complete bias or ignorance. Hell I can support the funded 4's position, because they inherited the problem caused by her and with very little experience at least tried to save the City (which only caused more problems) but for her to take the high road position is ridiculous. Add her first 8 years of voting for raises, deferrments and increases in benefits, plus her unlawful use of fire personnel for personal reasons, just shows how she is only out for herself....But nice try.

Someone Else   |July.14.2010 Reality Check, What you don't mention is that the surplus in the 1980's was sucked up by police and fire raises and with the pension increases. If you pay in at 60K most your life and then see your pay jump to 100K in the last years, you've significantly underfunded your pension because your earlier contributions were based on less pay. Add in a 60% final pension vs a 90% final pension that was unpaid for and you've bankrupted the system. I can't stand it how you guys whine about every bad decision the city makes yet fight tooth and nail to keep the favorable (for you) bad decisions in place. Key example is the incessant whining about the money for the Empress while you attack us for thinking you are paid too much.

Firebug   |July.14.2010 RC- Your lame argument about what happened to the PERS money is made moot by the fact the City handed out raises from 2000-2007 of over 50 percent documented right here at VIB. I would say with Gomes, Brown, and Schivley not voting for contracts with raises when we do not have sustainable income shows that at least those leaders have learned lessons from the past. With the PSU bought and paid for clowncil and the great and omnipotent ozz signing contracts we cannot afford it seems there are those on the clowncil and the union negotiating team that have a lot of learning to do.

Reality Check   |July.14.2010 Not whining. Just making a point. Those who don't learn from the mistakes of the past will continue to make the same mistakes into the future. We do need to address the present and the future. The FF's are working together with the City by paying more towards their retirement. Time for the City to step-up and work with the Fire Department to provide the best service to the citizens.

Real reality check   |July.14.2010 You can whine all you want about the 80s. They are over and gone and so is any cash that may or may not have been squandered or spent.

Reality check   |July.14.2010 This is for JD Miller. Mr. Miller in the 80's when PERS was superfunded, the employers' share was paid by the employees contribution and returns on that investment. What did the City do with the contributions that they should have been making during those years? Did they put that money away for a rainy day, no they spent it! Now when the market tanks and they are on the hook, rather than being able to go to the bank where the contributions should have been gaining interest for a rainy day, they have nothing. We are where we are fiscally, but let's tell the truth about the bad decisions and put the blame where it belongs. Bad decisions by the City Council, Wall Street thieves, and poor financial regulations caused this mess. The same reason that everyones 401 K's are in trouble is why PERS is in trouble. PERS has an incredibly positive track record of performance in managing pensions accounts and investments. What do you have to say to that JD.

VHA   |July.13.2010 Curious is "right on" we should give folks from other cities and counties a one way ticket back to the city they came from, with a note from our City Attorney that states Vallejo is in bankruptcy, cannot afford to provide for the poor of other ciites and counties, and will be forced to bill their city or county for any assistance we provide in housing, social services or policing. If other cities are taking Federal dollars, they can provide for their own poor folks

Glenn   |July.13.2010 Something to add to Wazzup: Glen Cove Marina - 3rd Annual Art, Wine, Jazz Festival. Sat. 7/17 http://events.myspace.com/Event/5072038/Glen-Cove-Marina--3rd-Annual-Art-Wine-Jazz-Festival

Curious   |July.13.2010 VHA is supposed to give priority to Vallejo residents. That is not the case with the Project Based Vouchers (2,000 plus) or other housing authorities who hand Section 8 vouchers to residents in their cities who qualify and then tell them there lots of landlords in Vallejo who will take the vouchers. The substandard market rate rentals including illegal garages or basements are rented to low lifes who then qualify for Vallejo vouchers. Our biggest problem is all the management companies, realtors who sell the junk, and the professionals who handle the loans and evictions etc. who then apply pressure on Code Enforcement to turn a blind eye to illegal housing.

Retired_IBEW   |July.13.2010 The Solano County rules for section 8 indicate that preference is given to a local resident, if that's not happening- maybe someone should ask the grand jury to investigate the housing authority.

Anonymous   |July.13.2010 Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts: "My job is to take what they give me and make it as efficient as I possibly can." Why is this the ONLY instance where Chief Nic doesn't look to Oakland to copy? Vallejo needs a Chief Batts. Nichelini needs to go!

VHA   |July.13.2010 VHA should post the names of folks on the waiting list for section 8 and the cities that they "hail from." If there is someone on the list from another city or county, we should ask that the City they are from come pick them up and provide housing and social services, if they wont provide for their own poor and needy, we should post the name of the City on a website for all to view. New York City is so done with folks from other cites and counties/states showing up, they actually give poor folks a one way bus ticket to where they came from, its cheaper than housing them and providing social services. Vallejo needs to get a bunch of one way tickets out of town. VHA would not want to do this, as they get paid by the Feds everytime they get a landlord to take section 8, so they can never get "enough" of farming the poor,

Anonymous   |July.13.2010 editorial: Local governments must plan for revenue decline http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_15498757?nclick_check=1

Mad Mustang   |July.13.2010 Section 8 and low cost housing in the historic neighborhoods is a tradgedy! It's an oxymoron. 3 of these historic areas straddle the downtown and waterfront. What do you have buffering these areas?.. Government housing.Sec8. Low income. No shopping.Greedy absentee landlords.Gangs have moved in. There is no real change in Vallejo because these scummy,greedy landlords(most of them) rent to anyone with cash. Once poorly designed social engineering is set into motion it can only take a leader or leadership of quality and vision to reverse it. It doesn't exist here.. It's small- minded, hollow , shallow and greedy. Follow the money trail whether it is via the public or private sector. Then you can find out why this city smells with a bleak future.

credit loans  - respond this post     |July.13.2010 Every body remembers that modern life seems to be expensive, however some people need cash for different stuff and not every person gets enough money. Thus to get quick business loans or college loan should be good way out.

Anyone but Don   |July.12.2010 Don Perata, the architect of taking control of our ferry service for some sham "WETA" so that he could save the Alameda ferry for his pal Ron Cowan. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/ferryboats_and_mcmansions/Content?oid=526289 I like this new Oakland site: http://notdon.org/ "Anyone but Perata for Mayor"

Kick the bums out   |July.11.2010 Taxes are Don Perada's answer to everything! Who made the agreements with the unions? Who has been holding hands with the unions for years? Who has big fat union contributions when they run for office? Let the big fat liberal politicians pay for this mess out of thier own pay checks, its how they will learn their lesson. NO MORE TAX AND SPEND!

John K   |July.11.2010 HOLDING OAKLAND TAXPAYERS HOSTAGE (FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY)... "A proposed parcel tax would raise some $50 million but require homeowners to pay $360 a year. An increase in the sales tax might make Oakland's sales tax the highest in the Bay Area. It's currently 9.75 percent, but some, including mayoral candidate Don Perata, have proposed raising it to 10.25 percent to fund police." I certainly hope Oakland voters reject Don Perata.

Myron Moses   |July.10.2010 Children who attend pre-school are not guaranteed that they will graduate from hight school. WHY?? HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU HEARD THAT A THREE YEAR OLD IS NOT READY FOR PRE-SCHOOl?Ans. Seldom if ever. Did you know that some children of three have incredible learning skills, can play checkers, tit-tat-toe and simple board games that require counting skills. Some three year olds can read or are on the verge of reading? know most of what will be taught in the first several months of kindergarten. And it does not happen by pushing the child. It happens by exposing the child in a very low key manner. The child's enviornment is key starting when the newborn arrives home for the first time. The name of the game is to help the child learn how to learn and be happy in the process. If this topic is of interest to you, contact me @ moses125@comcast.net Myron

Oakland's mess   |July.10.2010 Oakland should know better than to contract terms of no police lay-offs, the fire dept was able to get this in their contract years ago, and they can be touched. Wow folks are shocked at the details that are coming out about public safety contracts (ie police and fire)around the entire Bay Area, first I think when the details of the Vallejo Police and Fire came out, folks from other cities snickered and were smug that "stupid Vallejo" gave away the farm, now when it comes out cites like Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, San Jose, San Bruno, San Carlos have similar "goodies" in their contracts, they arent so smug...

Disingenuous Offer-- Say no to   |July.10.2010 The Oakland police union is willing to make concessions but wants the city to guarantee no layoffs for three years of any officer hired before March 21, 2009. The kicker is that even two layoffs would cause tax dollars from Measure Y for 63 officersto go away. Sounds like VPOAs President Steve Gordons type of offer. In response Jane Brunner (City Council President) one of the police most ardent supporters said Agreeing to no layoffs ( after concessions were made) "would be irresponsible. Seems Like Osby,Hannigan,Wilson and Sunga need to learn some fiscal responsibility. Here is a link to the article. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/10/BA161EC194.DTL

Anonymous the XIV   |July.10.2010 [SF Public Defender Jeff] Adachi makes enemies [and] sense with labor proposal Threatened by Supervisor Chris Daly, accused by Mayor Newsom, called the dirtiest name SF Labor Council Executive Director Tim Paulson could think ("Republican". Adachi's crime? The tyranny of a good idea. Adachi gathered 75,000 signatures for a November ballot measure that would revise the pension plans of city workers. "This isn't an attack on labor," Adachi said. "It's a math problem. I think everybody recognizes that the train wreck is already here. But nobody talks about it." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/10/BA4K1EC5QJ.DTL&tsp=1

Anonymous   |July.09.2010 You can be "out" because theres a 90% chance you don't live in Vallejo, send your kids to our schools, live with our city services or have to get an answering machine when you call your PD. So don't tell me to stop complaining about MY city. You're paid too much. We can't afford it, no matter who was stupid enough to give it to you or how brave you may be. The party is over and it has nothing to do with respect or a lack of it.

Here's the deal   |July.09.2010 All u whinning VIBERS are just a bunch of idiots. None of you have the balls to respond to crimes or crawl into a raging house fire so u just attack those that are here serve. We respond, train, and risk it all out of a sense of duty and yes for a paycheck. The police officers and fireman did not ruin this town. Wall street criminals, Bad city leadership, and lax banking laws are to blame. You are attacking working people! Get a life and start directing your angst at the real issues. I'm out.

know vallejo   |July.09.2010 council 1986? their pictures are all downstairs at city hall. in the meantime, some possibilities are: terry curtola, syd berry, cynthia kay, kathie "george miller" hoffman, hal pierce, mike palmaffy...

1986   |July.09.2010 Hmmmmm...and who was around in 1986? Not VIB, thats for sure. Nor Gomes, or others that the GOBs and the PSUs like to blame for all of Vallejo's woes.

ANON 2:   |July.09.2010 ANONYMOUS: You are so correct, that letter was pathetic. But you know what is worse ? Nothing has happened in this town since 1986. Now that is PATHETIC........

Anonymous   |July.09.2010 From my understanding, the city approved the original 1.3 million sales tax deferment and then subsequently, for the hyundai dealership as well. I think though, the dealers eventually turned it down because has they accepted it, they would have had to meet certain requirements, such as prevailing wages? Not sure though. But that automall sign - I heard they were flashing "No on Measure A" Worked real well for you, hey Kenny Ross? The most wonderful thing about winning Measure A is all the GOBs in Vallejo didn't make enough of a difference: Terry Curtola's letter featuring a headline from 1984 (26 years ago?) how pathetic was that?

Firebug   |July.09.2010 John K- How interesting, I thought the deal was that the City on August 19, 2003 agreed not to collect sales tax, and amortize the $1.3 million in development fees over 20 years? I haven't seen a Council meeting subsequently where the council rescinded the agreement. http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/uploads/253/603.pdf

Curious   |July.09.2010 VHA... You are right. HUD has strict guidelines for the condition of Section 8 rentals and the VHA is turning a blind eye. The Casa is another issue. Boax got a scathing report from HUD on the condition of the Casa and, rather than fix it correctly, he just got rid of it to a scuzzball. Then a suspicious fire blamed on some impaired tenant for smoking around oxygen tanks. Hello! The State also has strict guidelines for egress where mobility impaired people live requiring oversight by the City Building and Fire Departments. Not done. When the alarm was taken out of commission in a building like this, legally the Fire Department is supposed to be notified. Housing in Vallejo seems to be some sort of regional political agreement to ignore the law. Another problem is group homes and halfway houses. When the State gets a request for a license, they send the documentation to the City of Vallejo to check to see if it is within 500 feet of another facility. The City of Vallejo just ignores the State request, so the State issues the licence and we get illegal concentrations of poverty. The guy in charge of Project Based Vouchers for the Casa and other Projects is Ernest Mollins at HUD in SF. He is no friend. The best bet is to call the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in Washington DC and ask what the citizens of Vallejo should do about the fact that the first designated capitol of California with four designated historic districts is being adversely affected by HUD Federal programs. The ACHP Director is John Fowler. Our real problem is all our Democratic leaders in SF, Marin, North and East Bay that beat their breasts about helping the poor and disposessed for the Federal dollars. But the real agenda is to fund investments for their rich friends as long as the problems they cause are out of sight.

John K   |July.09.2010 Firebug, I always get a creepy feeling about those automall proponents. The monster sign stands as a reminder. One of them spoke at a Council meeting, saying he was never able to collect on that sales tax scheme. Possibly because of the business failure or recession?

VHA   |July.09.2010 On retnals receiving section 8 vouchers, does Vallejo Housing Authority go out to make sure the homes are in "Section 8 living conditions?" If they are sending out inspectors, they are turning a blind eye. Case in point, I showed a property to an investor who bought a property occupied by two sets of Section 8 tenants. The units were not in "living condition." Paint was peeling, only one burner on stove worked, drain under kitchen sink was not hooked up, drained into a bucket, no hot water in shower, electrical panel under amped could have caused a fire, wash machine not connected to sewer line, drained on ground right outside house. These two units had just been inspected by VHA and were given approval. VHA needs a building inspector to look at properties that receive secion 8, otherwise they shoild be held accountable when a "Casa de Vallejo" sitiuation happens. Now with the very strict SB 486 lead law, probably no house built before 1970 should be rented to secion 8 receipiants due to lead in the paint on the walls interior or exterior. That pretty much eliminates 3/4 of Vallejo. Section 8 guildlines are very strict and straight forward. I have seen many properties in older parts of Vallejo that have been approved by VHA and they do not meet the guidlines. Who can we call to report VHA at the Federal level?

Anonymous   |July.08.2010 Hopes of real economic development ended when the Funded Four and Oz approved the police contract and cut the economic development staff to try to pay for it (and failed). There are consequences to these actions, and unfortunately we're suffering them. Go to Target or Costco.

its your fault   |July.08.2010 wheres my dry dock jobs miller? and i didnt forget you gomes, wheres my bookstore?

Retired_IBEW   |July.08.2010 Curious- I just ran across this report from 2006 http://tinyurl.com/2a63yrb On page 8 it has a map with section 8 distribution in Vallejo and total # of choice vouchers as a % of total housing units is on the next page

curious   |July.08.2010 I don't know who might have an accurate list of all the Vallejo properties in the HUD voucher program. The problem is that the Choice Vouchers can be used anywhere. For example, SF, Oakland or Richmond vouchers can be used in Vallejo. The Project Vouchers are administered directly though HUD in SF; not through VHA. So VHA has no idea how many vouchers are being used at the Casa de Vallejo, Marina Vista and the many other Projects. The VHA has a list of where their Choice vouchers are going in Vallejo but won't release it publically because neighbors might stigmatize the recipients. It is absolutely true that the HUD vouchers skew rents upward, especially in Section 8 City. Many owners refuse to take Section 8 because they care about their property and the neighborhood. Often those rents are lower but a renter has to have really good credit, references and connections to find one.

Firebug   |July.08.2010 Does anyone else get creepy feeling about this one? We have Jack Wilson and Ron Cornelius (both former co-owners of the Former Vallejo Ford) convince the City council in 2004-5 to buy into a scheme of tax breaks in return for the Automall, after the council agrees on the scheme, Jack Wilson sells all his shares in the Ford Dealership, Cornelius then goes belly up and now we have Jack Wilson buying the land again. Something doesn't seem right here. This is what Vicki Gray said about this in 2004 " The Auto Mall.Council member Jerry Davis won re-election last fall. His campaign manager Glenn Cornelius is vice president of Wilson-Cornelius Ford, of which son Rod is co-owner and which, for decades has sought to move from its Georgia Street site. Kenny Ross, owner of Team Chevrolet and city hall hanger-on, has also wanted to move from cramped quarters on Redwood Parkway. Theres a huge parcel of land (the K-Mart eyesore only now being demolished) available on Sonoma Boulevards Auto Row. Do Wilson-Cornelius and Team Ross consider joining the dozen auto dealers there, thus adding to the synergy of that commercial corridor. Nope. Why not? Because Gary Mandarich has been having trouble filling his Northgate Business Park along Columbus Parkway, bought on spec and having attracted only Toyota Vallejo. Enter Jack Wilson, Toyotas owner and Cornelius partner at Wilson-Cornelius Ford. Together, the boys cobble together the Auto Mall scheme, which will co-locate the Ford and Chevy dealerships with Wilsons Toyota operation. But they need a sweetener and ask the City Council to allow them to amortize $1.3 million in development fees over 20 years and hold back the bulk of sales taxes. On August 19, the Council approved the scheme unanimously against the objections of the Sonoma Boulevard dealers and at a tight budget time, when the City is laying off union workers and cutting CBDG funds for community organizations. Not content with this hold-up of the public treasury, the boys pressed for more. To make it work,they said, they needed to change the name of Columbus Parkway to Auto Mall Parkway; and a garish 100-foot high LED sign to advertise their three dealer mall.Shortly after the election, the Council approved the name change. To hell with the Sonoma Boulevard dealers, the Italian American community, and the rest of us! The sign, however, would take a little longer, since it needed a zoning variance. That, in turn, would require a considerable and probably illegal variance to Planning Commission procedures. At a December 1 study session of the Commission, Ross and Wilson were told a variance could only be granted after a public hearing and subsequent vote. Ross objected that he and Wilson had been promised by city staffers Alan Wolken and Al DaSilva that they would get their sign. He added that, if he did not get Commission assurances to that effect before the December 17 closing date for the Northgate land deal, the deal was off. Each of the commissioners thereupon stated they would vote at the public hearing scheduled for January 21. Talk about chutzpah! At that hearing, to his credit, Commissioner Bob McConnell voted no.The others voted yes, including Linda Engelman, whose Council run had been supported by the Chamber of Commerce. Brand new commissioner Herminio Sunga gushed to the T-H that it was quite exciting to vote for the sign. After the meeting, the ever-smug Kenny Ross added Unless someone throws another curve, I believe were done.End of story? Nooo! Next morning, Jack Wilson announced the sale of his 75 percent interest in Wilson-Cornelius Ford to Rod Cornelius. Then, in April, Kenny Ross was back at the taxpayers trough, seeking and getting a similar deal for his Hyundai dealership this despite the fact that city staff told us last August that there was no more room for any other dealerships on Columbus oops, Auto Mall Parkway. http://www.vickigray.org/2004_05_01_archive.html

Firebug   |July.08.2010 Auto Row. Do Wilson-Cornelius and Team Ross consider joining the dozen auto dealers there, thus adding to the synergy of that commercial corridor. Nope. Why not? Because Gary Mandarich has been having trouble filling his Northgate Business Park along Columbus Parkway, bought on spec and having attracted only Toyota Vallejo. Enter Jack Wilson, Toyotas owner and Cornelius partner at Wilson-Cornelius Ford. Together, the boys cobble together the Auto Mall scheme, which will co-locate the Ford and Chevy dealerships with Wilsonâ

Firebug   |July.08.2010 Does anyone else get creepy feeling about this one? We have Jack Wilson and Ron Cornelius (both former co-owners of the Former Vallejo Ford) convince the City council in 2004-5 to buy into a scheme of tax breaks in return for the Automall, after the council agrees on the scheme, Jack Wilson sells all his shares in the Ford Dealership, Cornelius then goes belly up and now we have Jack Wilson buying the land again. Something doesn't seem right here. This is what Vicki Gray said about this in 2004 " The Auto Mall.Council member Jerry Davis won re-election last fall. His campaign manager Glenn Cornelius is vice president of Wilson-Cornelius Ford, of which son Rod is co-owner and which, for decades has sought to move from its Georgia Street site. Kenny Ross, owner of Team Chevrolet and city hall hanger-on, has also wanted to move from cramped quarters on Redwood Parkway. Theres a huge parcel of land (the K-Mart eyesore only now being demolished) available on Sonoma Boulevardâ

Retired_IBEW   |July.08.2010 Curious-the biggest problem I have with section 8 (aside from absentee slumlords) is that they rely on overinflated HUD data to establish allowable rental price for section 8 housing. In an area with a large number of section 8 vouchers issued, it artificially drives up the rent for all renters. For 2010 HUD will allow up to $1210 for a 2 bedroom & $1696 for a 3 bedroom section 8 rental in Vallejo/Fairfield. That means a working low income renter without a voucher would have to gross between $3630 and $5088 to qualify for one of those properties. Where the heck are those people who get up every day and go to work going to live if rents are that high and they can't get a voucher? I don't think any section 8 lists are open, and most have thousands of applicants who have been on the list for years, and it seems that vouchers go to people on welfare before they go to low income employed people. I have a friend in Fairfield who was paying around $800 a month to rent a dumpy little 900 sq ft house, the owner let it go into foreclosure and it was bought by an investor and is now managed by a property management company. The renter (who pays rent every month, even through the foreclosure process) was told to sign a new lease for $1200 a month or to move out. When he asked the property management company why the $400 increase he was told that it is because they can get that much for it through section 8.

Anonymous   |July.07.2010 Hey Curious -- thanks for the link. It looks like whats listed is whats currently for rent? There are't that many in my zio (94590). Is there a complete listing of ALL landlords in 94590 that are approved by the city to take Section 8? I'd like to know who on my street does. thanks!

curious   |July.07.2010 Check out GoSection8.com for a list of all properties that will take Section 8 vouchers when awarded. Remember vouchers can float so the San Francisco Housing Authority can award one and suggest that the recipient use it in Vallejo where there are lots of landlords who will accept them.

Retired_IBEW   |July.07.2010 Curious: section 8 vouchers aren't given out because there are a glut of available rentals. I don't think there is an open list for section 8 anywhere in Solano County. They give out vouchers based on the amount of federal money they have to work with. Absentee landlords and lack of code enforcement has plagued Vallejo for decades, even when Code Enforcement was staffed, it seemed like they had a 'hands off' policy toward out of town 'investors' (i.e. slumlords)

Curious   |July.07.2010 Owner occupied homes stabilize neighborhoods. Good for you! My block is 80% rentals with two group homes in a listed historic district. The house just up from me sold to a happy guy in a BMW with Marin licence plate surrounds who was thrilled about being on the Section 8 list. I have not seen him since he bought the property. The Return on Investment for Section 8 is unbelievable and you don't have to do anything to get the check! That is the good housing; at least it is sort of inspected. There is another whole layer of substandard housing not good enough for Section 8 and the owners will rent to anyone. No background checks or on-site management so the whole neighborhood suffers. The VHA and Code Enforcement don't care; how else will they get their fat salaries? Realtors make good money when they find a client that will buy anything and everything. I have friends trying to buy a home to live in who made offer after offer but were beat out by absentee landlords. Vallejo's best economic development strategy is to stop pandering to absentee owners, seize substandard rental properties and sell them for $1 to families with the condition that they will fix them up and live in them for 5 years. That, alone, would stabilize neighborhoods, support building trades or home improvment stores, improve the tax base, get rid of concentrations of hopeless poverty and lower costs for police and fire services. Other cities have done this very successfully. Some focus on bringing in artists and creative people.

Correction   |July.07.2010 Sadly re: auction on steps of city hall, people who administer the Section 8 program see the same people buying day in and day out and guess what? These same buyers were such horrible slumlords that they are on the Section 8 owners blacklist. These buyers live in Marin and Napa and don't give a damn about Vallejo and the negative impact of their crappy properties.

blue collar   |July.07.2010 Curious, how do you know they are going to be Section 8? Do you have special knowledge? Two houses on my street sold at deflated prices and are both owner occupied.

Someone Else   |July.07.2010 Thanks, I'm well aware. Even if my home were to double in value in 7 years I'd still be 25% under water. I'm too underwater to qualify for any refinance program I'm aware of. Any business would be walking away right now. It's really sad. I saved 60% of our income for two years to buy a house, right out of college. Did everything right.

Correction   |July.07.2010 There are some serious tax implications from "walking away" (foreclosure) or doing a short sale. You may be liable for paying quite a lot on the loss. That being said I feel your pain. So many people are in such an unsustainable place in regards to their mortgages.

Someone Else   |July.07.2010 Ugh. My home value is showing it too. I just got the letter from the county assessor on my property taxes. According to the government my home is worth $0.37 cents for every dollar I owe on it. If I was to walk away I'd owe far far less over the next 7 years from bad credit than if I continue to pay the mortgage over that time. I could rent a similar if not bigger house and pay about $1500 a month less per month than I'm paying now. I make too much for any bank to consider modifying (they won't even return my calls). You know what, I'm seriously starting to consider it. That's almost $20K a year I'm throwing down the drain for a town I can't even send my kid to a public school in. That's all lot of money to be wasting just because I love my house and I feel obligated.

curious   |July.07.2010 Is George Miller getting a bit nervous about Vallejo voters skittering away from the Democratic Party/Union tent because we are realizing that there is nothing in the "support the Fire Unions at all costs" for us?

curious   |July.07.2010 Have you checked out the hordes of big spenders on the steps of City Hall picking up foreclosed homes for pennies that they plan to add to the Section 8 rental market? We have lots and lots opportunists circling the carcass. Unfortunately, what Vallejo has in abundance...its fabulous historic homes...are luring absentee investors who will milk their "cash cows" to death and let the community pick up the tab for the crime and social problems their "investments" cause. Too bad we are not on the beautiful, blue Adriatic Sea.

Someone Else   |July.07.2010 Like I said, it's a pipe dream to think any one person or entity will walk in and turn this town around. We placed a huge bet with Mare Island and Lennar. Look where that got us. We need to be encouraging businesses to move into each building on Mare Island and each dry dock. Not some big developer that will pull out in 10 years and leave us with empty hulks. If one business goes bust, no big deal because there are plenty of other business on the island to keep things sustainable. Lots of little stuff adds up over time.

Anonymous   |July.07.2010 Someone Else said: "Because we should hang our hopes in some oligarch coming in and making over Vallejo after his own fancy." Peter Munk - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Munk "Latest investments will/are taking place in resort area. Specifically, investments in Montenegrin town of Tivat. Presently is known that Mr. Munk has bought an old naval shipyard in Tivat to be transformed in vacation resort and mega marina, known as Porto Montenegro. The project is being managed by Adriatic Marinas with the potential development of a Four Seasons hotel."

Failed State   |July.06.2010 Well, Curious--Montenegro does have something in commom with Vallejo -- it IS on the "failed states index" as "moderate". "A failed state has several attributes. Common indicators include a state whose central government is so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory; non-provision of public services; widespread corruption and criminality; refugees and involuntary movement of populations; sharp economic decline O, where O where is our Billionare? O where O where can he be? Peter Munk, are you listening?

curious   |July.06.2010 Some of you people are delusional! Google Images of Porto Montenegro. The blue waters of the Adriatic... Beautiful historic buildings....Location, location, location near bunches of other rich people yacht paradises. It ain't gonna happen here. The Marines aren't coming either. Get it. There will be no sugar daddy coming to rescue Vallejo. ?City Hall is useless. Our future is up to us citizens

Anonymous   |July.06.2010 Excellent idea Mare Island. There is real value sitting idle over on the island with those dry docks and they would be perfect for pleasure boat building and maintenance or ferry boat construction and maintenance. I think we're getting close to the point where the greedy obstructionist's will finally relent and "allow" the MI assets to be put back in production. We probably need to continue down the path of bankruptcy and despair before the political pressure reaches a breaking point. The government officials and corporate interests involved in the obstruction will be hurt politically and financially once the true story is finally told, and it will be. So for now we just wait and watch as natural economic forces work their magic.

Someone Else   |July.06.2010 When are people going to realize that Vallejo/Mare Island isn't going to have some savior swoop in and make everything better? Because we should hang our hopes in some oligarch coming in and making over Vallejo after his own fancy. No different than moving the Marines base on Okinawa to Vallejo. Or having LNG and Wal-Mart providing every ounce of revenue we need. Or the HM Marten foundation. Buck up people, this is one we'll have to fix ourselves.

Captain   |July.06.2010 The link to the T-H dialogue (post 93-94): http://www.topix.net/forum/source/vallejo-times-herald/TODIORTROPN882DS0/p5#lastPost

Captain   |July.06.2010 I would be interested in hearing the opinions of VIB readers regarding my dialogue with "anon", on the T-H topix site. It has to do with employee compensation & the effects of OT being built into the contract of the VFD (and VPD for that matter). The dialogue includes the analysis of the Vallejo/Fairfield FD's that was done by ADQ/Norberg back in December (I had never seen it until today). The compensated absences allowed by the city of Vallejo are a major concern, and also probably the biggest reason this city hasn't been able to control the excessive overtime costs of the PS employees. I attempt to explain the issue although I' haven't provided my conclusion. Big City, like always your comments are appreciated. The initial comments really begin in post 60, but I respond to anon's post 93, in post 94. I really think understanding the role of compensated leave, especially when staffing & OT are required, is something that has a significant impact on the budget regarding both OT, and providing service levels in general. NO city allows for as much compensated absence as vallejo, and that requires more FD employees/Officers to cover the same amount of service hours compared to other cities.

Mare Island Idea   |July.06.2010 Here's another idea to consider for the former Navy base with income potential...... Communist-era naval base reborn as superyacht marina http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/0... (CNN)- A former Communist-era naval base in east Europe could soon become the most important new European superyacht hub in decades. Porto Montenegro marina is being developed in the Bay of Kotor in southern Montenegro, the tiny former-Yugoslav nation, a region with the lowest GDP in Europe. It is the brainchild of multi-millionaire gold miner Peter Munk who hopes his plans will turn this area into a glamorous and economically thriving hotspot to rival the likes of Monaco, Cannes and Portofino.

Anonymous   |July.06.2010 Contra Costa Times editorial: California lawmakers must pass teacher reform http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_15431687 This is a very important issue for Vallejo Schools. Keep in mind that the CTA (California teachers Association) is basically a Union PAC that represents the employees and has little to do with representing education, except where it benefitss themselves.

Anonymous   |July.06.2010 Contra Costa Times editorial: Pension reform bill is a big charade http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_15431686?nclick_check=1 Contra Costa is not part of Calpers (although there are similar issues) but this article highlights the difficulty involved in meaningful pension reform, and the extent elected democrats will go to protect the people that support their campaigns.

Someone Else   |July.06.2010 Article about the SF pension reform movement that is building http://www.baycitizen.org/labor/story/pensions/

tramky   |July.06.2010 The unions will eventually implode under their own weight. The money to pay the fat wages & benefits just isn't there is no better messenger of the realities of life than city finance managers.

Golden Girl   |July.06.2010 "Protecting FF jobs and pensions?" Is she crazy? Protecting jobs is one thing. But protecting these lavish pensions that are killing cities across CA just for an endorsement? Union wh@re. I wonder if she and Mike Wilson went to the same political training? I can't stand politicians who, at the same time they're asking for MY vote, are selling ME down the river and think I'm too stupid to notice!

Matier + Ross   |July.06.2010 I saw it...now I can't vote for Kamala either!

Anonymous   |July.05.2010 Also from Matier & Ross: Kamala Harris SELLS OUT. Disgusting. "Kamala Harris gets the endorsement of the 30,000-strong California Professional Firefighters group...Harris' pitch about protecting firefighters' jobs and pensions won her the nod over GOP rivalSteve Cooley. Love this one: "As endorsements go, firefighters are at the top of the list in the public's mind -- and the firefighters know it. They even have their own TV studio where they produce ads for candidates and causes."

Matier + Ross   |July.05.2010 2 S.F. left leaders take on big labor: Adachi's petition push for pension overhaul ..."Adachi has, however, gotten the backing of former mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez, who is offering to debate union leaders. It's an interesting tag team - two leaders on the left, taking on the left's biggest bankrollers." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/BAO41E8P2E.DTL&tsp=1

Anonymous   |July.04.2010 Nice to see Mr. Scratchy is still flying high in the 4th of July photo -- go Scratchy!

Is That Right?   |July.04.2010 Anonymous = Tool

Curious   |July.04.2010 Be Truthful... Let's wait for the 2010 census data. My statistics are for the old one.

Anonymous   |July.04.2010 VIB, Better Vallejo & Craigslist - LGBTQ propaganda tools.

Anonymous   |July.04.2010 Hi Ruscal! Can you add to the events listing: Heads up, Mira Theatre Guild is hosting a Gay Pride Comedy Show on Saturday, Aug 7th. The headliner is Morgan (she is HILAROUS) who's appeared at Harvey's and the punchline in SF and Gotham Comedy Club in NY. Some of her videos can be seen at facebook.com/morgansfunny. Ticket prices are $12 ($10 for Mira members and Vallejo Gay Network members). And for all you budding actors, the Mira is hosting general auditions for FOUR well-known North Bay production companies (Dreamweavers Troupe of Napa, Lucky Penny Productions of Napa, Benicia's Old Town Theatre Group, and Vallejo's Mira Theatre Guild)on August 1 and 2 at the Bay Terrace Theater, 51 Daniels at Wilson in Vallejo. Plays include The Diary of Anne Frank, A Nice Family Gathering, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Lost in Yonkers, Compared to What? (world premiere), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The 39 Steps, Run for Your Wife, The Murder Game, 'Night Mother, Snowing at Delphi, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. More info at www.miratheatreguild.org

Anonymous   |July.04.2010 Hi Ruscal! Can you add to the events listing: Heads up, Mira Theatre Guild is hosting a Gay Pride Comedy Show on Saturday, Aug 7th. The headliner is Morgan (she is HILAROUS) who's appeared at Harvey's and the punchline in SF and Gotham Comedy Club in NY. Some of her videos can be seen at facebook.com/morgansfunny. Ticket prices are $12 ($10 for Mira members and Vallejo Gay Network members). And for all you budding actors, the Mira is hosting general auditions for FOUR well-known North Bay production companies (Dreamweavers Troupe of Napa, Lucky Penny Productions of Napa, Benicia

Happy 4th of July   |July.03.2010 Hey y'all, Happy 4th of July Vallejo. TODay honors the true heroism of the founding fathers in declaring freedom and independence and the creation of the union that is the good old USA - true winners in anyone's book. Hope y'all enjoy the day's festivities and the spectacular fireworks tonight.

Anonymous   |July.03.2010 The Nation said, "It's time for progressives to fight back and confront the falsehood" of excessive public employee union pay and benefits. I say it's time for "progressives" to stop talking as if we have no brains. We have a huge split happening among us: those who follow this outdated, knee jerk, rubber stamp Dem/liberal/union/worker lockstep crap. And those of us who are independent thinkers who sadly realize that the unions we have always supported have become just as bad and harmful as the Repub "big business." There's a growing and stronger middle now, and both sides better pay attention.

Anonymous   |July.03.2010 Facebook to recognize faces, help tag photos Facebook says new face detection tech will help find friends, making photo tagging easier http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/07/02/facebook.recognition/index.html?hpt=T2 If you've got a large album or a lot of friends in a single photo, this process is inefficient and tedious. To solve this problem, Facebook has implemented face detection technology that will automatically find faces in photos and select them, eliminating one of the most tedious steps in tagging Facebook friends in photos. Your friends are already selected by the software -- all you have to do is answer the Facebook prompt, "Whose face is this?"

COTECathy  - reply     |July.03.2010 According to my own monitoring, millions of persons on our planet get the mortgage loans from well known banks. Therefore, there is a good chance to receive a small business loan in any country.

MIssmarvelous   |July.03.2010 I just sold a nice 2/1 850 square feet, to a first time home buyer who earns $53,000 a year. He put down 3.5 percent plus closing costs, has a 5 percent fixed interest rate, his principal, interest with taxes and insurance is $875/month. He is a a good part of Vallejo, and pays less than what rent costs. He is from Napa, is thrilled and says how much nicer folks in Vallejo are than in Napa, he says "the real people" live in Vallejo. Purchase price of the house was $123,000. Want to turn Vallejo around? Get your friends and relative to buy up the investment properties that investors are walking away from in foreclosure and short sales. We need more home owners to occupy our homes, we dont need out of town "slumlords" buying up our properties and creating blight in our neighborhoods.

Be Truthful Now   |July.03.2010 curious said: "There are more gay couples than traditional nuclear families." Where's the Federal statistics that says there are more gay couples than traditional nuclear families in Vallejo, in California and in USA?

curious   |July.03.2010 The median priced home in Vallejo is accessible with a family income of about $75,000. That is family income. The nuclear family where dad works and mom stays home with the 2.7 kids has gone the way of the dinosaur. There are more gay couples than traditional nuclear families. The largest percentage of families are two income families where mom works. So that means two incomes of less than $40,000 apiece. If you are willing to do some work, a single person making $35,000 can buy a house in Vallejo. Now the Napa Valley is another story. A house up on Soda Canyon would run $1million plus.

Anonymous   |July.03.2010 Less than the cost of PSU benefits, which according to CNBC was 97K. Everyone knows they are overpaid but don't expect them to admit it.

John K   |July.03.2010 How much do you have to earn to buy a house in Vallejo?

Curious   |July.03.2010 Did'ja notice that the NYFD salary you reference includes "fringe" bennies like overtime? VFD guys are about double what the NYFD makes and those guys are real heros who have a track record of running into burning, collapsing buildings.

the Blue Carbuncle   |July.03.2010 curious contributes: "Maybe it is hard for NYFD and NYFD to buy the average house in NY." Anonymous article states: "Firefighters and librarians are unable to afford the median home in the New York" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128002819 New York City FF after 5 years makes: $99,104 http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/ff_salary_benefits_080106.shtml Wages within 5% and one can afford "million dollar mansions in upscale communities like Napa and a pack of rentals to boost their incomes" according to curious and the other is unable to afford the median home in the New York. Very curious?

Curious   |July.03.2010 maybe someone should send The Nation the salaries of City of Vallejo workers. They would choke! Maybe it is hard for NYFD and NYFD to buy the average house in NY. But,we pay our firefighters and police so much they can buy million dollar mansions in upscale communities like Napa and a pack of rentals to boost their incomes, maybe a boat. I worked for the Feds and, it is true, I was paid less as a licenced professional than I would get on the private market. I liked the fact that I worked only 40 hours a week when my private cohorts were working 60 to 80. But at the highest point of my career, I made less than a third of what our average firefighter makes who can sleep and get paid for it. It was not conservative, big business Republicans who voted yes on Measure A. It was us disillusioned liberals who, independently, see the whole unvarnished truth about public unions. You really can't spin this as class warfare unless you recognize the PSUs as elitist snobs who think their gang makes them better than everybody else.

Anonoymous   |July.03.2010 It's easy to see what's going on in vallejo after reading this. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128002819

John K   |July.03.2010 Beautiful, Captain. We can offer encouragement to San Jose. Vallejo was the first city to put binding arbitration into the contracts and City Charter, and Vallejo is the first to remove it. Let Vallejo be the first domino in a line that topples the stranglehold of binding arbitration throughout Northern California and all the way down to Anaheim, where the Firemen Association ponied up $17K to defeat our Measure A.

Captain   |July.03.2010 Vallejo the trend setter for something other than bankruptcy and paying huge raises? San Jose thinks though, and they are considering getting rid of binding arbitration. This an excellent article and a must read: Vallejo's experience with bankruptcy, arbitration reform may spur action in San Jose http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15431929 Nice to see an article that reflects well on Vallejo

Anonymous   |July.02.2010 State schools must evaluate their contributions to crisis http://tinyurl.com/26aba6v

Oberver   |July.02.2010 to Maywood Fact Check - corrupt police departments are not unique to Hispanic Communities. New Orleans, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York have all had highly publisized instances of corruption that had nothing to do with Hispanics. As for a community that does not assimilate - the truth is that Hispanics assimilate just as fast as other non-English speaking groups have including Germans, Eastern Europeans, and Italians. Like other groups, the first generation of Hispanics born in the U.S. speak English, and the second generation usually can no longer speak Spanish. No immigrant group has ever failed to assimilate over time. Mexican Americans have more in common with other Americans than they do with Mexicans. Like Italians, Irish, and other groups, Mexicans retain certain cultural customs. Since when is that being un-American. Also, in case you don't know it, there are schools throughout America named after famous foreigners. I guess that it only bothers you if a school is named after a Mexican. It's also ironic to see schools in predominantly black neighborhoods named after former slave owners like Jefferson and Washington. I absolutley understand your fear that Hispanic may overwhelm us and take over. Anglos overwhelmed Mexicans in Texas and California and took over, and we took Hawaii away from the Hawaiians.

PSU Watch   |July.02.2010 "Organized labor's greed has blinded it to the benefits of reasonableness and shared-sacrifice" This is opposite of the true unionism of the early days. Because of this "get what I can" attitude, unions are going to implode.

Maywood Fact Check   |July.02.2010 The City of Maywood California is contracting out ALL of their municipal services. http://www.cityofmaywood.com/ Vallejo needs to start looking at some of these alternate ideas. The REAL REASON Why Maywood Is 100% Contracting Out Its Services...... Is Maywood, California The Most Corrupt And Racist City In America? By Digger Bookmark and Share http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/002142.html Mexican Flag Over Post Office It seems that the Los Angeles Times has just figured out that Maywood, California is corrupt. Maywood has a population of 30,000, 96% are Latino, half are foreign born and a good portion are illegal aliens. Funny that corruption should happen in a town just south of LA that has had a massive influx of Latin American illegal aliens. Maywood has declared itself a sanctuary city and closed its traffic division at the urging of illegal aliens and their supporters after too many cars were being towed because those stopped didn't have driver's licenses. There are also pushes in the community to rename elementary schools after former Mexican President Benito Juarez. Maywood also had police stand by during an anti illegal immigration rally as Mexican reconquistas and illegal aliens raised a Mexican flag over the post office. When immigrants, both legal and illegal, come here and don't assimilate, they bring their form of "justice, law and government" with them - all of which are corrupt in their home countries. The Times story focuses on the 37 member all male police department, they deem as a "haven for misfit cops" and found that a third have previous criminal histories or suspicions of such, but the problem is obviously widespread throughout the community. Other law enforcement communities refer to Maywood police as the department of "second chances". Among those on the job: A former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy terminated for abusing jail inmates; a onetime Los Angeles Police Department officer fired for intimidating a witness; and an ex-Huntington Park officer charged with negligently shooting a handgun and driving drunk.

Suzanne   |July.02.2010 The City of Maywood California is contracting out ALL of their municipal services. http://www.cityofmaywood.com/ Vallejo needs to start looking at some of these alternate ideas.

Anonymous   |July.01.2010 Thank you S.Martin -- this statement resonates: "And in Michigan the UAW risks an internal blow-up as lowered paid new hires look across the assembly line at co-workers earning twice as much. Organized labor's greed has blinded it to the benefits of reasonableness and shared-sacrifice" The PSUnions--the Mat Mustards, Kurt Henke--will never accept less and it will be the newer recruits who will pay the price. That's whats happening now. All the cuts made in the VPOA contract were to new hires. Welcome to Vallejo.

S. Martin   |July.01.2010 http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/07/municipal_death_spiral.html I guess these people are just PSU haters too? "In this time of cutbacks, organized labor has taken a self-defeating strategy.  Unions have willingly shrunk their membership to protect the jobs of the highest seniority members.  Those who've been laid off now find themselves under the bus  wondering why they paid their dues.  And in Michigan the UAW risks an internal blow-up as lowered paid new hires look across the assembly  line at co-workers earning twice as much.  Organized labor's greed has blinded it to the benefits of reasonableness and shared-sacrifice."

Anonymous   |July.01.2010 What! July already? Just Another Summer Of New Developments(!) Oh Well.

admin   |July.01.2010 Use the July Scream! Robin: "Where'd you get a live fish, Batman?" Batman: "The true crimefighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin."

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