Anonymous   |January.31.2009 HANNIGAN should never be quoted unless it's in the Big Book of Stupid. I'd ask that she back that non-statement up, but I'm sure she would just say, "Uh...duh...Daddy, what should I say?" The cops and Funded Four say Vallejo cops deserve highest pay/bennies because they, "put their lives on the line every day." Vallejo has had three cops die in the line of duty. Two in the 1960s and one in 2000. I wonder what that rate is in cities with higher crime that pay their cops much less?

anon   |January.31.2009 HANNIGAN mentioned that Vallejo cops need to be paid higher salaries because Vallejo is unique and we need thier talent. From someone who has worked in the cop world for 2 decades in another county. I've notice VPD has little contact with the community. This is really weird considering we need the highest paid cops in the nation.

curious   |January.31.2009 If the adults act like responsible adults and work together to provide the right guidance and limits for the kids then its not a dysfunctional family.

On Fire   |January.31.2009 Curious, the analogy is on point. I have to laugh whenever I scan the t-h blogs where it seems that the children are running wild and with no supervision. So as a result, they are all trying to be the biggest bully or clown. They try to make themselves feel better by calling names and have shown that they are not capable of conducting themselves as adults. That goes for many of our policy makers. Far too many times they are influenced by the fear that the children will misbehave badly so they give in in hopes that they will not be embarrassed in public. Anon, it does little to tell children that they are dysfunctional if they don't understand what that means. The children (ps employees) of this city have always been allowed to run wild and not been taught restraint. When anyone has tried to address their behavior, they act out even more and tell you that you are mean and that you don't love them. We have witnessed the history of this city making bad decisions and then having to live through it's consequences. Now that the citizens are questioning the logic of the BAU decisions, we are labeled as cop/fire fighter haters. When it's the employees and their apologists that are demonstrating that they themselves are the true haters. Haters of the very community that has supported them though out the years. Now that they are being told that we have to live on a tighter budget, they are all "acting out" and trying to make the tax payers feel guilty.

Anon   |January.31.2009 Curious, Do you recommend telling kids they are the ones responsible for the disfunctional family?

Curious   |January.31.2009 I usually tell my kids when they have a temper tantrum "I love you; I don't love your behaviour". That's what adults are supposed to do: provide guidance and limits. I have never said "those jerks make too much money and have bankrupt the city." My kids try the same guilt strategy. It is because of the high salaries that I think the community should expect comprehensive, responsive and effective service from our police department. Sitting in their black and whites collecting their overtime and listening to the screams is extortion. Vallejo needs adult supervision. Maybe we should call this blog the "adult supervision" site rather than be intimidated by the "hater" label our unions keep trying to pin on us. It's not working for my kids either.

streetsweeper   |January.31.2009 Curious, so it is because of your love for psu that you attack them? Think you you should stay with, "those jerks make too much money and have bankrupt the city." again, I think psu has great pay but the police do a good job in town and if I had to pick who to pay more out of fire and police the cops win. Tuesday will be here quick and things will get crazy in sac if fire does not have that contract rejected.

Curious   |January.30.2009 My kids have tried that trick numerous times. If I don't let them do what they want..stay out until midnight during the week, eat cookies before dinner or pepper their conversation with profanities...they too say "you hate me" and whine off to pout. Maybe it is because I love them that I require decent, accountable behaviour. Just maybe expecting our public employees to actually work for us rather than just for themselves is "tough love" not hate.

On Fire   |January.30.2009 Interesting comments coming from someone that likes hanging out at the soiled sandbox, making dim witted polls that add nothing to an intellegent conversation, with comments that equates to the skill set of a thumb sucker. We can see lots of love at your hangout!

Wow   |January.30.2009 Lots of hate on this site...litte objectivity or rational thinking. I guess this is why they call it the "Hater" site.

Anonymous   |January.30.2009 O.F. - I heartily agree! We need ol' nick to figure out how to implement community policing! Sweeper says the Police have been doing a good job. They did a good job because an off duty CHP officer (a cop that lives in VJO???) saw the old man getting beaten, and a high quality camera caught the Tili boys beating the kid. This town needs to be smarter about policing, we need something other than a high paid force driving round and round in patrol cars. Get rid of Nichilini and hire someone new...

On Fire   |January.30.2009 Oakland's Mayor Dellums was on tv the other night and was discussing the resignation of their police chief and he detailed some of the things that he would like to see in the next person they hired. Accountability was one, and someone who was willing to really administer the principles of community policing. Dellums stated that the city was not looking for someone that would try to "arrest" their way out of the city's problems. So they obviously had set standards for their chief, and measurable goals. Wow, what a concept. Now when was the last time we heard a report on any crime statistics from Nichelini unless he was whining about his budget and what he couldn't do if he didn't have more money? Does our chief have any requirements to report to this council on any annual goals and a work plan? How does Tanner evaluate the chief's work? How do we know we are getting our money's worth? By what standards and what happens if he doesn't meet his goals? Council evaluates Tanner and it's made public. Why aren't Nichelini's and Sherman's? I think people may feel a little more comfortable is we knew that there was something in place that measured the quality of the work our PS employees did. What's up with that? I know I have an evaluation each year and my goals are set. If I do a good job, they may pat me on the head. But in order for me to get any acknowledgement, I have to be performing above and beyond those set goals. I think that the people who pay the salaries of departments that are "so well qualified and educated" should know what is expected of the department heads and then whether or not they are performing in a mediocre fashion or above and beyond. We have a fire department that hasn't had employee evaluations for over twenty years. They have been allowed to operated in violation of the City Charter, yet no one has called the Fire Chief on the carpet for this. They give the same lame excuse each year and each year we let them get away with it. Accountability people! If we are going to be forced to continue to pay for such expertise and experience, I want to know what I am getting for my money.

streetsweeper   |January.30.2009 On fire, my last blog was not for you it was for curious. You don't seem as upset about the deal maybe concerned would be the right word.

On Fire   |January.30.2009 SS, my point is not being made because I think they make to much money. The fact that they make so much money would be the reason that there needs to be some accountability by the chief and the community should be given some data to show how he plans to operate, given this new contract. My understanding is that if any portion of this new contract is violated, the union can go back to demanding the salaries that they deferred. So we know they will be watching closely, but who is watching and asking for updates from the City's side?

Streetsweeper   |January.30.2009 Ok, so the cops got a deal and you still think they make too much. Point taken. I think they are doing a good job as of late. They helped catch the guys that beat the old man for his iPod and picked up the tili boys the same day they beat that boy. I know you folks are mad about the deal but it's done. So for those of you loosing sleep at night over this pd deal here is my advice. Take all that anger and frustration and put into a ballon........... Then let it go who know maybe fire will get stomped at some point

Curious   |January.30.2009 So why were all those Tili family members out on the street at all? They are well known nogoodniks and are associated with a known drug house in my neighborhood where the police never seem to come despite frequent calls. So the Tilis can do what they please in Vallejo including beating some kid almost to death. Some poor guy speaks to the Council about being attacked, harassed and denied service. Some other family goes to the news with the videos of a break in at his home. One of several and the police don't have time for him. Are the police in cahoots with the bad guys? After all Crime= fear=more money, job security, etc for the cops. Now we can never touch them because the citizens get to pay both halves of any legal action. No wonder Vallejo has problems.

On Fire   |January.30.2009 Why is it that we have some of the most highly paid public safety employees in California, but never hear a word from the Chief of police about what their yearly priorities and goals are? We hear nothing from either department about goals and they do not report any statistics (how are we doing) to give any indication of their progress. We just keep agreeing to paying them high salaries and benefits, yet never setting any expectations. So if the police are supposedly the best trained and educated, would we not expect to see some measure of their worth? Decrease in crime levels, how they expect to tackle the problems, priorities? We simply give nick the nod and he does as he sees fit? We should be demanding some accountability from him that gives some measurable results. Something to show for the tax dollars that are being spent.

Anonymous   |January.30.2009 (From the first anonymous) There are very few of us in the private sector getting golden parachutes. I'm with you on that. But because a very few get golden parachutes, it doesn't mean that many need to take cuts. Everyone, including myself, has gone into the corner and said, I won't play. Why am I in the corner, saying NO WAY will I pay more in taxes? Because our council majority year after year has proven they cannot manage Vallejo's revenues. Why would I throw good money after bad?

streetsweeper   |January.30.2009 Spoiled brat? Wow, just a few years ago I was beneath everyone because of my type of job. No stock options or huge salaries along with bringing pets to work. Everytime there is a major downturn in the economy workers are singled out as the problem while CEO's get golden parachutes. I am very happy to have a job at this time and I plan to give furlough days to keep my coworkers jobs. Also look closer at the state furlough because I have heard the workers will be paid for those days after a buget is passed.

Anonymous   |January.30.2009 Street, you sound like a spoiled, whining brat. You are lucky you even have a job and should be thanking all of us who pay taxes that pay your nice salary. You're welcome.

Anonymous   |January.30.2009 Au Contraire, Sweeper. Regardless of VJO's BK, in this market, a job's a job. For those who were just laid off with 5000 fellow employees, I'm reasonably sure they would take a job in Vallejo, even at the risk of being laid off. Have you not heard of CA's unemployment rate? Or were you always expecting your gov't job to be permanent, like the State Unions that are fighting Arnie's furlough idea (lost!). When there's no money, there's no money. And the unions would rather hold on to every benefit and penny than saying, well, I'll take a hit to save my coworkers' jobs. What even happened to Solidarity?

Firebug   |January.30.2009 In response to PSU gasping for tax revenue here is a link to Mello_Roos tax facts. http://www.mello-roos.com/pdf/mrpdf.pdf Some important highlights are the fact the Mello Roos does not require a vote to the public if there a fewer than 12 residence.

Missmarvelous   |January.30.2009 Streetsweeper, email your idea to all the council members. The rest of us that are interested will as well. Touro is going to be building a LEEDS building, even trying to go platinum LEEDs, so having another "green" company would be great. If we could get Tesla here, the rest of our neighbors would be "green" with envy...

streetsweeper   |January.29.2009 Just watched a story on the news about tesla the electric car maker. The deal they had to build a plant in san jose just feel through. They are now looking for a industrial plant to set up shop. How about a building on mare island?

Firebug   |January.29.2009 Some mroe information on Prop 218 http://www.pmstax.com/state/218prop9612.shtml

streetsweeper   |January.29.2009 On fire, your right, anyone who has a option to work elsewhere would be nuts to come here to work. Even if new contracts are in place everyone in the country knows the city won't honor them. This whole bankruptcy thing is becoming a bigger disaster. By the time we resolve the contracts they will expire in 2010. I can't belive the city is still hiring folks just to lay them off. Also was told be a member at city hall that that half a million bucks was spent on new carpet for city hall. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

On Fire   |January.29.2009 One thing is for certain, Vallejo is always good for a laugh. Now let's see, the policy makers decided that our police department required salaries that top most any other city in the area, or California for that matter. The chief says that's the only way he can get his employees to stay, and the only way he can recruit laterals. So they sign this contract that supposedly will keep out numbers up and bring more in. Problem is, the city does it, knowing that there will be no money to pay for the salary increases. Gee, do you think that the people who may be interested in working here don't read the papers? Would they not know that Vallejo still is bankrupt and so the last one hired, would be the first one fired? Would they not check into the fact that the finance director has stated that he didn't know how we were going to be able to pay for the new contract? Yeah, that would make me feel like there was great potential for job security in Vallejo! Sign me up!

Anonymous   |January.29.2009 FB, thanks for the great link. You are absolutely right - & the City will never get that vote. Hail to the Howard Jarvis people! I used to think they were a bunch of misers until I starting paying attention to Vallejo local gov't and witnessed how much the bunch likes to give away the store...exception, the two heroines, Gomes & Schivley.

Firebug   |January.29.2009 Anony, If you go to the link you can see the new prop 218, from reading the times horrid it looks like our PSU friends and apologists don't realize that all UUT tax measures require voter approval, not just the 2/3 majority Council approval of the past.

Anonymous   |January.29.2009 Is the Times Herald going under? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/29/BAPC15JEIE.DTL&tsp=1

Anonymous   |January.29.2009 FB you are right on about the LMD increases. The City was going to try for a new LMD for some of the older neighborhoods, but the proposed increase for the current failed so miserably that they abandoned an attempt to create a new one. They NEVER learn. BAU BAU BAU (sort of like baa baa baa of the sheeple council)

Pat the Union Clown   |January.29.2009 Pat Wiggins better not run for office ever again -- at least when she needs votes in Vallejo. She has stabbed her Vallejo constituents in the back one time too many. ENOUGH! She has the gall to tell cities how to manage their financial decisions when she is part of the Stupefied and Actionless is Sacramento that has bankrupted our State and remains in a coma as our state hemmorages? Maybe her union pals can help her out again if she runs. But they don't vote here. We do. And Pat, you're through.

Firebug   |January.29.2009 Some more interesting tax facts reading see specifically prop 218 statutes. http://ceres.ca.gov/planning/financing/chap1 I can't help but wonder if 3/4 or more of our new general fund is for safety services, could a UUT general tax be (which requires a simple majority) be challenged in that it is really a special tax (public safety tax requiring 2/3 majority) because 3/4 of the general fund is for public safety? Some interesting things to ponder here.

Firebug   |January.29.2009 Marc and Katy, Thank you for your enduring work! Here are some facts about UUT tax from the league of California Cities. http://www.cacities.org/userfiles/godoc/6419.UUTfacts02.pdf I suspect they will go for the general tax that require only a simple majority to win still very difficult in this climate. I don't think many of the Landscape Districts tax hike proposal even yielded a simple majority last year. The message we need to get out if the UUT is a "general tax" is that it is for employee raises. If they choose the harder option and opt for a special tax that must be used for a specific function like roads, or parks they will need the 2/3 majority of voters and the message there is they value employees more than taxpayers because we are being asked to bail a city out whose priorities are upside down. Either way I expect huge PSU support to get this rammed down our throughts. We must remember they a did not want to listen to us when they voted on the VPOA contract we can't pay for, now thay want our vote and our money. Let's send them a message that we need to be on the priority list when they make future comittments. Vote NO!

da Mayor's priorities   |January.28.2009 Wow, did anyone catch what the mayor said last night when asked about any correspondence he may have received from the public on the agenda item? He said he didn't have time to read any concerns that the public may have wanted to convey to him prior to his vote, apparently because he was having too much fun in Washington, trying to act like somebody of importance! Wow! I guess they didn't have any computers in DC or he just didn't consider it important enough to see what the citizens may have to say about signing a new unaffordable contract, while he was schmoozing with the politicos. Are we to believe that when we are going to decide on a major employee contract that may have major impacts on the budget, his priorities were which party to go to? So our thoughts remain unopened, unread? I mean, we already knew how he was going to vote, but he simply didn't care what we had to say? So what exactly does his secretary do while he is partying the night away? Even Obama understands the importance of a Blackberry! What mayor, much less an elected official can sit at a meeting and tell their constituents that they were too busy to read their concerns? I guess the lesson in this, is don't bother sending emails to his office because he doesn't care what you think, and what's more important, don't send anything to him that you want distributed to the other council members. His favorite button must be the delete button.

robert schussel   |January.28.2009 I think the 21 refers to 21 FFs per shift.

Anonymous   |January.28.2009 Did you notice when they were going through the slide show they said the budget was based on 116 VPD and 21 VFD employees. I thought that was a bit odd. When asked about the numbers, a gentlemen at the table (maybe stout) said that the number referred to 21 fire suppression employees. When I first saw the number I thought it was a typo. I'm very curious to know if anyone can shed some insight on this (21)?

Anonymous   |January.28.2009 Yes, IAFF and IBEW are so royally screwed now. No fear of losing FFs as much as cops. FFs are a dime a dozen. They're going to be gutted.

streetsweeper   |January.28.2009 The city's bankruptcy lawyer said that if the contracts are rejected we most likely will end up in binding arbitration and still have to pay large damage claims. So, rejecting contracts will mean less now that the cops got a sweet deal. I do think there will be layoffs but for us most work under non general funds. We have been cut to the bone or moved out of the general fund. Also thought city lawyer was right when he said bankruptcy does not create money. Gomes said we should not have a second class employee with the health care. I liked that and her more now.

Was up wid date?   |January.28.2009 My guess is... Tanner and the bankruptcy attorney have "something up their sleeves." We may not like the fact that the VPOA will get 7.5% raises in year three and four, but there is a reason both of these two gentlemen backed this new contract... I would be worried if I were Vallejo IAFF or IBEW, something is up... Methinks a "hatchet job" is on the way...

Anonymous   |January.28.2009 So how do we stop Pat Wiggins and her assault on Ciies and Vallejo? Beyond recalling her incompetent ass, we need to stop this bill!!!!!

Lost Cause   |January.28.2009 For about the 50th time the majority on the council has validated that they are dumb as hell and have no idea what they're doing. Over and over again we have the "I told you so" rights and over and over we end up correct. It's incredible how they remain such righteous idiots while the residents suffer with zero services and the average cop and fireman make north of 150K+ which is outrageous. Stupid is as stupid does is pretty accurate in my book.

Anonymous   |January.28.2009 Big City, you're right! But don't throw Schively and Gomes in with the Fundeds + Ozzie the Strong. Those two fought the good fight for us last night and said what needed to be said and voted for Vallejo, not their campaign contributors. Not that the bobbleheads listened, because they never do.

silasbarnabe   |January.28.2009 Captain, Wilson's confusion about average and mean made me wonder if he is the dolt that posts under the handle of "interesting".

Anonymous   |January.27.2009 "The US Banking System is Insolvent": Dr. Doom http://www.cnbc.com/id/28888190 That was the opinion of economist Nouriel Roubini, of RGE Monitor, who was one of the first people to predict the housing crisis, speaking to "Squawk Box Europe" this morning. Expected losses of about $2 trillion exceed bank capital of about $1.5 trillion, Roubini said. Roubini had earlier said that total financial system losses could hit $3.6 trillion. And "schemes" to just buy so-called toxic assets may not work, because the "risk is it's going to take too much time to resolve the problem," he added.

Big City   |January.27.2009 Vallejo apparently has a city council that's got to be absolutely one of the most irresponsible and foolish of any in the country. Facing the absolutely enormous fiscal problems and HUGE fiscal uncertainties, they approve a contract amendment like this. I think the only future that Vallejo can "look forward to" is COMPLETE FISCAL COLLAPSE. I'm talking about a scenario in which, at some point in the fiscal year, City of Vallejo checks start to bounce or the city just doesn't issue them because the till is empty. I suppose that hoping for sensible decisions on the part of this city council was too much to expect, anyway. Their subservience to the public safety unions just runs way too deep. Unless the citizens of Vallejo do something about this council, I guess they deserve what they get. I do not live in Vallejo and, as it stands, I'm very glad that I don't. However, I think we're going to see this same, basic scenario play out in other cities across the state. I just hope that at least some city councils have the wisdom and guts to forge a path which places the interests of their citizens above that of their employees.

Captain   |January.27.2009 Just some notes from my online viewing: - Nichlini didn't seem to know who was in the comparison study or even how many cities were in the study. Not sure Salermo did either. - Nichilini's comment that they needed longevity pay to recruit "because we don't have super-high salarys anymore" was PRICELESS - Wilsons comment that, "you said average where I think you meant mean. Can you explain the difference." ...Beautiful! -Osby asks, " what's the significance of picking all the cities that are above the median."...uhhhhm, I'll give you one guess OZ -Salermo talking about lifetime health care requiring ten years employment, "retiree requirement is zero so this increases service by 10 years" ... Wrong! - Levinson (I think) talking about the BK language that requires Vallejo to pick up the tab for union attorney fees. "this provision isn't all that unusual"... well according to the union attorneys website this is a very recent ruling regarding a case involving PG&E. - Part of the money Vallejo is counting on is in the form of money owed - but not yet received - from bankrupt Lenar. - One of the most interesting items of the slide presentation was that the 08-09 budget numbers have morphed into VPD head count of 116, and VFD head count of 21. I thought the VFD number must be a typo. Someone from council asked about the number and someone from the tables said that it referred to Fire suppression employees. No other comments - I'm confused about this. Until I heard council comments prior to the vote, I thought it might be part of a larger plan to hatchet VFD. Anyone else catch this? - PD & VFD academys have been chopped from the budget. - Nichilini admits that there is interest from laterals. Thank god because he can't recruit. Remember, no more "super-high salary's." - Bartee was too chicken to say anything so he asked everyone from the negotiating team to do it for him - Hannigan leaves no doubt about who's buttering her roll - None of the Fab Five seemed too concerned about 2010 -2011, or 11-12. - Wilson said, let's say 2010 will add 10% to payroll, and 2011-12 will add another 10%, but we have savings from...The guy is clueless! - Levinson, "we don't trust the other two unions."...after tonight my guess is that will translate into a bigger raise for IAFF. - Salermo wasn't sure if half of sick leave could be used for service credits (remeber the new tier of employee receives 15 hours per month sick time instead of 10) - good job sandy. Can someone tell the chief negotiator that sick time is paid at 50% on retirement or can be applied 100% to service credits. She thinks service credits will help reduce payouts. She's right about that but the service credit plan will cost the city more than the payouts. -Salermo hoped to get VPOA to negotiate more health care reductions but they didn't agree. She was able to get VPOA to accept Kaiser North plan which 75% are already on - and which is the plan every other city has...good job -Salermo said,"this represents the average of those cities not 10% above the average...you might be right sandy but "those cities" are probably 10% above the 17 city average. Good Job - more funny math. In one of the city financial reports they placed the actual cost per officer at around 195K & cost under the pendancy plan at 173k. They also used head count of 136 VPD for the budget and 124 for the pendancy plan. Now they are claiming a reduction of 30 officers at 200k for six million in savings. I'm guessing its closer to 20 officers at 173k. I'll have to go back and check the financials. I was only planning on sharing a few thoughts - sorry.

silasbarnabe   |January.27.2009 I must admit I was intrigued at the circus performance last night. The Henkettes kept repeating that this is not contract extensions or business as usual, yet I distinctly read in the new supplemental agreement "contract extension to 2012". There wasn't even a convincing argument we would have the revenue to pay for raises in 2012 unless "a new revenue" is found (sound familiar). Getting 34 percent of voters to vote down any tax increases especially when the Council proved last night that they can't be responsible for the taxpayers revenues they already get should make it easy. I think we need to abandon working with the City, and use the PSU strategy of legal action. If we can concentrate on getting new BA signatures and remove it, and sock money away in a legal fund to sue on Casino like or LNG like developments, only then could we become a true partner in the city's financial decisions. Marc Levinson said it himself last night that they really look at legal costs as a deciding factor to fight or not. The waterfront development lawsuit really convinced me that this could be a very effective way earn our way into being a partner rather than general fund revenue.

On Fire   |January.27.2009 Street Sweeper, see that's the difference between us and the other simpletons at the times horrid. We don't go on a witch hunt and 'hate' on someone simply because we don't agree with one position a person takes. I have no beef with Tanner, He still gets my support. He is a man with a plan so I'm going to see how this all pans out. Besides he has been the only CM that had the backbone to stand up to the unions and get something done. And now he has a fan club with council so I don't think he will be leaving anytime soon since he's the new hero. They trust his judgement and thanked him for his work. Wow, talk about your job security! If what the bankruptcy attorney said was true, than your group and IAFF are toast come next week. Now somehow I don't think you should come here being smug about anything right now. As told tonight by the oz, you become second class citizens down at city hall. You all don't rank so you get to have your bones picked to make up the 8 million dollar deficit. You will be the ones that give up salaries, benefits and positions to feed the VPOA. Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Not only get suckered into paying one third of the legal fees, now you will be saddled with half of what's left of the bill and will end up helping VPOA maintain the lifestyle they have become accustom to? Now, ain't life grand? You get screwed just like the taxpayers. Be sure to thank council and VPOA when you see them.

Amazed   |January.27.2009 Anyone notice that our Mayor believes in different classes of people, he actually thinks segregation is a good idea as per the previous contracts...more of the same. With all of the clamor of equal rights by virtue of sex, race, ect., you would think that he would have a clue! What's he gonna do with a 10 million dollar deficit, lay off all of CAMP and IBEW, cause the money isn't there. So much for community development. The VPOA really didn't give up anything from the pendency plan except for new hires. Most of the cops won't notice a thing except for those with overpriced medical plans. I expected more from him, what a complete and utter imbecile, city council meetings are like watching 5 really bad clowns at the circus. Most of them are morons, we need some bright people to run for office. Regrettably, this is not over...

NEXT!   |January.27.2009 This is it folks, what matters most now is how council will treat IAFF. It better damn well be IN THEIR PLAN to hack the fat in the IAFF otherwise IBEW & even CAMP will get gaped. Realistically, we don't need TWENTY-SIX FIRE CAPTAINS getting fed more than our officers who lay their hands on criminals daily. If the council does not treat IAFF like IBEW & CAMP, this City will self-destruct in the most humiliating way, not only with PINK-SLIPS, but also on our streets.

Captain   |January.27.2009 Thanks to who ever provided the link to the council meeting. I know how Vallejo can save 125 dollars an hour. On camera Salermo came across as a giggly school girl that wasn't prepared for class. When she opened her mouth she sounded minimum wage. Wasn't impressed with anything she said.

angry   |January.27.2009 Evans and Wiggins have their seats in a largely conservative agricultural area because of the large block of democratic votes in Vallejo. Then they ignore our needs, pander to their own constituency and those that give them large amounts of money. All of our democratic leaders tell us they do what our local elected leaders tell them to do. Oh great! Government by Tony, Terry and Ozzy. So we need to start here at home and recall Ozzy first and then send a message that anybody who represents special interests at the expense of the people that they will be sidelined for towing the PSU's party line.

streetsweeper   |January.27.2009 Wow wow wow super joe gave his seal of approval for the police deal. Does this mean this site will no longer support him? I'm blown away.

Council Meeting Link   |January.27.2009 Anonymous here you go: http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/GovSite/default.asp?serviceID1=253&Frame=L1

WAZ UP WID DAT?   |January.27.2009 RECALL PAT WIGGINS AND HER SIDE KICK NOREEN EVANS. VALLEJO IS A BIG VOTING BLOCK, LETS NOT LET THEM CONTINUE THEIR POLITICS AT OUR EXPENSE RECALL WIGGINS AND EVAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous   |January.27.2009 Anyone know if I can view the council meeting on line. If so what is the link? Thanks in advance

On Fire   |January.27.2009 Captain, thanks for taking the time to review the contract and giving us the analysis. Thanks to you and Robert, at least this information will be available for the public to see who is going to be responsible and accountable if this contract falls through in a couple of years. I hope that you have emailed this information to Council, asking them to put this into the offical records. Funny thing about short memories in this town. I doubt that they have taken much time on their own (with the exception of a couple of them)to even understand the ramifications of signing this new contract. Not that they would even care, but it will be interesting to see who actually understands this document, and who asks the indepth questions and who will sit on their hands and simply push their vote light on. BAU!

Captain   |January.27.2009 I neglected to include the 2010-2011 raises for the comparables. The 4th & 5th paragraphs should read like this: When averaging those six cities I come up with $8312.00 per month for base salary. Vallejo is at $7995 per month under the pendancy plan. What that means is that Vallejo is already on the hook to pay VPOA 4% in salary increases beginning in 2010-2011 (to bring VPOA to the average). It will cost more because that doesn't include 09-2010 wage increases or 2010-2011 increases for the comparison cities. Oakland will receive 4%, Berkeley 4% in each of the next 3 years, Hayward has several different mechanisms for accelerating their increase over the next 6 years, and I haven't had time to view the others. My guess is that when July 2010 comes calling, Vallejo will be on the hook for a minimum of 8% -12% pay increase to bring VPOA to the seven city average, or # 4 on the list of the 16 comparison cities based on the survey.

On Fire   |January.27.2009 SS, your still missing the point. Not everyone is opposed to the contract being negotiated, it's the continuation of the same bad decisions as part of this new contract. The agreement to give raises using what other cities are going to do as a model is yet one more bad decision. Anyone following the ecomony of the country can see that there will be little to no recovery in the next two years and beyond. So here we go again, promising something that we have no idea if we can deliver. When all is said and done, VPOA will get additional salary increases, even if the city is broke. So again, we will be forced to cut additional services in order to honor the contract because the city will not be in too much better shape than we are in now. This is "business as usual", just like we have been doing for the last ten years. If the whole idea was to stop this stupid cycle, we have failed yet again. If this was the best the city could negotiate, why couldn't they of done this last year? Why, because the unions play games with their "bloody their noses" doctrine and gambling that the city will cave. The other joke is the declaration of how the city will realize a 6 million dollar savings. Really, where? This is all fantasy finance to sugar coat ozzy's big plan. They say we are saving money because VPOA is pulling out of the bankruptcy case. Well, if the other unions don't come to some agreement and continue the fight in court, that savings will be spent away anyway. You of all people should be able to understand the conflict caused by the city signing a contract that they later find that is unaffordable. This is why so many people wanted the decision making out of the city's hands and decided by the court. We can count on our council to continue to make irresponsible decisions.

Pyriphlegethon   |January.27.2009 "have to hear the backlash from the vibers" Oh yeah and then two years from now when the City can't afford it AGAIN they will get the backlash from VPOA (and their legal fees too) when they slink back into BK court. Our fearless leader Osby Springer!

Captain   |January.27.2009 Here is information from the Vallejo report regarding the proposed agreement between the city of Vallejo and VPOA. Page 10 of the report discusses the comparison cities, the methodology used by Management Partners, and the seven cities (of 16 with the inclusion of Hayward - not part of the original survey). Page 10, section E1, states that "salaries" will include only top step base pay salary (not including longevity steps)and employer paid member contributions to PERS for the police officer classification. If you jump to page 60 and look at the right hand column, you will see the adjusted monthly salary range. The high end of the range represents the Top Step. Vallejo is using six of the top seven cities in the sixteen city comparison(I excluded Hayward because I couldn't locate their current salary). Not very representative of the entire survey (advantage VPOA). When averaging those six cities I come up with $8312.00 per month for base salary. Vallejo is at $7995 per month under the pendancy plan. What that means is that Vallejo is already on the hook to pay VPOA 4% in salary increases beginning in 2010-2011 (to bring VPOA to the average). It will cost more because that doesn't include 09-2010 wage increases for the comparison cities. Oakland will receive 4%, Berkeley 4%, Hayward has several different mechanisms for accelerating their increase, and I haven't had time to view the others. My guess is that when July 2010 comes calling, Vallejo will be on the hook for a minimum of 8% pay increase to bring VPOA to the seven city average, or # 4 on the list of the 16 comparison cities based on the survey. Unfortunately when things like longevity, uniform allowance, educational incentives, vacation-sick time & holiday pay are calculated, VPD probably jumps back to the first or second highest paid city in the comparicon study. VPOA knew what they were doing when choosing the seven comparison cities - and when they limited the criteria to top step salary & PERS contributions. Oakland & San Leandro both pay the employees 9% Pers contribution (PERS pick-up) and this adds roughly $9,000 to each increasing their comparable base (advantage VPOA). VPOA also didn't want to use benefits in the calculation because their indirect comp is the highest. They didn't want longevity to be used in the calculation because the 10% they can receive is more than the comparables (advantage VPOA). That's how VPD moves to #1 or #2 in Total Comp beginning in 2010.

streetsweeper   |January.27.2009 The council will have to decide to vote this deal through and have to hear the backlash from the vibers or risk having pd contract rejected causing another mass loss of officers at a time crime is on the rise. The only thing that will get the city deal with the rest of the labor groups is the mounting legal fees which are much higher than originally stated to council. No matter what happens it's going to be a cluster f

Pyriphlegethon   |January.27.2009 Sweeper, the idea that "what if those seven cities ask for concessions from their pd" is budgeting on a wing and a prayer. No level headed accountant would agree to giving out raises with the hope that comparible cities do the job that OUR VALLEJO CITY COUNCIL (well, 5 of them)CAN'T SEEM TO DO. What is that? Make promises of raises based on WHAT WE CAN REASONABLY (and in this economy conservatively) AFFORD. GET IT? Its pretty simple if you minus 2 from one, you get negative 1, otherwise known as bankruptcy.

streetsweeper   |January.27.2009 What if those seven cities ask for concessions from their pd? How would that play out for Vallejo pd? Ibew has no money as far as cost savings and we are so understaffed I do not think they could cut more. Hell, they are hiring into our union now.

On Fire   |January.26.2009 Street Sweeper, stop listening to your union leadership and start your own research and asking the important questions. You can kick the sand all you want, but your mayor has already made it clear that he doesn't care about anyone else and their jobs in the city. The only thing he wants, is to keep the PD happy. Now that the "undefined" pie has been sliced, that means that whatever is left, will have to be shared by IBEW and CAMP. If you think that henke is going to have a sudden awakening and begin to care about anyone else working for the city, you are in for a rude awakening. The only other union that is covered by the 'me to' action, is IAFF. After that, there will not be enough money left even if everyone agrees to salary cuts and sharing in medical and pensions, to make up for the deficit that is left in the budget. That means people are going to be losing their jobs. Think about it, even though there are only small numbers of employees from IBEW being paid from the general fund, everything that is left after the pillaging of the PSU's, is going to have to be cut. This is the marching orders that ozzy has given out, and he knows the patsy's on council will give him the votes he needs to move his agenda forward. We know that Gomes and Schivley will fight the good fight, but no one else on that council cares if all other positions are expendable. You can tell it to the judge all you want, but your leadership is useless now. The deal for VPOA doesn't begin to go far enough to helping the city get out of bankruptcy. That means that anyone left standing, will be fair game for pink slips. This is why VPOA cut henke lose. They knew they had the most leverage and everyone for themselves. The fire fighters will face cuts, and heaven help CAMP and IBEW. The mayor has caved into the fear factor, and he won't let his legacy be further tarnished by having the police abandoning ship. No one wants to lose police, but reality is, there is no money to continue paying for salaries and benefits that are unsustainable. This is a major reason this city is bankrupt now. The only people that get anything out of this deal are the PD. There is nothing in place that guarantees that the citizens get anything out of it. It doesn't even suggest that we will have less crime. It doesn't guarantee that more police won't leave the city even after the contract is signed. The contract can't assure us that new applicants will sign on to work here, and it doesn't do enough to bring us out of bankruptcy. The only thing it does guarantee is that police will get a large raise even though every economist in the nation has stated that the country will not begin to recover within the time frame that we have penned into the contracts. I can't wait to see the funded four and the oz explaining this madness. Or not!

Curious   |January.26.2009 So if the sock puppets vote for this horrible deal, what would it take to get a moritorium on all development until we develop that legally required General Plan? I bet the 'existing conditions' research would reveal a whole bunch of illegal hanky-panky. Or is that henke-penke? There is more than one way to play 'lose-lose'.

streetsweeper   |January.26.2009 Armyoftherich, I can tell you that the city still thinks we need to pay part of our medical. Now that everyone knows the pd will be capped at kaiser north there is no way in hell that Ibew and camp will except anything less. Ibew retirees are the only retirees that pay for a large part of their medical. All the members I have talked to are happy things may be coming to a end but will not be treated like second class employees when it comes to health care. All the legal costs for this next battle have been payed so if we have to we will see if the judge thinks our contract is too much.

On Fire   |January.26.2009 Curious, that is probably one of the major stumbling blocks for Vallejo. Because we don't have an updated General Plan, the factions of influence are able to wheel and deal, lining their pockets and then sitting back and watching everyone else fight for the left over scraps. We continuously hear from the PSU's that the city has not done enough to bring in new revenue. Well,the GOB's are all in bed with the unions, being supportive and egging them on. They are happy to have Vallejo continue with the same old same old, because this continues to open the door for them to make money. They buy up property, sit on it until some developer comes sniffing around, and they let it be known that we have an outdated GP which allows them to build what they want, were they want, and they unload their property. These same GOB's pat the unions on the head and help feed the fear factor into the community. They help to continue the distractions to keep council from doing any real work to move this city forward. As long as the unions keep their strangle hold on the city, diverting any attention away from Council working on what is really needed, like an updated GP, and fighting for the scraps that are left over to try and keep the city functioning, the GOB's will continue to make a profit. As long as we keep electing people who either belong to the GOB network or are sock puppets for the unions, we will never move forward. The joke with all of this is that we keep hearing from the unions that our Council has not done enough to bring in new revenues. Well, for the last ten years, the only thing the Council has been able to focus on is how to pay for contracts that are too rich for this city. Maybe, just maybe, if we get the majority vote on council, they will have the backbone to say no more "business as usual" and get rid of contracts that promise money that this city doesn't have, stop pandering to the fear factor, tell the GOB network that they are no longer going to conduct business behind closed doors, we can begin the real work of moving this city forward starting with an updated general plan. Then the neighborhoods can hope to see businesses that actually provide services and goods that are needed instead of more alcohol and smoke shops. Then maybe we can stop having to fight developers from dictating to the citizens what they want instead of what we want.

armyoftherich   |January.26.2009 I predict the vote will be 5 to 2 on the vpoa agreement, along the lines of psu political contributions. I only hope that someone in ibew (streetweeper??) and camp reveal the offers each received this week if everyone accepts, is it really a balanced budget? somehow, I don't think so, and I don't think anyone really cares what camp and ibew are going to do. It has already been decided.

streetsweeper   |January.26.2009 If you read the article it says the money from the sale of the lake would be used to buy more water rights from lake berryessa. That water is much better than lake currys. Also as it stands now curry is not being used for anything. Also, the proceeds from the sale can only be used by the water dept.

curious   |January.26.2009 Why has the City of Vallejo gotten away with that out of date, internally inconsistant, cobbled together pile of junk we call a General Plan for so long? The General Plan is a state requirement, not a frill. It costs money to do them...maybe $2 million but Vallejo can't scrape that together because we spend the money on something else. Since the garbage we have benefits some of those GOBs, they love the current deal. A good General Plan provides assurances to project developers, saves them time and money. It saves community angst too because all general plans require extensive, real public participation not that fake stuff we are used to. So Vallejo would finally have community consensus what we want for our future. Right now, no decent, smart developer, business owner or family should take a chance on Vallejo. You might find a group home for emotionally disabled men from Oakland right next door or a new subsidized Project in your neighborhood. Or a competitor given a better break because he knows someone. Or the fees, extractions and permits are so hight that they kill the bottom line. Plus the community is on heightened alert because we all know the GOBs are trying to slip something destructive under the radar and we have to protect ourselves. So how is Vallejo to move forward with so many lead weights? I'm sure the GOBs solution is for everyone to go shopping or go back to sleep in front of the TV.

WA Z UP WID DAT   |January.26.2009 Please read the article posted on this site from the Fairfield newspaper regarding Lake Curry. You will note that Lake Curry is actually located in Napa County. Beware of the Wine Country Wine Barrons, they lobby our local politicans that represent us (Wiggins and Evan are both from Sonoma County, I am sure they have Vallejo's interests at heart... Not.) We need to pay attention to what is floating down from up river. Napa County is suffering from lack of water sources, they need water! Oh well, "let me drink wine."

Waz up wid dat?   |January.26.2009 Well it has finally come out, there are factions out there that want to get their hands on Lake Curry. I have been spewing this warning for the last six months. Vallejo is rich in water rights, Lake Curry included. There has been a movement by our local state senators to turn Green Valley Falls (where lake Curry is) into a park. Why would we want to turn this area into a park, lets see, the County would have control over it??? There is going to be alot of pressure to sell a lot of valauable assets that Vallejo holds. How about the Tiffany Windows in St Peters Chapel, shall we pop them all out and put them on EBAY????

Inquiring Minds   |January.26.2009 GREAT question, Anybody! Is it something that would need to be put in the charter? Can the City Council pass an ordinance?

PSU Watch   |January.26.2009 Streetsweeper, sometimes your logic argues against yourself. Sheesh. Haven't you heard, "You've got to spend money to make money?" With almost 3/4 of the city's general fund spent on police and fire employees, how are we going to get enough money to invest in ourselves? Ozzie is saying that police employees are the most important in the city, but he also wants economc development. How is ED supposed to happen with no employees left to do it? How are we going to attract new businesses to the city if our roads are crumbling and our trees are untrimmed and our sidewalks are cracked? How are we supposed to attract new families if we don't fund libraries or our schools?

Does Anybody Know?   |January.26.2009 what legal process is required to have the public vote to make it illegal for unions to get involved with council member campaigns?

streetsweeper   |January.26.2009 All labor groups will cut a deal either in court or out. Regardless of how much money is saved by hammering the unions it will never create the amount needed to change this city. Look around at all the cities that offer the things we want here. They all know how to bring in revenue. Even Benicia has more industry than us and they are a small town. Our efforts to bring in revenue have been and continue to be pathetic. I'm tired of hearing about this city's potential because I've heard it since I was a child.

Underwhelmed by scholarship   |January.26.2009 NBR I guess you used the dictionary housed in the JFK library. I been told it was so old Benedict Arnold provided some of the definitions--he use to be a City Council Member.He'd fit right in today. It just shows you why you can't trust the old Vallejo to get it correct. A more modern defintion of quagmire 1) a difficult ,precarious or entraping position: PREDICAMENT I guess you missed the other defintions of DOLE--Grief,sorrow. The page it was on was torn out and used to help heat City Hall when the Constables demanded more money.

On Fire   |January.26.2009 Didn't Say Anything, What's the matter, no one to play with in the soiled t-h litterbox? Your pretentious "victory speech" is what is laughable. Has the city withdrawn from bankruptcy? Last time I checked, the city is still broke and without any long term plan to fix what has been wrong with this city. The mayor thinks he has a fix, but tell us oh wise one, what is stopping even more police from fleeing Vallejo even after the contract is signed? This is just another short term knee jerk reactionary sound bite. The contract for VPOA will come home to roost when they demand their raise, and what do you know, city's still broke. The way I see it, there will be no city employees left other than PD and FD. But guess you will be happy then won't you? No one to work on economic development, no one to fix the worn out sewer and water pipes when they spring yet another leak. No one to give out permits for any building or development. But we will have happy PD here. Because you enjoy being part of the Lemmings Crew and being lead down that dead end road, over and over again, you see things in a small minded way. You find victories in quick fixes because your small little brain can't wrap itself around long term fixes. As far as eatting crow, just what is it that you think you have won? Are there going to be applicants beating down the doors at city hall to sign on to the PD? No, think not. Just some retirees who should remain retired, getting back into uniform and Oh yeah, bringing Vallejo's crime rate down. Bet you feel safer already don't you? You betcha! The citizens of this city are getting really tired of stupid and irresponsible decisions being made that further trap this city into being tied into contracts controlling the budget and eliminating any chance for quality of life programs. But don't you worry your little pea brain, we will still continue to ask the hard questions and demand that our tax dollars are better spent. You just go back into your soiled litter box and do what you do best, continue to settle for less.

On Fire   |January.26.2009 Nothing But Rhetoric, Kemp signed a contract agreement that Council didn't agree to, that served the PSU's bidding. That's why he's gone. He was given direction to rein in the fire dept.'s overtime and he made excuses, like Parker, and that's why he is gone. Tanner brought forward the agreements that ozzy wanted, that signed away all of the evidence of the henkette's abuse of power, the evidence of the union's stalling, and the bright idea that that would somehow endear him (ozzy) to the unions and they would sit down at the table. (We all know how that went.) Tanner would not sign onto the budget agreement, because he knew the only way to go was bankruptcy, if long term fixes were to ever come about. He was clear on this. So the deal that is on the table may be a quick fix for the immediate problem with staffing at the PD, but it says nothing about cost savings for the city. Whether or not this will solve the issue of staffing has not been determined. We haven't heard from Tanner so like everyone else, I suppose we will hear about it tomorrow. Then we will know whether the decisions made by all hold any intergity.

Anonymous   |January.26.2009 Um, guys, there is no banquet. This just proves that YOU DON'T GET IT. You keep expecting to feast while the food pantry runs bare. Making a deal with police does NOTHING to get us out of bankruptcy. It just caves to the fear factor and will ensure that the savings we need to get out of bankruptcy will have to come from IAFF and IBEW. Unfortunately, it looks like the Fundeds and Ozzie have switched their heroes -- fire is out, police is in. And IBEW again gets the short end. Same problems, though. NO MONEY.

Did I Say That Outloud   |January.26.2009 On Fire, The hilarious part of this is you. You and your cronies deemed that the era of "Henke" and his "Henkettes" was coming to an end. You high-fived and crowed to the high heavens. This doesn't appear to be happening and you (of all people) who find it very common to call people names, can't handle it when you have your crow handed back to you on a silver platter. I'm just impressed that you managed to limit your name calling to one or two instances in your huge comment. Hmmm, I'm hoping this is a positive change and not just indigestion from all the crow. Perhaps, if you had just admitted that the judgmental attitude toward anything Public Safety was overboard, you wouldn't be the guest of honor at the banquet you ordered.

Anonymous   |January.26.2009 No NBR, the previous CM who gave everything away to the PSUs -- that was Martinez, remember him? He took his drinking out of town, and was often seen with Henke, Riley and the boyz at Don Giovani, and that Italian place in AmCan. Frequent fliers, there. I bet Vallejo was bought and sold in those places.

NBR   |January.26.2009 Interesting analysis On Fire. So Tanner will do what he is told, and keep his job, as opposed to doing what he believes is right and lose his job. Doesn't say much for integrity. The previous CM wasn't a "sock puppet" of the council he served under and was pressured to leave. (Didn't find drinking at Characters with unelectable council persons worth while, frank, honest, sincere or upright?) At least he had his integrity. But you would prefer the former and a person that will bend the elbow at the local bar after council meetings and forget about truthful, open, honest, service.

Firebug   |January.26.2009 NBR, You know very well that even before Mare Island closed in 1996 that there wasn't money for roads (it shows), and during MI's tenure according Gary Leach Vallejo created more than an average City of landscape Districts. We ask why? Because Vallejo didn't have the money to support landscape the way average city's do.

Anonymous   |January.26.2009 From my read, I don't think any proceeds from Lake Curry can be used for the general fund -- if the property is owned by the Water District, giving proceeds to the general fund would be restricted by prop 218? anyone know?

NBR   |January.26.2009 12 step Bob: "This is a City that is too use the Government dole (ie Mare Island). Until these folks die we will continue to be in a quagmire." dole: (Merriam Webster dictionary) 1. archaic : one's allotted share, portion, or destiny 2. a (1): a giving or distribution of food, money, or clothing to the needy (2): a grant of government funds to the unemployed b: something distributed at intervals to the needy ; also : handout 1 c: something portioned out bit by bit Was there a government grant that existed as long as MI was building submarines? Or are you interchanging "dole" with the multiplier effect that happens with industrial employment and the purchase of goods and services to support the industrial complex?

Middling   |January.26.2009 Why do they expect us to settle for second rate decisions? Why do they get angry that we dare to dream of a better Vallejo? Why do the employees of Vallejo think that they should always have the "cadallac" and we should only expect ordinary and unexceptional? Vallejo, the city of mediocrity.

On Fire   |January.26.2009 Isn't it funny how those who proclaim "us" to be the haters, seem to be fixated on finding things for us to be mad at? Or how they continue to act in a way that clearly indicates that they are the true HATTERS of the citizens of Vallejo. Amazing how childish they are! The fact of the matter is, Tanner works at the will of Council. If ozzy tells him to settle, that's what he will do. I'm sure that ozzy and crew are holding his contract over his head to do their bidding. Now, can he speak freely and give his opinion? Maybe. The evening that Council was working on the issue of bankruptcy, he was asked his opinion on the recommendations and he said he could see no way other than filing for bankruptcy. Funny how then the funded four and oz changed their position. Just because Tanner and the consultant see this contract as a means to move forward, that doesn't mean it's a good deal for Vallejo. It's simply a knee jerk reaction that comes from ozzy kicking at people's shins. Now the apologists are trying to make an issue over the contract for VPOA stating that we now have turned against Tanner and Salerno? I suppose it's too much to expect that the lemmings of Vallejo would understand that the taxpayers have the right to question stupid decisions that have a direct impact on...us! Of course, if you don't live in this city and only pocket our money, you could care less. Then there are those who have had blinders on for years and don't question anything, want someone to make the decisions for them, and can't figure out how we got to bankruptcy now. Those are they type of people that the PSU's and apologist like the best. Guess some people feel threatened if a more progressive and forward looking group has the "nerve" to question authority, ask the hard questions and research the answers on their own. They can't understand the desire to resist becoming part of the LEMMING CREW that has sat idle on their hands and then can't understand why the city is broke and that are now heading for another disaster.

old planner   |January.26.2009 The quality of the schools is directly related to the City of Vallejo's strategy regarding concentrations of poverty including subsidized housing. Its a big money maker for the City itself but a big minus for the community when 10% of the city's population lives in subsidized housing and who knows how many live in substandard housing. Many disadvantaged families are headed by women only...no fathers in the picture. So there is little support or motivation for doing well in school. One statistic that stands out is that the single largest indicator of how well a child does in school is the education level of the mother. The result is that 43% of Vallejo kids don't graduate from high school. Communities that don't have large concentrations of poverty and more intact, well educated families, have better performing schools. So even though the school district seems independant of city government, all things are connected and the city does have culpability in this area.

Robert Schussel   |January.26.2009 Parts of your argument is flawed. City employees are like a monopoly. I can normally get service from another community unlike your car example.If a mechanics fees are too high they goes out of business. No one argues that economic development would help but the people elected to office have never had a long term plan nor vision. For years City Council bearly acknowledged Lennar and never held their feet to the fire. In fact the agreement was so one sided it is not a surprise that little has occured. Second it will take 10 to 20 years to see a payout--but our "leaders" dont have the patience. Lastly I agree with Old Planner that our Schools are a major barrier. Your home would be worth $50K to $100K more if we had good schools. If you want to do some good start to hound the School board and make them accountable. The little I have seen them in action was not reassuring. This is a City that is too use the Government dole (ie Mare Island). Until these folks die we will continue to be in a quagmire.

old planner   |January.26.2009 Economic development as a strategy to get us out of this mess is not possible. People and businesses choose where they want to be. You can't hogtie them and force them to locate in Vallejo. Communities that attract businesses and middle class families have: Good schools: Vallejo schools show up on the news with gang rapes and beatings in broad daylight. They are preprisons where the teachers can't teach because the kids don't have supportive homes and the desire to learn. Sure some kids turn out well...like the kid who was beaten almost to death. So what's the incentive to do well if that makes you a target? Even single, low income welfare moms are going to want to take their kids out of Vallejo schools if they care about their kids. No Barack Obama's here. An educated and able workforce. See above plus Vallejo is the regional dumping ground for poverty which is partially based on education, motivation and very poor choices. Safe neighborhoods and amenities: See above plus Vallejo is the dumping ground for parolees, child molesters, halfway houses, drug rehab programs, group homes for troubled youth. No responsible parent would let their kids walk to school, go to the park or go to the corner grocery store for milk. Lively centers for community interaction: The movie theater up on home depot hill or the dead downtown? You can't make economic development happen when your strategies are targetted to the very things that make communities unattractive and then suck every available dollar off for the PSU's so there is nothing for code enforcement, permit review, good planning or quality of life amenities and then sell everything valuable for a temporary fix like selling off part of a downtown park that served a densly populated low income neighborhood for a new State Farm building and parking lot.

anon   |January.26.2009 Robert, The issue of staffing and crime relate to work load and risk. Two factors that you do not address in any of your analsis...don't you think it is relevant to what is paid? I think we all agree these are tough economic times. However, next time you take your car to your mechanic, tell him you don't make as much money as the guy who just left and you would like to pay the mechanic less per hour. Then watch him laugh at you (by the way, I just paid my mechanic $110.00 an hour). Even the City's BK lawyer said you can't fix Vallejo's money problems on the backs of the employees. So now that the unions are giving more up, don't you think the City should begin to turn its focus on economic development?

Did I Say That Outloud   |January.26.2009 So when did the "Tanner is our Savior" Club fold?.....and the new one denigrating the (what did you guys call them, you know when they all voted for bankruptcy? oh yeah...) "Courageous City Council" start? By the way, this is a Staff approved contract, that means Tanner and his posse are responsible. Oh you say, Mayor Davis, had influence in this? Gee, how could that be? Tanner was hired to make this right....wait....could there have been a crack in the glass?.....starting back when Tanner got to have his contract changed (to his liking) to pump up his numbers for his pension? Gee, ya think? And most of you stated the he was "worth" what the City was paying....cause he was going to fix this mess. .......and they lived happily ever after. The End.

Anonymous   |January.26.2009 Must say that I commend VIB for always coming out with the truth before VTH. Marc you are fearless and I thank you for sharing these information with us. I remember the days when all we knew was what the Times Herald told us. Nowadays, I read VIB first before anything else. Backed up with facts - there's no point to reading backwash information from somewhere else.

Robert Schussel   |January.26.2009 Anon Making wage comparisions by amount of violence is a Red Herring.There is little relationship between levels of crime and compensation.Some of the best paying places like Palo Alto have low crime levels. The key is to look at revenues and what a City can afford. Vallejo tends to have lower revenues per capita yet pays the best--thats why we are going broke.

anon   |January.26.2009 VHS, According to your numbers, Vallejo has TWICE the ratio violent crime per citizen as Hayward does. One thing not listed is the ratio of officers to citizens. I think you will find the number of officers to citizens is much higher in Hayward. Bottom line, VPD handles twice as many violent crimes per officer as HPD. So why are so many here complaining when VPD has agreed to be placed in an average salary survey to cities like Hayward? If this new contract does not pass on Tuesday night, you will see the second mass exodus of VPD officers (almost a year to the date from the first).

VHS   |January.26.2009 Captain, here is the comparison data I collected on Hayward. Hayward is one of the most comparable cities to Vallejo in terms of size, population and crime data that I was able to find. Vallejo CAFR 2007 Property taxes 23,812,446 Sales taxes ...12,517,648 Other taxes ...6,686,545 Utility taxes 12,746,862 Tot Tax Revenue 55,763,501 Fire service .. 25,238,098 Police service 38,050,873 Safety Services 63,288,971 Total General Fund expenses.. 83,178,534 Vallejo Demographics 2005 Violent Crimes per 100 residents 1.03 Tax Revenue per resident $475 Median income.. 50,030 Population..... 117,483 Violent Crime.. 1,206 Land Area sq mi 30.20 .................................. Hayward CAFR 2007 Property taxes 24,687,960 Sales taxes ... 28,857,677 Other taxes ... 21,000,164 Tot Tax Revenue 74,545,801 Safety Services 71,167,746 Total General (minus Haywards GVRD) Fund expenses.. 99,321,257 Hayward Demographics 2005 Violent Crimes per 100 residents .55 Tax Revenue per resident $531 Median income.. 51,177 Population..... 140,293 Violent Crime.. 776 Land Area sq mi 43.5

Captain   |January.25.2009 Is it just me or does anyone else see this contract as backend loaded? There are many reasons to be concerned about this contract and I'll list my concerns tomorrow. Two things that jump from the page after just one reading: 1. The city has to pay union attorney fees if they challenge the contract at a future date, or refile BK. Last week I provided a link to an article writen by the VPOA council that recommended Unions negotiate this language in their contracts. Vallejo was one of the first cities to Adopt 3@50 and now they are the probably the first city to adopt this nonsense. 2. Hayward is listed as one of the seven cities used for compensation comparisons. Hayward wasn't even one of the comparison cities in the Management Partners comparison study. This was a HUGE red flag for me. I looked at the MOU's for Hayward and there are several potential accelerators in their contract, and even more beginning in 2010 -2011. Hayward also uses some of the highest paid bayarea cities for their own adjustments (including Vallejo) - another red flag. The unions, more than cities or their negotiators, have the upper hand in knowing which comparisons provide the greatest benefit to their contracts. My guess is that VPOA has a good idea that these comparisons will pay big dividends in the future. There are also other issues regarding the language for comparisons that will keep Vallejo well above the mean in total comp, as well as other issues in the contract. I'll comment on those issues tomorrow. If anyone interested in the Hayward Mou's can't find the link, I will be happy to provide it.

silasbarnabe   |January.25.2009 Actually more than ever the City's budget is sunshined. Ozzy and the funded four will have to provide proof we have money to pay for their will or suffer scrutiny, and everything that comes with it. If their hope that the Judge will raise taxes arbitrarily after such a contract is agreed upon then they will have to keep all contracts or expenses up for the judge to review, if they hope to ever pass a tax (the old fashioned and legal way) in this City they will need to provide answers as to why they voted for such a contract with raises in a time of declining revenue. I am expecting a cirque du soleil of magnamimous proportion at the Council meeting Tuesday evening.

Curious   |January.25.2009 Maybe this is all a good thing. If the City has nothing left for the residents of Vallejo, then maybe the Feds/HUD can't legally support a system of subsidized housing because it would be socially evil to warehouse poor people in a gulag with no social services, bad schools, no parks (in the neighborhoods that need them). Maybe someone will squeal. Maybe the Federal money will be held up. Then maybe Vallejo will just fold because one of our biggest revenue sources is HUD. Maybe the City charter would be null and void. Maybe then we will have to be subsumed into the County and then all the vampire contracts would be void anyway. Obviously we can't get anywhere with our local,state and federal politicians. Maybe a citizens envoy to Washington to talk to the smart people who just took over.

WAZ UP WID DAT?   |January.25.2009 So let me get this straight, the agreement is that the Police Department will get a 7.5 raise, followed by the next year 7.5 raise? This all happening when the economy has slowed, many of us have had a cut in pay, benefits and medical just to keep our jobs? Waz up wid dat?????????????

On Fire   |January.25.2009 I see the PSU apologists are all jumping up and down saying the Vallejo is going to be okay now. So, another unsustainable contract is about to be signed, and people think we are progressing? Apparently there is one big disconnect between the current economy, rational thinking and this "ozzy scheme". While I think that police are probably the highest concern, revenues to sustain their contracts has to fall in the discussion while putting together this agreement at some point. And if it wasn't bad enough to continue a contract, a contract that is not only bound by binding arbitration but now also covered by the city being on the hook for any future legal fees seems to be one of the most irresponsible decision we are about to witness. If the city...no, when the city again realizes that they are still short on money, the only way they can honor this contract will be to further cut city services if they are to avoid costly legal fees. Sounds something like a deal that evolves from blackmail. Pay or else. Street sweeper, that means your job and countless others down there at the city hall. Who needs public works when there is no money to fix anything? Who needs a planning department when the developers can bring their own staff on board to handle the paperwork? They will simply contract out your jobs as money becomes available. No benefits, no medical, no retirement. The same applies to most of the other jobs at city hall because the total budget will go to pay for police and fire. When ozzy is through with his "save the police" campaign, he will start of saving the fire department and they too will end up with extended "unsustainable" contracts and no savings to the city. The funded four will follow ozzy's lead and vote this in even though there is no thought given as to how they will be able to honor these deals with anything other than wishful thinking. What can we expect from a group of people who have no clue about the financial world that is crumbling around their heads! The other big question Silas, is why the rush to have this done this week? We are one week away from going back into court. Why not bring this suggestion to the table when they get into court and having the judge evaluate the offer? Maybe it's because they know the judge will shake his head at the ill thought out knee jerk plan and tell them it stinks? VPOA doesn't want to take the chance with the judge because it's obvious that opening up the contracts is the only way the city can restructure it's finances in any meaningful way. When the henkettes get through with their "me too" deal, we will be right back where we started, but with the added years to a contract the the citizens will have to suffer through. I am still reading through this joke of a contract to find the part where the citizens finally will benefit from the decision. Has anyone found anything in it that will benefit anybody but the employees?

whatever   |January.25.2009 A deal that once again shows how inept the city is at pretty much everything. Ozzie the "leader" is a joke and has no clue what he's doing. He continues to fake his way through while nodding like a bobblehead unable to evaluate and think critically. It isn't rocket science, it's basic elementary math with a little projection thrown in. What's so difficult to understand here Ozzie? The funded 5 are about to make a deal which hamstrings any agreements with the other unions who still have to make a deal. What will end up happening is IBEW will feel the brunt of the VPOA settlement with lousy benefits and an overwhelmingly unequal playing field regarding pay and benefits. I'm sure the judge will review this deal as well as the other contracts. I can hear him now laughing at the inept efforts of Ozzie and Salerno.

Anonymous   |January.25.2009 It's simple: this contract amendment is one the city can't afford. Had it been on the table two years ago (and sans the legal fees for BK) it would have been a much better deal. Now we are so far down the road of financial ruin, it is a bandaide for an amputation's gushing wound. Too little, too late. The council should not vote on this until they understand our full economic picture. What is the state going to do to our revenues? What will happen with property taxes? Without these answers the City should not take on any more financial obligations. Picture this: The city approves this deal, struck by Alan Davis, and then Alan Davis, council for IAFF, sues the city over this agreement. Mark my words.

Anonymous   |January.25.2009 A "City Clerk" and a clerk in the water dept are two very different jobs.

streetsweeper   |January.25.2009 Anon, I think that 100k clerk works for the city manager and yes that's too much when other clerks like in the water department make 40k. Also, if bringing in the sheriff was a real option the city would not have given in. The gaurdian angels help but are not going to do any good if we have to few cops.

Pyriphlegethon   |January.25.2009 SS, your post underscores "Too Bad": Paramilitary government! So we are now being extorted by the threat of many more cops leaving. Maybe they can go to Oakland or Bart? Bring in the Sheriff!

streetsweeper   |January.25.2009 I believe the city finally came to their senses and realized that if the police contract was rejected many more cops would leave creating a even larger problem. The big question is if the city plans on cutting deals with the other labor groups or to continue to spend millions in court that the city can not afford. To be honest I just want this mess to end even if it means I have to start training for another job.

anon   |January.25.2009 Just looked thru 2009 payroll posted on this site and found the numbers just appalling. Vallejo has a city "clerk" making over $100k. If I were the judge, I'd be shocked as this free handout of public money. Nearly all salaries are at least 50% over any reasonable market (sorry, CA was in a bubble market for the last several years) not to mention benefits.

Pyriphlegethon   |January.25.2009 This is what Gus Kramer, tax assessor in CCCounty says about property tax - get ready for some very bad years. And what will our council do in light of this? Vote NO on the amendment...(we'll see!) "It's going to be an absolute economic disaster...," he said. "Everyone thinks this is like the last recession with values going down and that when they come back there will be a resurgence - but it's not going to be like that. It will be years before (the tax roll) recovers because all these people are selling (distressed) homes, banks are selling at deep discounts, values are going down from 50 percent to 75 percent. The people buying them will hold onto them for five, six, seven years. The tax base is not going to recover anytime soon".

Too Bad   |January.25.2009 Paramilitary government! Flee!!!!

silasbarnabe   |January.25.2009 Onfire- You bring up the most obvious question. How will we pay for this? The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle has a report about declining tax revenues through 2011 with a very modest increase for 2012.

On Fire   |January.25.2009 Little City, you seem to forget that Tanner and Stout are working through the direct of Council. I do agree that if we were going to approve contracts that fall under the big rubber stamp called BAU, then why did we go through this process of bankruptcy? We could simply fire all off the other employees, shut down city hall, and simply follow the henkette doctrine,"give the PS employees whatever they want". This is the exact reason the city is in this mess we have today. Signing contracts that promise funding that we can't afford. This isn't staff's direction, this is our funded council's decision. This is the same foolish and flawed actions that previous funded council members made year after year, leaving the burden of unpaid bills on the laps of the citizens, just so they could look good. Remember this is only one piece of the "undefined pie". The mayor apparently wants to keep the police force in tack, at whatever cost. We have heard nothing about where the increased revenues will come from to pay this new contract, and the city still has not dealt with the other employee's contracts. They still have to deal with the debts to the banks and other creditors and how that will fit into this undefined pie called the budget. This is exactly what the PSU wanted but I haven't heard how the council plans to keep the rest of the city functioning. There are many questions that need to be answered and I doubt the mayor and the funded four will be providing any real insight as to how this will all work. So we are back to BUSINESS AS USUAL, approving contracts that we have not found a way to pay.

On Fire   |January.24.2009 Let's not forget that Da Mayor has already set this up with his statement: I don't care if I have to fire everyone else at city hall, we need our police. Why didn't anyone believe him? Funny how ozzy who entertains the idea that he would be a good candidate for a strong mayor, has shown his true self to be a weak in the knees reactionary patsy. I suppose that he has gazed into his crystal ball and found some additonal revenue that no one else knows about, that he's going to use to pay for the cost of this new contract. But what the heck. His term will be up when the salary increases come due and he can go hide out at the country club and play golf.

Little City   |January.24.2009 I think all of us should take a look at what is "really" going on here? We have been told for the past 16 months that we could not handle anymore extensions of the employee contracts or we would have to file BK, now, after spending over $ 4 million we are told that we have a deal, with an extension? You have to be kidding me? We have now alienated ALL of our employees; lowered EVERYONE'S moral; chased good people out of town, including businesses; made our image the lowest it has ever been and for what? so we could do everything we could to get our fellow citizens mad at the FF'ers Local??? Maybe we should have listened to the Henkettees last year and we wouldn't be in this mess. I am disgusted in following the people I believed in, sorry Mr. Tanner and Mr. Stout, I think you led us and our elected down a no win street.....I am finished and very disappointed.

silasbarnabe   |January.24.2009 I know that Chapter 9 BK is different than others but I do know from experience with a very close relative that one BK is declared that any deal made with one creditor is subject to the Judge's scrutiny if it will affect the payback of another creditor. I can't simply make a deal with the bank about a boat, when other creditors have claims to my income (general fund) like the mortgage company for my house. In addition Government obligations like taxes goes to the top of the list. Perhaps Robert McConnel might have an opinion on this?

Big City   |January.24.2009 If any of the Vallejo City Council members think that the proposed contract extension with police is going to be a solution to Vallejo's problems, they're even nuttier than I think they are. There is NO WAY this "package" is going to be ANYWHERE NEAR enough. Absolutely. Positively.

Anonynous   |January.24.2009 Vallejo is treading water as the waves get higher and higher -- we're already exhausted from years of treating water in oceans full of sharks. And the city saying tht capping raises would solve all our problems - HA. Year after year promises made that can't possibly be kept and a huge monster made of the PSUs. Now it seems IAFF is out and VPOA is in. This is not a good thing - everyone must be treated the same, everyone.

armyoftherich   |January.24.2009 Bob, I don't think anyone thinks this deal is a solveall. What I want to know is, is it a good start? Only a year ago, management was saying that if only all unions would adopt the pendency plan as permanent (and PSU give up their retro-raises) all problems would be solved and we could get out of bankruptcy. That was when the economy still looked like it could recover in the shortterm. Can the City keep this promise to the VPOA? I have doubts about that, althought if this had happenned last year, my thought would have been this is a good starting place. Now, the terrain has shifted...

Too bad   |January.24.2009 Time for the middle and working class to pack their tents and get out of town. We might have had a chance to pull this town out of the ditch but its over with this "deal". Vallejo's vampire government will try to figure out more ways to extract money from us and the whole mess will continue to spiral downward. Maybe Noreen and Pat can get some money out of the State. not. Or George Miller can get some more welfare money out of the Feds. not. Why would anybody give/loan money to this fiscally irresponsible gang of thieves? This is a global triage situation and only those that fully understand that the old game is over will survive. Too bad. We had a chance there for awhile.

Robert Schussel   |January.24.2009 Whats sad is that people think the Supplemental agreement has solved long term problems. This agreement is similar to the one from 2003 that lead to the current BK.In 2003 a few small changes were made and wages were to be put on hold for two years--sound familar. In 2003 City revenues were increasing due to new housing. Today the City's revenues are shrinking--where will the money come from when raises start. Not only is the size of the raise unknown ,the agreement guarantees that Vallejo Police Dept.wages will be in the top 25% of cities ( average of the 7 cities with the highest wages) with no significant savings in benefits etc to offset any of these raises. While everyone will try to say that the switch to Kaiser is a major change,it only represents a 4% health insurance premium savings (which will be eaten up by a 5% to 9% 2009 premium increase Kaiser will bill the City). The City could have saved FIVE times as much money if it required all current and retired Police to pay $200 a month for cost sharing.Anyone in the private sector would consider that a bargain. But the City Council doesn't have the political will to play hardball or be concerned about the long term costs. Finally there is a Poison Pill that makes the City pay the VPOA legal expenses if the City does not abide by the agreement. The problem is that the City will need to declare BK again in 2012/13 due to revenue shortfalls--remember our economy is in the worst shape since the Depression. Unemployment is over 9% and climbing,the State is withhold revenues to Cities etc. Where will Vallejo get the funds to pay its current bills?

streetsweeper   |January.24.2009 The cops deal is just a version of the pendency plan via no wage increases for a while. Why don't they offer that to the other unions? The city will spend a hell of a lot more money in court fees than they will ever extract out of the Ibew. I mean we are talking peanuts for the general fund. The Ibew would have folded long ago if their national was not paying for everything now. Wow, things are getting crazy now.

Anonymous   |January.24.2009 Armyoftherich: NO!

armyoftherich   |January.24.2009 I don't think IBEW and CAMP expect me too mous 'increasing' their benefits to vpoa levels. I think they expect modest proposals, and I think they'll consider them. I'm worried that the promises to vpoa will mean that management will extract their pound of flesh elsewhere. The attorney's fees provision seems carefully drafted to pay for future attorneys fees should the City breach the agreement (and the judge agree that the City is in breach). I'm more worried about the money, but it's a tough balance. If all unions accept this type of modest concessions, will that be enough to get out of bk?

PSU Watch   |January.24.2009 Please, if the other employee unions are thankful to the police for cutting a fabulous deal, you all must be smoking crack. Because there is no way you all will get a "me too" on health care and raises. No way. The city is once again bowing down to the PSU gods. You all are not gods, and you will bear the burden for the gods. This "deal" is a joke. WTF is the city thinking? This doesn't solve the spending problem! It doesn't cut enough. BK will be our way of life with crap like this!

Anonymous   |January.24.2009 Don't you love how the Times Horrid turned off the comments section for the letter kissing Ron Rhea's behind yesterday? I guess it's ok for the Horrid to allow other people to have their genitals and other body parts discussed and described, their characters slimed with falsities and vulgarities, and their paternities called into question. But let's not open Ronny up to that harsh reality that he allowed and endorsed. What an unsurprising double standard.

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 Robert, the police have all the leverage. If the city throws out their contract many more will leave so I doubt they would take that gamble. The only problem the city will have is if deals are not cut with all labor groups they are stuck in bankruptcy spending money. Also, won't the judge consider what the police settled for before imposing changes on the other unions?

Robert Schussel   |January.23.2009 Army of the rich I will post more tomorrow but I am quite concerned that the concessions are modest and thus not enough to prevent another BK in a few years. There is a poison pill that everyone should be very nervous about. If the City goes BK again or cannot meet all of the conditions in this Supplement the City will have to pay all of the VOPAs legal fees.

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 I am very happy the city and police made a deal because it mean there is hope for the other labor groups. We can not afford to loose more cops. Steve Gordon should be thanked for cutting the first deal because it means this mess may come to a end soon. I just hope the city does not expect to treat the Ibew different with the health care because we can't afford to take 0's for years and furlough days then pay health care also? That would suck.

armyoftherich   |January.23.2009 I don't know if this is the step in the right direction, and I'm tired of not trusting people. I wish we were provided some numbers about whether this is actual progress . That being said, I give great kudos to the VPOA and to Steve Gordon personally to come out and be willing to behave reasonably and honorably and to set and example for their PS brethren. It can't be easy for them, and I'm sure they'll be called traitors and all kinds of names, but to me you are behaving like heroes, and frankly, I'm not surprised that it's the cops who are choosing to do accept some personal sacrifice for the greater good and do the right thing. Good for you and thank you. I hope we all act that way, and I sure hope that management is not thinking it's going to balance this budget on the backs of ibew and camp, because that would be unfair.

Robert Schussel   |January.23.2009 Street Sweeper I will provide details tomorrow but I think the Kaiser cap will provide extremely modest savings. What is needed is cost sharing of 20% to 30% for current employees and only pay the part of the cost of the employee who retired .

Streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 Robert, the pd deal has a extension till 2012 no 2010. Also they will be capped at kaiser north like Ibew already is. Wow, if Ibew got this offer I would be happy. And damage claims to? Wow!

ANON   |January.23.2009 Now we are getting to the truth. If the PD cut a deal and then would be informed about another major reduction in personnal, like 18 officers, what kind of deal was it? If the Council and Mayor,had to vote for BK or otherwise they would have been liable for the losses, what kind of leadership does that show?? Why has none of this been posted before? Was the CM and Fiance Director holding that information back? I am starting to think that maybe VIB didn't have all of the facts before. Lets get the Disco Queen back involved, as she seemed to have great inside sources....Can't wait for future updates..

Robert Schussel   |January.23.2009 A few comments 1)The 7 Cities chosen for wages are ALL above the median in prior surveys. 2) the City still faces huge health insurance bills especially for retirees.Current total at $135 Million unfunded liability. 3) The Cities revenues are declining--where will the City get the money to fund even this deal. 4) The $29 million unfunded sick/vacation liability was NOT Dealt with. 5) The city is on the Hook for all of the legal fees if the this agreement is voided. This is very troubling as it means that if the City has to declare BK again the City will have to pay the Unions legal fees.

silasbarnabe   |January.23.2009 I guess the devil is in the details, but could the new language for "breach of contract" be the language Dean Gloster asked to be put in per the article provided by "captain" If that is the case would the City need to pay lawyers fees for BK in the future? Is it true that The city council persons and our Mayor's personal finances are on the hook if they didn't vote for BK? If that is true could they be sued if the contract makes the City insolvent?

Robert Schussel   |January.23.2009 THE SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH VPOA IS NOW UP ON THE CITY WEBSITE. I WILL PROVIDE MORE DETAILS LATER --FIRST LOOK 1) contract extended to 2010 2) wages based on average of 7 cities to start in 2010 3)minimum staffing requirement recinded 4)Healthcare capped at Kaiser rate.Vesting time for retiree health insurance increased from 5 years of service to 10. 5)Annual leave capped for new employees at 3 times annual rate--still 4 times for existing employees 6) sick leave cashout reduced for new employees. 7) Longevity unchanged. claims for pendeancy claims will be paid out at 333K per year for 3 years starting in 2012. 9) If City breaches supplemental agreement City pays VPOA legal fees. 10) VPOA withdraws BK appeal

Anonymous   |January.23.2009 I hope your union has the cajones to challenge in court any decision the Council (5 to 2 of course) makes that is a better deal to PSUs. I can imagine that VIB will support you wholeheartedly. Its not fair for one group to take the most burden. If the City got what I thought was a fair deal with all unions then I might even take part of the burden and vote for increased taxes. But does the council have the cajones to do that? 2 of them do...the rest? doubtful.

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 Your right Ibew has always been screwed in the past. If the city's goal is to back out of this legal nightmare and stop the hemoraging of all this cash they will have to settle with all labor groups to do so. If they try to give a better deal to psu then the other groups could complain in court maybe even win.

City Employees   |January.23.2009 should ALL be contributing to their health benefits. It is ridiculous you do not. You are lucky you have that job because their is no accountability whatsoever. You do not work full days so get off your BS posts. More than likely, you were hired because of a relative got you hired.

Anonymous   |January.23.2009 Sweeper you said it wouldn't be fair for other IBEW to pay for health insurance if the VPOA doesn't have to... I'm like uh...sorta stunned you would say that. Has IBEW ever been treated fair when it comes to the PSUs and what they get? Over the last seven years, their raises were more than twice what you guys got. Get ready to be scr#wed IBEW and Vallejo.

Anonymous   |January.23.2009 You'd think so, Streetsweeper. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 Not saying I want the pd to pay some health insurance but if they agree to then we will have to also at some point. If they don't have to then it would not be fair for the lowest paid employees to pay into health care right?

Anonymous   |January.23.2009 Streetsweeper, why wouldn't you want the cops to pay into medical? Wouldn't that be more fair to IBEW?

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 I may worry if the cops are taking another pay cut or paying into medical but from what I hear it's not the case. Plus I really feel the judge will not throw out the contract for us. If the city could not afford us there is nothing stopping them from laying us off. Also we are 10 percent of the general fund and we are the largest union. I don't even think the city has entered anything in court saying otherwise. Plus, we are spending the nationals money now so it's their battle now, right?

Anonymous   |January.23.2009 Well, Street, the Cops having a deal can't be good for IBEW and the other employee groups. Worried?

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 Oh, and cops do have a deal it's all over the Corp yard. Somone said they were told wed at our membership meeting.

streetsweeper   |January.23.2009 Ibew contract is on the city web site. Click on human resources then on Ieda then mou. Health benifits is on section 28.

Anonymous   |January.23.2009 Sweeper you say that the IBEW has a cap that isn't enforced? Doesn't that mean essentially that you don't have a cap? Although if what you say is accurate, I suppose the city could cap it at anytime. Can you provide a link to your MOU?

Dontworryaboutit   |January.23.2009 I dont think I've ever seen a website with so many negative turds trollin on it. Clean your own yard before you judge others. Pathetic!!!

streetsweeper   |January.22.2009 Robert, if you look at the Ibew mou you will see we have been capped since 2004 but the city has not enforced it. I think our mou is on the union web site not sure though. Also, we have complained to union leaders about this and also the 44 bucks we get if we waive our coverage when everyone else gets $550 a month if they waive it.

Robert Schussel   |January.22.2009 Did I say that out loud The charts in my article provide the maximum amount that each City will pay. Under the California Records Act I obtained the actual premium paid for each Vallejo current employee and retiree in the General Fund. Most consultants don't have the time or staff to try to get this type of information. Thus the maximum amount paid is typically used by them to compare cities. The fiqure I provided of $7,887 is what the City actually pays per retiree. The average retiree health insurance premium for Police and Fire is nearly $9,500 per year but only $5,400 for IBEW. No matter how you look at the health insurance data Vallejo pays more than other cities to Fire and Police and this continues into retirement.

Robert Schussel   |January.22.2009 Streetsweeper Current IBEW members are NOT capped at the Kaiser rate--see City HR site. You get the same FREE Health Insurance coverage that everyone else does. IBEW Retirees do have have to contribute but even for a spouse/partner its 33% not 40%. Even then the City pays nearly $12,000 per year. Why aren't your members raising hell with your Union president about why your Union is the only one with cost sharing.

Did I Say That Outloud   |January.22.2009 Clarification please: in the Article about Health costs under Retiree Health Insurance #1 states that Vallejo currently pays $7887 per retiree. In several instances it states to refer to the chart, however, when referring to the chart it states that the current amount for the retiree is $21,132. What's the correct amount?

PSU Watch   |January.22.2009 The real burr under the saddle is that all employees and retirees aren't treated equally. ALL employees and retirees should pay a portion of their health care premiums AND a small co-pay. ALL groups, no primadonnas and no special treatment. As for the Council, they should pay the same as employees. It seems that "free" health care was given to them to help make up for the paltry pay they get. Call it what it is, equalize the health care, and look at their salaries.

Anonymous   |January.22.2009 Sweeper - council may get a "sweet deal" with health insurance, but for all the work they put in (well, some of them. Others don't even read their packets) they are paid diddly-squat.

streetsweeper   |January.22.2009 Robert, Ibew members are capped at kaiser and our retirees have to contribute 40 percent of their medical cost. Everyone else including council gets a sweet deal. Do you feel that all city employees should have the same health care plan?

missmarvelous   |January.22.2009 Keep a watchful eye on what is occuring up Valley in Napa County. The city of Napa just bought Yountville's water rights to one of their water sources. American Canyon is running around trying to secure water as well. Napa County is struggling to find water, poor planning on their part, as hey could have shared years ago in the infrastructure of Lake Barressa and had water rights. Solano County had better planning, especally Vallejo w/John Frey. The one thing Vallejo is rich in is water rights. Lets watch carefully to protect our rights from other county and state politicians... If you read the napa register online today you can read the two stories for yourself. Little Old Lady what say you???????

Pyriphlegethon   |January.21.2009 O.T. & O.T.F. and all y'all: Why waste your time here to simply complain about what you think is not good content? Much of the information here you can now find on other reputable web sites all across the country. Stop the simplistic attacks & identify data that you think is not right and your argument why it isn't. I agree with Waz--you want to change the subject and divert the topics. Lets get back to Henkie in Napa (maybe you're Henkie?) or lets get back to the "Strong Mayor" and backroom deals (maybe you're Davis?). I smell a rat or two. And attacking the site for very seldom use of vulgarity? This site is pretty darn well-behaved compared to most, and who knows, it could be you planting the cusses and then coming back as someone else to accuse VIB of vulgarity.

Waz up wid dat   |January.21.2009 Back to the real reason of my post that NBR and Old Timers Friend try to lead us all away from. HOW CAN WE GIVE KURT HENKE SOME "NORTHERN EXPOSURE" IN NAPA COUNTY???? I AM SURE HIS FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS AND PEERS WOULD BE INTERESTED IN WHAT HE IS DOING, AS THEY HAVE NO IDEA

On Fire   |January.20.2009 Yes We Can! It's been a long time since I could remember a day that I have been so full of inspiration and hope for the future of our Counrty. It takes a person who is a once in a life time spirit who has the vision to rebuild America. It was a great day and it was so good to see so many people who are willing to answer the call to public service. One memory I will try to carry with me, was the vision of a young man who couldn't be more than 7 or 8, who when asked about his thoughts for today, responded by saying "I feel full"!. There was a chuckle by the adults, thinking that he was referring to his dinner that night. But what he was actually saying, was that he felt so happy, so filled with pride and inspiration, so glad to see his parents moved by the historical event, that he felt full. Full of joy, hope and pride, to the point of bursting. So tonight, I feel full! A big thanks to the Empress Theater for holding the historic celebration, both in the morning and evening. It was wonderful to be able to share this day with the people of Vallejo, and share the spirit of hope. Yes we can! Viva Obama! Viva Vallejo!

OLD TIMERS FRIEND   |January.20.2009 Armyoftherich; I can finally say I agree with you......you are useless....Now if Firebug and Waz Up Wid Dat could finally see the light, then we all could finally agree on something....and I also agree with Old Timer, but I don't want you to fix OUR problems, just go back to the hole you came from before you made youself so impotent and I am sure we can handle everything without you......P.S. did you notice? No Vulgarity, it is something else you never learned....If I were you I would go back to picking on Healy the Demo Leader and stay away from us big guys.....

armyoftherich   |January.20.2009 One more thing. There is a lot of setting up backdoor deals on lots of things and with many people, not just the fire union. If there is to be strong mayor, look out for all the things he's willing to give away to get to that place. Vallejo's going on sale soon, and for cheap.... I call dibs on the waterfront property! oh wait, I have nothing to offer

armyoftherich   |January.20.2009 Old timer, you sound as though you want the new ones to resolve the problems you old timers created. And since we can't just snap our fingers and fix it all for ya, then we're useless. Nice. Then on top of that we occasionally use profanity, so we are 'vulgar'. And that's about 95% of your contribution to this blog. Nope, can't say you belong with the rest of these thoughtful people.

On Fire   |January.20.2009 Awww, I'm so crushed. NBR has taken his marbles and gone home!

Robert Schussel   |January.20.2009 NBR It doesn't look like you included the 10% Paramedic Certificate Incentive--all in the Fire Fighter Rank MUST have this certificate so it needs to be included.

Anonymous   |January.20.2009 Woohoo! Best news we could get -- NBR is oozing his way back over to the Times Horrid blogs to slop around with the rest of the pond scum PSU apologists.

NBR   |January.20.2009 Firebug, It was Waz up wid dat that dug up the "affluent city" which has a 20% higher base hourly rate than Vallejo. 20% lower is significant. ps Never in hiding, just a boring site, .....still boring and misinformed as ever. bye again ..... probably for quite a while.

Firebug   |January.20.2009 Welcome back NBR, at least out of hiding. So you are still digging up affluent city's to prove Vallejo firefighters do not reveive the highest total compensation. How "boring".

NBR   |January.20.2009 Waz up, During your 'gleefull' moment did you explain your new math to your "friend" how Vallejo' ff base pay (top step) of $31.46 per hour ends up being a higher salary than Palo Alto ff base pay (top step) of $38.84? Palo Alto PS retirement 3%@50 Pre-Retirement survivor benefits City pays 6% of miscellaneous employees' 8% required employee contribution City pays 9% required employee contribution for Police Safety Non-Contributory Deferred Compensation Plan Fully paid employee and dependent Dental Plan Fully paid employee and dependent Medical Plan (Up to the second most expensive plan offered) Fully paid employee and dependent Vision Plan Fully paid Life and AD&D insurance equal to annual salary

Waz up wid dat?   |January.20.2009 Old Timer, you are correct in your "nom de plume" this town is in the condition it is due to "Old Timers" doing everything the "same old way." Vallejo is only in the crisis it's in, due to Mare Island closing and the cash flow that 15,000-20,000 folks working on Mare Island brings in. The outrageous PSU contracts were never questioned until the money started running out. The contracts have been outrageous for years, but there was always money to cover them, so no one made a big deal out of them. My PSU relatives that live in Sonoma have made many comments that they could not believe Vallejo could afford such "juicy" contracts and questioned where the money was coming from. Now the veil is lifted and all has been made known. Outsiders have been "feeding at the trough" for far too long... "Old Timer ways" you must have lots of friends in the Vallejo PSU, but they most likely laugh behind your back remember the famous saying of one of the PSU "the best thing about Vallejo is when I see it in my rear view mirror when I am going home." Viva Vallejo!

Troll Alert!   |January.19.2009 Troll Alert! Methinks Oldtimer is a troll who just wants to call names, divert attention and turn our blog into the Times Horrid juvenile swamp. Don't let the pollution spread over here: ignore the trolls!

Old Timer   |January.19.2009 I think it is time for "Waz up wit dat" to seriously consider moving to PA or Napa, since they have so much what he desires. He sure doesn't like it here and he sure doesn't offer anything to to make it better. Maybe he can find someone to open a "free blog" in one of those cities, so he can continue to feel impotant??? Maybe the Napa Register will accept him for what he really is, a no-body.....Have a great trip and don't let the PSU handle your travel arrangements

Anonymous   |January.19.2009 She might also be interested to know that PA city employees, until very recently, received lifetime medical after 5 years employment, they just raised the requirement to 10 years: vallejo still at 5 years. However, PA city employees get 13 holidays per year paid, and every other friday off paid.

Waz up wid dat   |January.19.2009 I would say Kurt Henke has friends at the Napa Register. I have tried many times to insert information on their blogs pertaining to union business, and my blog has always been "cleansed" or denied posting. I make sure when I run into folks visiting Vallejo from places in the East Bay, North Bay and surrounding areas to explain why Vallejo is in bankruptcy. I always refer them to the SFGate website as well as VIB if they would like to see the salaries of not only Vallejo PSU, but of their own city as well. I took glee last night telling a friend from Palo Alto that we pay more than her town. She was shocked and I am sure will spread the word... Now, back to Kurt Henke, there must be a way we can get "Northern Exposure."

Just Desserts   |January.19.2009 Marc, you forgot to mention the loud booing that Little Dickie Friedman and the Times Horrid got from the crowd last night. It was priceless!

Michael Tatham   |January.19.2009 Harry Martin got elected to the napa city council and still raised a lot of controversy there. every town needs a Harry Martin

Anonymous   |January.19.2009 PSU union lawyers FBM: more pond scum feeding off the underserved and disenfranchised City of Vallejo.

Captain   |January.19.2009 From the Unions Attorneys: Add a Bankruptcy Attorneys' Fees Clause to your Collective Bargaining Agreement. Essentialy this would protect unions and further burden cities by requiring the city to foot the entire bill (city & union legal fees). Here is the link: http://www.fbm.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/ publications.detail/object_id/8ede82b6-d898-4ec3-8ab4-3fb708e238ef/WhileCitiesCountSlowlytoChapterNine ThreeStepsPublicEmployeeUnionsCanTakeNowto PrepareforComingMunicipalBankruptcies.cfm

Patrick Henry   |January.19.2009 Waz, how about making mini documentaries and air them on the Napa public access TV station.

silasbarnabe   |January.19.2009 There used to be a person named Harry V. Martin and he published the Napa Sentinel. He used to comeup with all sorts of interesting government corruption stories, but I haven't read his paper since I stopped going to the Highway 29 Cafe decades ago.

Waz up wid dat.   |January.18.2009 Interesting about Henke spending so much Union money on Vallejo politics. He of course lives in Napa County, and no one in Napa is aware of what is going on, as they are self absorbed folks and dont pay much attention to what goes on down river. If they however were exposed to the high jinks of Henke, they would be interesed for one and only one reason, how it might affect their own PSU. They too have concerns about the wages and benefits of their own PSU, as Vallejo's contracts have been paraded around Napa and Sonoma to demonstate what you can suck out of your city for wages and benefits. Napa is suffering the affects of the economy, and relies heavily on tourism for their tax base. Places like Auberge, Meadow Wood resort and many of the boutique wineries are dead right now, Copia is bankrupt. They are having their own housing crisis, you can buy a house in Napa now in the low $200,000. They are not immune to the economic situation we are all in. Their tax base will dwindle if they have a bad year, and yes, they will be interested in the high jinks of their own Napa County resident Kurt Henke, and how his manipulation of Valljeo contracts have influenced the contracts of their own PSU. Anyone have any idea of how we could best expose the deeds of Henke to his fellow citizens of Napa County?

A little Tweety bird gave   |January.18.2009 ...Yes, A little Tweety bird gave it all up! Hmmm! Is it really true? While sitting around the campfire, I was listening to a couple of chattering Tweety-birdie-beaks, or was I sitting around with the "FIRE-camp"? Anyway, the "BURNING" news is that Henke and Riley are trying to "SPARK a HOT" deal with Mayor Oozy Davis. Lately Osby has let it be known he would like to convince the citizens into voting to make Vallejo a strong mayor led city, i.e. making the mayor's position an ALL-POWERFUL, $$$ position. Hmmm, Dictator-Davis; now that's a SCARY thought! Osby, has your God been trying to ordain you once again with even more power over the citizens of Vallejo? Gosh, Mr. Mayor, you must have 'His Omnipotent" working overtime. Just awhile ago The Times Herald quoted you as saying, "God ordained me to be Vallejo's Mayor." Okay, back at the "Fire-Camp." Word has it that Henke, Riley & crew will be assisting Osby with convincing the citizens to vote for an "all-powerful Mayorship" position in Vallejo. Consequently, giving Osby the dictatorship he feels is due him. It's no secret that Henke has had a political and financial CHOKE-HOLD on Vallejo for the last 15-plus years. Essentially, Kurt accomplished this by pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into 65 to 75 percent of all local mayor and councilmembers' campaings during the last decade and a half. Consequently, keeping the council chambers filled with his own personal voting puppets. KURT'S GAME PLAN: Give Osby Davis full $upport in making him Vallejo's first ALL POWERFUL," highly paid mayor. In return Osby promises to rid Vallejo of Henke's present threatening truth-teller, (City Manager Tanner). In chess this is called "CHECK." After getting Osby to sack Tanner, Henke and Riley will also expect Mayor Davis to assure them that Local 1186's contract, including "binding arbitration" would remain unchanged. BUT NOW, Mayor Davis beware, Henke and Riley's final surprise will be to put THEIR OWN, "ALL POWERFUL MAYOR" into office... ... And now boys and girls... that's called "CHECKMATE" Buh-bye!!!

PSU Watch   |January.17.2009 I'm just happy there will be a program in celebration of both MLK and this historic innauguration. After eight years of hell, arrogance, lies and generally pooping on both science and our Constitution, I can again stand with pride for my country. Bush gone and our first African American President. Does it get any better? I'll miss the parade. But a positive note: now the fire department loses more overtime pay by not having a parade to show off their shiny red toys.

silasbarnabe   |January.17.2009 Hmmmm questions PSU's you are a hater, question old timer and you are using profanities...does all this sound familiar?

Friend of Old Timers:   |January.17.2009 WHAT?????..There you go again, using vulger comments about people you don't know. All you could offer was "I was looking forward to the parade?" I did not hear you offer to help? I did not hear you say " gee what a shame". I did hear you say the F$&^* Times Horrid never printed anything. Some of us and we are caucasian americans have worked on this parade and the Touro event for years and years (before it was popular to do) and we never complained. But, you only have you to be concerned about. I can imagine what you life must have been like before you were allowed to sit in front of your computer and blog?????? Now you are really somebody important aren't you.....WHY??? Why were you even born......Have a nice holiday

MLK Celebration   |January.17.2009 Not sure why you would chose to be disrespectful and use profanity in the same topic with MLK but if you will notice, most everyone here can find other ways to express themselves without being vulgar. I am not a member of the organization (and obviously neither are you) but I hear that there has been a change in leadership and they choose to cancel the parade and I don't think it had anything to do with someone forgetting to get permits. Regardless I would hope that everyone would consider participating in the planned program, including our Council members. Even though there is no parade, people can still enjoy the program. Hope to see you in attendance.

What???   |January.17.2009 Did Don Jordan f*ck up again and not get a permit this year too??? How can incompetent people like that get on a board? Or the Council (Hermie)? Jeez, there needs to be a penalty. I was really looking forward to the parade this year. Since I don't read the rag I had no idea it was cancelled until now. Of all years too!!!

MLK Event   |January.17.2009 Apparently even though the NACP cancelled the MLK parade, other groups are planning a program at Hogan and it will start at 10am. This is to keep the holiday alive and so that Vallejo continues to celebrate and honor Martin Luther King Jr. It's a perfect compliment to the Inauguration as both men would like to see peace, not only in the U.S. but world wide. So take bring your families out and let's show that Vallejo still celebrates MLK and that we support Peace even in the face of adversity.

On Fire   |January.17.2009 Old Timeer, you have revealed yourself. Same old "we got you riled up" sandbox banter that you use over at the soiled litter box you inhabit over at the horrid. You seem to think you need to come place your poop over here so as to get some negative reaction...What's the matter little boy, not getting enough attention over at the t-h? We have pooper scoopers awaiting your arrival and it's a siple fix, scoop and toss. No worries! Maybe oneday you'll mature and become potty trained! Oh, but in your case, maybe time for the Depends. Oh by the way Oldie and Outtie, didn't you find the Hot Links articles interesting? Yeah I could have sworn that I read over on the soiled sandbox blogs that the City was in deep trouble because PERS had joined the unions to contest the bankruptcy. Gee, guess you must have heard that story wrong?? Good tidbits, have yourself a read. Seems like this is a State/Nation wide problem, and there are more and more people becoming concerned about government perks that are driving other cities into bankruptcy. So it appears that we here at VIB share the same concerns as many other cities. Guess they are all haters too huh? Isn't it also interesting that there aren't any articles by taxpayers that are up in arms because they think that other taxpayers should be taking the position that everyone should be willing to dish out more of their hard earned dollars to suppport these government giveaways? Even some of the pro-union sites are coming around. I know, more haters....

Older Newbie   |January.17.2009 Old Timer, just my point. You see rat infested old building, the rest of the world sees a priceless architectural treasure. Old, vision-less, self-interested people like you are why Vallejo keeps falling down. But hopefully your numbers are dwindling so we can get some real change happening soon. And as for tearing down the Times Horrid, so what? You and Outside are quite defensive about it. At least on this blog, while people may disagree with you, you know you won't need get your children out of the room before looking at it, unlike your beloved Times Horrid. And it's been said before, if you don't like what we're saying here, don't stop by. I don't stop by the Times Horrid blogs and hate on you all for your inane, disgusting, nasty topics of conversation. I just don't participate. Do us a favor and do the same.

On Fire   |January.17.2009 Blah blah blah, blah blah blah! Outside, no one makes you come to this site. No one is holding your feet to the fire, pun intended, so that you have to read what's here. So keep your panties out of a bunch, save yourself some grief and stay away. We won't be mad at cha'!!

Old Timer:   |January.17.2009 On Fire: It looks like I hit a nerve with you guys. In fact I know a lot more about you than you realize???? How come as soon as someone critizes you, your response is for us to go back to the TH ??? I guess I missed Mr. Garmans direction..." either agree with what is written here or get off MY blog"...As soon as you can show me your ownership rights I may take your direction, but until then why don't you go back to the TH and see how long you last....By the way the person saying how wrong they were in tearing down the Carnegie Library ? I guess they were never in that rat infested, earth quake prone structure, that none of us could use. Except for the person it was named after it was an outdated eyesore. In closing, watch out for "outside looking in", I think they maybe on the right track....Until you get riled up again !!!

Pyriphlegethon   |January.17.2009 Oh please spare us. If you don't like it here, try the Times Herald blogs.

Outside looking in   |January.17.2009 Many come here every now and then hoping to find some maturity, a small amount of intelligence and some substance worth spending time reading. Alas, what is found is immaturity, ignorance, and blather for ones stance, as evidenced by the excessive prerequisite smiley use, rude name calling and close-mindedness for anything other than the views of maybe a handful of those who may be considered regulars on this site. There also seems to be an inordinate amount of time spent on degrading the Times Herald, as if anyone with half a brain needs to be told what an insignificant news outlet it is. Please do yourselves a favor, make sure your own house is in order before you make greater fools out of yourselves blasting others.

On Fire   |January.16.2009 Excuse me Old Timer, but speaking of unsubstantiated? I have lived in Vallejo almost 30 years and have worked/served in this community as well. You know NOTHING about me. Nobodies? Pessimictic? Vile? Maybe you should start with putting your reading specs on. If you don't like what we have to say, you can stay over at the times horrid and commiserate with the rest of your coma stricken good old boys. You all love taking about how VIB doesn't matter, or that we don't know what we are talking about, but one thing is for sure. If we don't have any standing, and if we don't have facts as well as opinions, then you sure spend a lot of time worring about nothing, now don't you! Funny how many of you come here and read and comment all the time. Hmmmmmmm

Little Old Lady   |January.16.2009 Old Timer... Yes, that's the problem. You've been here so long you think Vallejo politics are normal. Those of us who have arrived recently with our advanced degrees, professional experience and some exposure to "normal" communities are able to see what you "old timers" including Ron Rhea can't. And we have spent more total unpaid hours trying to make our community livable than you folks spend getting paid for. So, get it, any made up facts are yours and I, for one, know exactly what I am talking about and can cite book and page in the regulations (which you folks don't think apply here).

Older Newbie   |January.16.2009 Old Timer, go outside and yell at the kids for walking on your lawn. Might make you feel better to vent some of that pent up rage. Ouch. Must be painful to be so stopped up. Ron Rhea serving the community? He served all right. HIS people, HIS pals, HIS partners. He was a boil on the butt of real journalism, and I'm going to tip my glass tonight to his departure. Maybe, maybe we might get some real, unbiased coverage of local events now. I might even re-up my subscription if that proves to be true. And as for those 30 years -- I don't see a whole lot from you all during that time. You destroyed a Carnegie library and other historic buildings for redevelopment, opened and closed Georgia St, passed on the mall, and failed to attract quality commercial development like Fairfield did. So of course you wouldn't get what we talk about on this board.

momster   |January.16.2009 I was raised in Vallejo and am glad that that conservative good ole biased boy is leaving. Especially when the TH backed McCane--the TH does not respresent the citizens of Vallejo at all.

Firebug   |January.16.2009 Oldtimer, The only thing Ron Rhea ever served to the community was yellow journalism and pooh burgers. His one sided journalism served old vallejo money, the Chamber, and Henke.

Old timer   |January.16.2009 On Fire; Anonymous; Firebug etal: You are the greatest ???? When you ever spend over 30 years in one place (fat chance)and serve your community the way Ron Rhea has done, then you can speak. But if all you have to offer is your vile, pessimistic, critical ramblings through a not revenue producing blog, then our future looks worst than I thought. You all were nobodies when these un transparent blogs started and you will continue to be in the future. I have never heard so much unsubstantiated garbage in my life. I check on a regular basis for comical relief and have hoped to see some real beneficial solutions, but all I find is stuff that doesn't make any sense with the true dealings of our City. Some of you I really believe, make up most of the "facts" you profess as knowledgeable "truths", and after a while you actually start to believe what you read and write. It is really a diservice to our City....

On Fire   |January.16.2009 Speaking of Chamber, that dinner should be interesting. They are dwindling in numbers, smaller businesses withdrawing from the membership due to lack of services being offered by the Chamber to the "little business owners". So it'll be the same cast of charecters, that pat themselves on the back for not folding, passing those same tired awards back and forth, and a big dose of bs. Yeah, sounds like a fun filled evening. I'd rather watch re-runs of Bush's last speech.

Anonymous   |January.16.2009 I'm sure Ron will be at the Chamber Installation dinner tonight, where all his buddies will be so sad at losing their nasty mouthpiece, their comrade in arms in their war on Vallejo. Rick Wells, Henke, and Riley will drink with him, crying, "What happened to our glory days?"

Firebug   |January.16.2009 Perhaps they could have a dual going away party for Chief Nic and Ron Rhea.

Anonymous   |January.16.2009 Yeah, maybe Chief Nic should go back to Oakland to help them with their problems. But what would Nicky Jr. do without the police chief to be his boss and cover up his mistakes? And the horror, he might have to go to a Vallejo hospital using a regular ambulance next time he scratches himself on duty!

Vallejoan   |January.16.2009 This just in. Oakland PD to fire 11 officers for lying in search warrants. And our Police Chief thinks that Oakland Police Academy is the Cats Meow. And has said at the council meetings that he would not take a graduate from the Napa Police Academy because they are Problematic. Then again he has a number of officers that teach at the Napa Academy.

PSU Watch   |January.16.2009 It's kind of like that game, Jenga. There's a tower built of blocks, and each player strategically pulls out a block, as the tower becomes increasingly unstable, until the last player pulls out the block that sends the tower tumbling down. And everyone shouts, "Jenga!" The PSU tower of power is very unstable. It's still standing, but getting weaker every day. Can't wait for the Henke block to be removed, and we can all shout, "Viva Vallejo!"

Pyriphlegethon   |January.16.2009 Yes the article is online under "Solano papers shuffle new management". The Times Herald is going under just like Henke. Pupppet & Puppet Master gone - whoo hoo!

Firebug   |January.16.2009 Hoping, It is actually in the "printed" version of the Times Herald pages A1 and A2. I can't find it online I suppose they don't want the comments section to blow up. EDIT: Here it is, http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_11468524?IADID=Search-www.timesheraldonline.com-www.timesheraldonline.com

Hoping   |January.16.2009 Firebug, say it ain't so! Christmas in January?! Where did you see this?

Firebug   |January.16.2009 Huzzah! Has anyone read in the Times Horrid today that Ron Rhea is history?

ironically   |January.15.2009 Belvedere's site was originally commercial (i.e., sales tax generating), Now he got what he always wanted: residential (i.e. no sales tax, but a consumer of services) but he didn't have to pay residential fee rates. He paid 700K less than he should have. What a deal! I don't think there are any doubts that he'll rent out those apartments, so we won't even get the sales tax. Someone is frustrated and out of control telling staff what to do and trying to control everything. Heck no one has the power to put him in his place. I expected a bolt of lighting as well. As to martinis, never tried one, never wanted to. I thought only James Bond actually drank stuff like that.

Streetsweeper   |January.15.2009 Wow ok, I will try a better vodka next time. What is the best vodka for a martini? What is the best type of martini? Is a dirty martini popular with you guys?

On Fire   |January.15.2009 Grey Goose Citron with a lemon twist, in a chilled glass! Woohoo! How many hours before we get off work?

momster   |January.15.2009 Belvedere Vodka in a chilled glass.

Anonymous   |January.15.2009 Streetsweeper, therin lies your bad martini experience -- at $4.00, you obviously ordered cheap vodka. To get a good martini, you have to have quality vodka. Double the price, but double the pleasure.

Captain   |January.15.2009 Here is must read material for everyone: Bankrupt Vallejo Eyes Calpers http://calpensions.com/2009/01/15/bankrupt-vallejo-eyes-calpers/

On Fire   |January.15.2009 Cheers Street Sweeper!

streetsweeper   |January.15.2009 What a great picture I'm still laughing. That was the look on my face as I forced that drink down my throat. Maybe at $4.00 that's what you get.

streetsweeper   |January.15.2009 Firebug, there are a few blue collar bars in town like the den off springs road and maple. Many of the blue collar folks are retirees from the shipyard. Some blue collar workers work at refineries in Benicia or Martinez or surrounding industrial parks outside Vallejo. Oh ya, throw in the many Ibew workers who live in town also and that would be your pool of blue collar workers. When I say blue collar bar I'm talking about bars that are also sometimes considered dive bars because they are very basic. Some are biker bars like terrible terrys on Benicia road owned by the hells angels. Best biker in the area is thompsoms corner in cordelia.

Anonymous   |January.15.2009 LetDown, he did say that, but that wasn't the original agreement. The original agreement that Slimeball Mandarich got approved was an Assisted Living facility for seniors. They would have had nursing care available and recreational activities and other services seniors need. When Slimeball Mandarich got his first project change approved in 2006 (while also threatening the council with lawsuits), it was changed to Senior housing where one person had to be over 55 per unit. Now, with more baseless legal threats, he gets it changed again to multi-family, screw the seniors. That's why Bartenke was so prickly and attacked Gomes for sticking up for seniors. He's part of the senior roundtable and should be sticking up for them himself. But he failed them, knew he was failing them, and was obviously ashamed. But hey, he has a campaign to fund later this year, and Slimeball Mandarich is a big donor. He gave $20k to Pitts last year. Didnt he donate to Hermie and Tom when they ran? I wonder how much the Funded4 and Ozzy were promised?

Firebug   |January.15.2009 SS, Are there enough blue collar jobs left to consider any place a blue collar hangout? These days people have forgotten what industry is and what a big part of the Bay Area it was. Judson Steel in Emeryville, all the Tannery's, all the military installations, trucking hubs that disappeared in the early 90's. These days someone in retail is considered blue collar which is a sad requiem to industry. As for Ozzy and the bought four, I am not shocked in the least at their votes, the Chamber and developers have deeper pockets than the PSU's despite their monument of failure in the Automall sunshining selective business kickbacks. When binding arbitration is bad for business of a select group of developers and business people you can rest assured that Ozzy and the funded four would vote in support of putting it on the ballot.

LetDown   |January.15.2009 I believe Bartee said that the original agreement for senior housing only called for one resident to be 55 or older in order to qualify. He did not say there would only be one person per unit. I haven't watched the video, but that's what I heard.

VHS   |January.15.2009 I think council member Gomes was spot on with her criticism of this future section 8 apartment complex. An apartment complex (condos whatever) does not generate the revenues in taxes necessary to support the cost of schools and public services. This is one of Vallejos core problems; the dependency on residential construction to support the tax base. I would have preferred that we keep the senior facility designation on this project and waived any additional fees. The additional fees are chump change compared to the negative financial effects this project will have on us down the road.

On Fire   |January.14.2009 Oh and Marc, it's Debora Boutte.

On Fire   |January.14.2009 Street Sweeper, martinis are an acquired taste. Not all bartenders know how to make a proper martini and so don't make up your mind after only one try. Front Room makes a good one. I always can tell how good a bartender is by their martinis. I don't think the tension comes from the negotiations, since there only seems to be one group talking. I think it comes from da mayor thinking he's a strong mayor and the funded four are willing to let him try and bully the other two. Did anyone hear him say that he follows the advise of staff and doesn't micro-manage? I expected a bolt of lightning coming down and spliting the council chambers. I thought good christians weren't suppose to lie? And back up, did Sunga say he had eough information to make an informed vote? After four years he finally has enough information? Really? How does he know? Funny how he was irrate when staff wouldn't give him his requested information, yet he didn't seem to have a problem with it happening to someone else. Funny how the PSU apologist flim flam about riding Schivley and Gomes for their prior votes on housing, and how they chide everyone about giving developers breaks, yet they have nothing to say on the times horrid blogs today regarding the funded four and ozzy giving away the farm to Mandrich for additional housing. Again! Vallejo will never see him finish his projecct. He's only putting his ducks in a row to sell the project off to someone else, pocketing all the nice little give aways that he's collect from our council members. ozzy's head ought to be sore from all the spinning back and forth. During his campaign he went around saying "we need to tell the developers what we want instead of them dictate what they want to give us." Now it's evolved to "we need to be fair"! Please ozzy, give us a break. Pick a position and stay on it would you please! Giving away over a half million just to kiss up to a potential future donor is so transparent. That money could have went toward some of our struggling non-profits. And fnally, Erin, your right. You don't know a thing about HR and so stop trying to micro-manage!

streetsweeper   |January.14.2009 Would have been nice to have the adult housing but things have changed. to be honest I don't think those condos will sell at the price they are at. Not sure what would happen if it got shot down or put off again. I think that project is domed no mater what. It's to bad because it's real nice.

Pyriphlegethon   |January.14.2009 So S.S. how do you feel about the council majority (IAFF Bought and Sold) allowing that slippery thief Mandarich (see what he did in Colorado?) to get away with changing his project again, and not pay anymore to the city? Wouldn't you agree that we need the revenue? Liked the council report: are the funded four plus one on everyone's payroll? IAFF and the developers? Vallejo--and IBEW--doesn't stand a chance.

streetsweeper   |January.14.2009 I watched the council meeting last night and it was crazy. Lots of tension between the 5 and 2. This council is divided and in a panic because this bankruptcy is getting ugly. The more important question is where will you folks drink now that bachi is closed? Front room? I'm on the blue collar crawl and I can tell you the coconut grove off hyw 80 is packed on a wed night. Had a dirty martini because you folks drink them. Yuck, back to the draft beer and popcorn.

silasbarnabe   |January.14.2009 Excellent work Marc and ADQ, We now have factual behavior that Ozzy and the funded four are the "leaderless council", our PSU friends consistently refer to. They are making the next election full of comic relief for commercials and advertisements.

Captain   |January.14.2009 San Jose Pension costs soar with added benefits http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_11438103?source=rss

At the Scene   |January.14.2009 Fire Nichelini -- YES! That man is a waste of taxpayer dollars, a roadblock to change and growth, and a member of the management team who runs and tells EVERYTHING to all of his union buddies. He's the union wolf in management clothing. As to his son (what ever happened to that nepotism policy?) and his little helicopter ride. That little accident that Junior caused cost this city somewhere around $50,000, without the lawsuit surely coming the city's way. I want to know why it's ok to transport Vallejoans with minor and major injuries via ambulance to Kaiser or Sutter Solano, but that's not good enough for the Police Chief's son? He had a MINOR injury and gets flown to Walnut Creek. Vallejo hospitals aren't good enough for the rich and famous who suck off of Vallejo? I think Chief Nick and his son should pay us taxpayers back that $50k.

Anonymous   |January.14.2009 Actually, VHS, I don't think the labor costs have been presented "fully loaded" as you have done with Tanner. Let's see that figure, then. So be fair. Take the top two hightest paid fire officials and the top two police officials and compute their base salary, overtime, cost of various incentive pays, cost of health benefits and cost of retirement. Anybody have the ability to compute those figures?

VHS   |January.14.2009 Captain, the all the salary numbers I have came from you I believe. $454,708 was published as the fully loaded cost. You use the fully loaded costs on the labor side so at least lets be consistent and honest with people.

Captain   |January.13.2009 VHS Half million a year is not what he's paid. I agree his comp is very high, but above market comp is typical of a "turn around specialist" in the private sector. His charter is to take an ice-cold look at Vallejo

Fire Nichelini   |January.13.2009 Nichelini should be canned. He brought us the fun filled educational incentive pay abuses we now have to pay for...You know....paying firefighters for degrees in Literature, Ancient Civilizations, Dietetics etc. Oh, and yeah Sonny boy's little joy ride in a helicopter at the taxpayers' expense. Where's my air sickness bag?

Firebug   |January.13.2009 Perhaps we should use the same rubric to all persons working for Vallejo. By your rubric Chief Nick should be fired, and by and even less stringent one that I have he shoudl also be fired because he can't even communicate using 21st century tools.

VHS   |January.13.2009 I think its great that Mr. Tanner has a fan club but he is the CEO of Vallejo. At that level of responsibility and compensation there are no excuses unfortunately. The management buck stops on his desk and I expect he would say the same thing. I wish him (all of us) every success but as a tax payer, I expect good solid results for a half million dollars a year. If we will all be satisfied with marginal success we should have hired a marginal manager.

On Fire   |January.13.2009 VHS, I think it will be hard to measure any "sucess" for Tanner. By what we see at Council meetings, our mayor seems to give a lot of orders and by doing so micro-manages the city. If he feels free to do this at Council meetings, I'm sure that he's doing more behind the scenes. He has made it clear that he doesn't like Tanner's way of running things and I wouldn't be surprized if he and the funded four are trying to get rid of him. I'm sure that ozzy would prefer to have a pushover in the CM seat, someone who who allow him to micro-manage things. So if Tanner were to be "let go" early, then you couldn't really pin any results to the bankruptcy outcome on him, good or bad. The only thing you could really judge him on would be the fact that he was able to get consensus on Council to move forward with the bankruptcy. That in itself was a feat. But there are so many other duties that he performs behind the scenes and one would need to take those into consideration as well.

Firebug   |January.13.2009 VSH- I think Tanner's successes until recently were with the cooperation of the City Council. With the current PSU friendly Council his success by your rubric would be success despite the this City Council and very tough to do.

Anonymous   |January.13.2009 5. Tanner gets city employees back to work, blocking them from blogging on city time.

Streetsweeper   |January.13.2009 I complete my goals and tasks every shift I work unlike other city workers. City computers are locked out from this site so can't use them. Employees are given breaks during the day or night. So no, not on the city dime.

Fed Up   |January.13.2009 So, Street, Do you work nightshift for the City of Vallejo or are trolling this site on the taxpayer dime?

streetsweeper   |January.13.2009 Tanner has been tough with the unions but if he plans to hang his hat only on that, his time here will be a loss. If major concessions are not given up by the psu he losses and it will have to be much more than what was offered before the bankruptcy. I'm happy this site has looked at all employee benifits to see who gets what. I have said before that if I'm asked to give up some increases and furlough time I will be ok with that. I may vote to pay into medical but only if all employees do so. That means everyone from the mayor down. Lead by example.

VHS   |January.13.2009 Silas, Joe may be a good man and a hard worker (I have no reason to doubt it) but we are paying him a kings ransom to fix Vallejo. Many challenges to be sure but when he leaves us, Vallejo must be significantly improved in order to proclaim his tenure a success. If upon his exit we are in the same sad overall shape then I would give him a failing grade.

silasbarnabe   |January.13.2009 Isn't it odd after the list of all the excellent accomplishments of Joe Tanner Cashout disappeared into the night. Can any one name as many accomplishments say from our Police Chief in the last year?

PSU Watch   |January.12.2009 Street, the magic number is 75%. Clean up the PSU abuse, and we're on our way. But I do think all employees, including councilmembers, should pay some of their health care costs. And some of the other issues Robert brings up should be considered and cleaned up. And ALL employee salaries should be adjusted. I remember the salary list and the number of employees making over $100k and $125k and $150k was ridiculous. But these other employees represent such a small part of the budget. Nowhere near the magic PSU number of 75.

streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 Psu watch, so your not going to talk about Robert's story either? Don't you think all city employees should be held accountable? Council? Why is it your only reaction to attack psu? Eveyone gets a turn in the dunk tank. What's wrong affraid to get wet?

PSU Watch   |January.12.2009 Ahhh, it's the guessing game again, huh Street? It's not about who may or may not be -- the REAL problem with our budget lies with the PSUs. Remember, 75 percent and counting of our general fund is controlled by the PSUs. All roads lead back to this problem that must be solved. Only until we solve that problem can the city move forward and have the time and staff to work on new non-tax related revenue sources. Sorry you're frustrated by reality.

streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 I love how most of you have ignored Robert's story on hogs feeding at the city trough. Now you direct the focus back to the unions. Might this be because your city council, camp, department heads, or $125hr sandy?

anon   |January.12.2009 Cashout 1) He is getting his Directors and Staff to be more customer focused towards the Public. 2) He hasn't caved in to City Council or the Unions. 3) Tried to stop Nepostism,UBL and turning Worker Comp into a paid vacation. 4) Making the City live on the dollars it has,not what the Unions feel they are entitled to.

streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 Well I guess when all this is over, tanner and this bankruptcy to break contracts will either be the greatest thing since sliced cheese or the worst thing this city has done ever. With our track record I'm thinking the later.

On Fire   |January.12.2009 I'm not sure about what is considered "excessive" when it comes to management, but because our fair city is broke, all perks must be considered when asking the rank and file to cut back. I do think the CM's pay is a bit high even with all things considered, but when you take into account the fact that no one wanted the job, and we had to practically beg someone to come in and deal with the madness at city hall, I suppose you have to pay. When the city goes back to court, I imagine that all of the "perks" will be addressed. I can't imagine that they would go back and not have a cut in CAMP and management. Since they haven't come back to council with the new recommendations, which I believe will be next month, then we really don't know if cuts have already been scheduled. As far as the troll who continues to ask the question of what Tanner has done, I would suggest that they read the job discription. Does the troll think the city runs itself? Who has to sign off on everything including contracts and controlling the city employees? If you are so interested in finding out, why don't you give his office a call? Just the fact that he has had to deal with the likes of henke, riley, mustard and shoemaker would tie up most of his day. Don't forget that every council agenda has additional assignments under the consent calendar for him to do. Maybe one day, when we get past bankruptcy, the council and CM can move on to other things the city needs, instead of spending every waking hour on union contracts and salaries.

Fly on the Wall   |January.12.2009 2. (continued) -- abalone, anyone? 3. Reviewed the City's bond issues, identified violations, and restructured, saving the city millions of dollars in fines and penalties. 4. Renegotiating employee contracts, or getting them thrown out in court, that will exclude many (hopefully all?) of the little hidden benefits that Robert has identified. This alone will save the city tons of money far into the future. Ooops, that's four. I'd say that the money the city is spending on Tanner's contract is well spent -- as long as the council and Ozzy let him do his job and clean up this mess. I'd rather spend the money on Tanner's contract than on Henke and Riley, who seem to be out on Workman's Comp more often than not (abalone diving and doing union business). Oh yeah, Tanner stopped that abuse and they have to answer phones now and can't just get a "Get Out of Jail Free" card anymore.

Fed Up   |January.12.2009 It is a tough job to rid a City of the mafia (Union Control). Quite frankly, Vallejo can't move on until that is dealt with and it is requiring targeted focus by Tanner and City Staff. The Union Mafia has got fillibustering down to a fine tuned art and it is taking a strong council and a strong City Manager to rebuff this so we can finally start dealing other issues. When this is finally done, I believe Joe Tanner needs a raise!

Mr. Crabs   |January.12.2009 Thank you Captain Tanner and crew for the response but no more rum for you.

Fly on the Wall   |January.12.2009 Tanner's accomplishments: 1. Said "NO" to Kurt Henke and the PSUs, thereby setting the City up to FINALLY regain control of the remaining 75 percent of the general fund. Hellooooo, February! 2. Stopped IAFF union leadership's blatant abuse of taxpayer time and money

Captain   |January.12.2009 Considering Vallejo's history of being bamboozled by PS labor unions & others, you can count 1)his stand against union influence & excess, 2)his recommendation of BK, and 3)the councils 7-0 vote for BK as a job well done. He has also stood up to the heat generated by the PS unions and is helping navigate the city of Vallejo through one of it

Streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 I have talked to a person on our negotiations team during the mediation and that person said tanner read the newspaper and got kicked out by the mediator. Now he is not even negotiating it's this lady and that craig whittem or whatever his name is. So what else has tanner done? If the unions end up giving what they offered before bankruptcy does that make tanner a failure?

Little Old Lady   |January.12.2009 It's not that the community is not interested in what's going on. They are dedicated to making life better for everyone on their free time. But staff has been incredibly clever at obfuscation, tailoring the facts and ignoring the law. Staff hides critical decisions in Commissions without any public noticing. For example, all of the Mare Island Specific Plan "public" meetings took place in the Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Commission...a decision-making body no one knows about. Items were agendized as "Mare Island Update" where they shared decisions they had already made with the developer. The only "public" meeting I knew about was held at Miller's office on Mare Island before the security gates were removed. Who knew how to get there?? So it is no wonder these actions end up in the hands of attorneys. There is no other way to get their attention. How much staff time is wasted hiding the facts and then doing it over and over and over because they got caught???? A waterfront "public" meeting was held on the 4th floor of the library and it took guides to find it. Latecomers missed it. And then there is the CEQA process. I have never seen such clever work avoiding real issues with a haze of smoke and mirrors. They don't learn. Wasn't Terry Curtola leading the County's General Plan process that called for dumping all of the county's requirements for subsidized housing in the unincorporated areas within the Vallejo city limits? It is hard to catch these guys every time because they are so very sneaky and clever. Think of all the positive things that the community could be doing if they weren't spending every waking hour trying to end run the vampires.

Cashout   |January.12.2009 All of this talk about Tanner. Please name three of his accomplishments in the past year??? Filing BK and collecting his hefty pay do not count. 1. 2. 3. Please, someone tell me.

Robert Schussel   |January.12.2009 Streetsweeper Thank you for the compliment. Despite what some may say I have always tried to be as impartial as possible and get out all of the information I can obtain rather than limiting it to what supports my personnel viewpoint. For me the title of my latest report sums it up. Everyone has found ways to take advantage of the system. Unfortunately much of the information was kept from the Public.The Unions, City Management and City Councils benefited from spending other peoples money and keeping a low profile. The answer would be to have a more vocal Public but it seems that Vallejo's citizens prefer to remain apathetic. The information that Marc publishes on this site is much more informative then the Times Herald stories. Hopefully VIB will help improve the accountability of the City and the quality of life in Vallejo.

Firebug   |January.12.2009 Anonymous and Street, It takes a talented person to pilot the boat not only with leaks, but with a crew of money thirsty mutinous pirates.

Anonymous   |January.12.2009 Street, I'm not going to bite at your antagonism. I have friends in management, and I've told them that their salaries and benefits are too high, too. It's no secret. I think Tanner's compensation package is high, but I'd say reasonable for the position at this point in our history. Remember, Tanner was brought in when nobody wanted the job, and when we most needed somebody strong and experienced. He came into a city on the verge of bankruptcy being held hostage by a bunch of union thugs. It takes a skilled manager to pilot this leaking boat, so to speak. Somebody who is trained and experienced in public administration, labor negotiations, and management (not a wanna-be strong mayor with no skills running a city, Ozzy.) As a taxpayer, if Tanner leads the city to a better place and gets us free of our hostages, then I'd say it's money well spent. As for the rest of the employee contracts, they need work, no doubt. And I think the city is working on them in this BK process, too. But because they aren't 75 percent of our general fund, they haven't gotten as much attention as your PSU buddies.

Streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 Just want to know why nobody is jumping in on this article. Is it because like Robert says others are feeding from the trough? Might those others be friends of many on this site? I will say that I have more respect for mark for running this article and Robert for doing it. Maybe this site is fair and impartial.

Anonymous   |January.12.2009 What, Street, nobody to play with you? Call Henke and the fire boys -- they don't do anything while they're on shift.

streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 oh no were did everyone go? did Robert scare some folks off? I wonder who?

Streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 Robert, wow I love your new article and the photo speaks for its self. Thanks for putting us all under the microscope.

On Fire   |January.12.2009 Let's not forget that the unions in their presentation to the bankruptcy court, suggested that Vallejo sell off it's property and water rights. This is a real asset to Vallejo, and would be a real shame if it were sold to satisfy the union's demands.

Michael Tatham   |January.12.2009 regarding garbage rates it is a scandal. vallejo's garbage rates are 40% higher than the county rates that serve the unincorporated parts of vallejo. why? because their is NO competetive bidding for garbage contracts (as their are in almost all other municipalities) and for some odd reason the garbage company is guaranteed a 10% profit. sounds like a scandal? i have raised this issue to three different mayors (but not to the incumbant) and numerous council people. i've raised it to the times herald. everyone shrugs their shoulders with a vague reference of looking into it. do we need a grand jury investigation?

Streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 I think us and fairfield have water rights to the lake. Napa does not because they did not help pay for the dam. Even if we sell some raw water to other cities the money will have to stay in the water fund. What is city staff and council doing to secure money from the Feds? I'm hearing other cities are getting in line now.

VHS   |January.12.2009 Streetsweep, my impression was Vallejo owns the water rights to Berryessa and the water that flows down from it (as well as other sources). Maybe there is a different rate schedule for raw water as opposed to treated water? I totally agree also, we should be benefiting financially from our water rights.

streetsweeper   |January.12.2009 I talked to one of the water guys this morning and he said we treat water for green valley, travis air force base, and our city. Water alotments he said are only sold to Benicia. Somtimes American canyon buys treated water from us.

Waz up wid dat   |January.12.2009 Does anyone know any of the details of rates for water that Vallejo sells to other cities? Water rights are the one thing that Vallejo is "rich in." From what I understand, we have 30 year contracts to sell to other cities, and we dont make any money off of them. What? We are selling a resourse and not making any kind of profit? If this is true, "Waz up wid dat?"

Anonymous   |January.11.2009 The point Silas is that Sewer and Garbage rates are NOT controlled by the voter, that is why they are so high... Notice that payrates for VSFCD are not posted, neither are their MOU's, but their jobs are really no different than our water departments, which are posted. It would be interesting to compare...

Captain   |January.10.2009 Robert The link I provided, which wasn't part of the pp report but was part of the supporting documents, breaks the benefits down very nicely. That includes leave & pension benefits. I think you will find it useful. I also like to look at the last years of the pay structure because they set the tone for the 20-30 years of retirement. http://www.policepay.net/Vallejo/BenefitSummaries.pdf

robert schussel   |January.10.2009 Captain I should NOT do this stuff from memory. Rechecked my notes. The 192 hr vacation for VPD vs 172 for other Police depts came from PolicePay.net who use a 30 yr average.

Robert Schussel   |January.10.2009 Captain Some of my numbers came from the City commissioned survey.If my memory serves me correctly they were looking at year 10 or 12. Their number would differ some from Policepay.net who uses an average over an officiers career. The issue is do you look at the average over a career,a particular point in a persons career( for example 10 years) or the maximum they could get. As long as the comparision is the same for all 15 cities any of the methods are OK. Hope that helps

Captain   |January.10.2009 Robert Where did you get your numbers (everyday is a holiday)? The numbers from policepay.net put Vallejo PD like this for year 27 forward: Vacation 280 hours, holiday pay 130 hourd, sick pay 120 hours. Thats a total of 530 hours. Here is the link for policepays benefit summary of Vallejo & comparable cities: http://www.policepay.net/Vallejo/BenefitSummaries.pdf Anonymous, thank you for both of your replies to my question regarding retroactive pension benefits.

silasbarnabe   |January.10.2009 "Union hater" seems to be the label PSU's and their apologists would like to attach to anyone that wants real concessions, and real value for their tax dollar for our community. I am rather proud of the amount of singatures we got for BA in one go round and it affirms to me that more and more Vallejo voters are becoming educated as to who are the most responsible parties for our financial problems in this City. "union hater" and "Vib freak" just don't seem to be catching on the way our adversaries would have liked them to. I think the number of signatures and the lack of support for a safety tax is sending loud and clear messages that some do not want to hear.

Curious   |January.10.2009 Everything the City of Vallejo does seems to suck money from the people in clever ways that hides the full impact by spreading it out to special taxes and separate fees. Take VSFCD for example. In nearby Napa, the sewer assessment is a part of the tax bill and it is based on the value of the property. So a house that cost $600,000 pays much more than a tiny house especially one that is protected by Proposition 13 because the elderly owners have been there for years. In Vallejo, the sewer assessment is a flat fee paid equally by every property. Sound fair? Not. It is an inverse tax on poorer and disadvantaged owners that benefits the rich and owners of rental properties because they just pass the responsibility for paying utilities to their renters. Or GVRD. In most communities, parks and recreation are a part of the City budget. Not here. Special tax. And the incredible floating garbage rates. Up supposedly to pay for the damage the garbage trucks do to our streets. Does it go to repair streets? Nope. It goes to the fire department.

PSU Watch   |January.10.2009 VHS, now you see the secondary destruction caused by Vallejo's PSUs. As opposed to those young VPs you knew who started with a hatred for unions, most of us here on VIB started out as liberal folks who supported unions. Many of us had friends and families who were union. Some of us are even union members ourselves. But Vallejo's PSUs have forced us to become adversaries to them, for self perservation. The PSUs like to label us as "Union Haters." But it's simply not true. We just hate what THEY are doing to our city.

silasbarnabe   |January.10.2009 IBEWAnon, Since you like correcting mistakes I had to jump in an correct yours. When you include VSFCD and Water what we pay is substantially higher than surrounding cities. Like I said in my earlier post you can work with us or let us fix this ourselves. The economy is so terrible right now the Governor will be suspending certain collective bargaining legislation like SB 1419 that would allow the City to fire all you high priced IBEW workers and contract out to more affordable company's to do your work. The bottom line is Government entities must still function and provide services, so if CALPERS and other built in perks don't help us solve the problem, suspending laws that force public agencies to hire employees and pay CALPERS will be suspended.

VHS   |January.10.2009 I was in the leadership of my local when I was younger and then moved over to a senior management position. I had the pleasure of working with some very fine people on both sides of the negotiating table. From my experience there are talented and not so talented people on both sides; virtually no difference. What was particularly eye opening for me was meeting and working with many young corporate vice presidents right out of college. Some of them came into the business world with a vehement hatred of unions and were not afraid to say how they felt in the board room. I know many people have posted that they do not hate unions but I can hear the echos of my former colleagues in many of these comments. Its easy to condemn all things union and the people associated with the unions but once you get to know the workers in the union and their families, have dinner with them, socialize and spend time together, the blanket condemnation becomes more difficult. In time many of my VP friends learned to moderate their views, there is always hope for Vallejo.

Anonymous   |January.09.2009 Wow you read a lot into what I said. I do not lead IBEW nor have I been to even one meeting, this website will not change events nor will it fix our problems, it is a place to vent and disseminate information. What you believe and what you post is your business, but when I see things posted incorrectly, I speak up. Our so-called leadership has made some very big mistakes in my opinion and the damage is done, get over it. Lay off the crack pipe Silas...

silasbarnabe   |January.09.2009 Looks like we have fished out a IBEW leader! Our water rates over the last 18 years are muddied with the creation of VSFCD and splitting water and sewer. Many cities include sewer with their water bills, but we split them off anoter scheme to extract more oney from Vallejo rate payers. So IBEW leader, you sold out your members and now with BK the chickens are coming home to roost

Anonymous   |January.09.2009 Your welcome Captain, apparently you want some extreme dialog. 1) My anonymity is no different than yours, I am in the IBEW. 2)The liability of the city in regards to years in service for pension benefits is controlled by Calpers, not the union contract. 3) Longevity pay DOES increase our liability, but that was obvious. 4) See Number 2. 5) and 6)Totally obvious. Why don't you just do some homework, this information is all available. Retroactive benefits such as 2.7 vs 2.0 and 3.0 vs 2.5 or 2.0, whatever it was, only apply to years with this city. It was still wrong for the city to pay an enhancement to get rid of all the dead weight it wanted gone, ie., they wanted people to retire. We get to pay for that unless Orange County is victorious, keep your fingers crossed. Firebug, your water rates could increase 25% and they would still be low, our rates for VSFCD however, are not subject to voter approval. They are approved by the city council in the guise of the board of directors. Did you notice they just went up again, I may be wrong but I believe our rates are now 75% higher than when I moved here 18 years ago, not to mention Garbage rates. So much for the best interests of the citizens, not much complaint from those posting here...

me   |January.09.2009 i've heard that LMDs, like other benefit districts, are created by a vote, and may be undone by a vote.

VHS   |January.09.2009 You are so right Curious. The LMD districts and the funds that are supposed to be dedicated to them are a real concern for me. We have very little landscape maintenance activity in my district yet the fees show up on the tax bill without fail. Im skeptical by nature but if Im looking to rob Peter to pay Paul, the LMDs would be a great place to start.

Anonymous   |January.09.2009 No no no - do a salary survey with the private sector. Paying public employees more than the private sector is just like having a tiered pay scale between two funds. Why should city jobs pay so much more than the private sector? There is no reason other than you've got councils all over this state and country that are not business people and don't know how to protect the bottom line. Vallejo is in the worst shape of all (BK) because Vallejo has had the most inept council members of all. It has nothing to do with unions, its about being able to match revenues and expenses.

silasbarnabe   |January.09.2009 Streetsweeper, You are actually paying for decades of your union's leadership apathy when it comes to funding. Years ago you should have fought for a dedicated percentage of the general fund go to public works like other Cities (including your the very cities you would like to see salary survey performed). Your leadership was asleep at the wheel when they let Maintenance Districts be formed with no concessions like hiring City employees to do the work because it would have complicated and slowed down the process of freeing up money in the general fund made available to PSU's for their raises and benefits. Your leadership sold you out many years ago by convincing you that PSU interests and IBEW interests were the same, they clearly are not. PSU's wanted the entire general fund for their exclusive use and as it turned out they got it and now here we are in BK. My suggestion as a very old Union man is to fire your leadership, break with the PSU's and work with the citizens to get the concessions from the general fund that was mentioned above, you might be surprised how many of us would support you.

Curious   |January.09.2009 Make sure that fancy breakdown includes the percentage of the LMD's that is sucked off for Admin to cover time that should be part of the General Fund...the amazing movable line between different City of Vallejo pots of money.

streetsweeper   |January.09.2009 Yes all of that sounds great. First though, do a salary survey like the one the city is afraid to do because it will show the majority of Ibew underpaid compared to other cities like Fairfield, yes I said Fairfield. Mmmmmmmm? Why did the city have the belnap study done for psu and not the other groups? Oh and we only have a couple of members left that cut grass or trees. Most of that work is done by contractors. Hey, maybe Robert can do one of those fancy breakdowns for Ibew comparing salary and benifits of other cities and Vallejo. Or maybe the cost for public works in Vallejo and other cities.

Firebug   |January.09.2009 Pyriphlegethon_ And let's not forgot savings in public works

Pyriphlegethon   |January.09.2009 FB - yes, indeedy! That would help, since I think we all are still paying off that Baykeepers lawsuit Vallejo lost; I remember that from around 2001ish? The one for dumping raw sewage into the bay. Although I think that's San&Flood but still, we could save money there too.

Firebug   |January.09.2009 Pyriphlegethon- As an example w e wouldn't have to raise water rates for quite some time if we get the salaries and benefits in line not in the general fund.

Pyriphlegethon   |January.09.2009 Just because your contracts might not be paid by the General Fund does not mean that you all should take a cut. Reading Robert Schussel's two recent reports show just how out-of-whack Vallejo's pay scales are. And you can't just cut the general fund salaries and benefits - it would be ridiculous to have two tiered pay scales depending on what fund your salary and benefits come out of. I think recently that 6 out of the 8 LMD increases failed - why should homeowners pay the city such exorbitant rates when as individuals they could get much better deals in the private sector? How hard is it to cut the grass?

Streetsweeper   |January.09.2009 Psu, the psu may have their contracts thrown out but how is the Ibew contract hamper the general fund? We are the largest union and account for 10percent of the general fund. I like our chances in court over the psu unions. Ha ha

PSU Watch   |January.09.2009 HaHaHaHaHaHa. Because your union may not have paid a dime for the billboard, but you are unnecessarily paying many dimes for the battle that billboard represents. HaHaHaHaHa.

streetsweeper   |January.09.2009 Psu, please, are you kidding? You folks were blowing the blogs up when that billboard went up so it is not my opinion but a fact you folks were upset. I was letting you guys know that's it's gone, sorry if I ruffled your feathers. And just to let you know my union did not pay a dime for that billboard so save your ha ha for the psu unions.

PSU Watch   |January.09.2009 Sweeper, you have a habit of having to come back and say, "Oh, I didn't read that." I would suggest that you keep yourself up to date and informed before you spew your uninformed opinions to the world. And as for the billboard, I don't think we cried about it at all. If you'll recall, we were pretty much laughing at you all. What a waste of money! HaHaHaHaHa!

Pyriphlegethon   |January.09.2009 No need to leave it up anymore -- its intended purpose, to scare Vallejoans into raising taxes was a complete bust. Save your $ IAFF/VPOA, you'll need it for the continual appeals to BK you'll keep filing after each subsequent one fails...on the advice of your lawyers (they love your $) and your fearless leader Henke et al. Just like Henke's lawsuit. When are you going to find some real leaders?

streetsweeper   |January.09.2009 On fire, ok guess I missed that. Was driving by the billboard this morning and it was gone.

On Fire   |January.09.2009 Street Sweeper, if you will recall, henke stated that the billboard was supposed to have been taken down a couple of weeks ago.... Probably because that was all the time they paid for it to be up.

streetsweeper   |January.09.2009 You guys can stop crying about the billboard it's down. Wonder why??????????

Captain   |January.08.2009 "The city is only responsible for the years the employee serves with this city." Excuse me for being skeptical but 1) you're anonymous 2)the contracts are union written 3) longevity pay for laterals has nothing to do with longevity in Vallejo 4)retroactive active benefits were a scam so I don't trust unsubstantiated comments 5) Chief Nepotismillini seems to be running a friends & family program 6)everything in vallejo gov needs to be viewed with skeptisim. Sorry - just how I feel. Hopefully a recognizable VIB name will chime in.

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 New era in ferry travel planned for the Bay http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_11363165

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 In 2001, the new benefits of 2.7 @ 55 and 3 @ 50 were implemented and were made retroactive. I am IBEW and a citizen and even I know that making this retroactive was wrong. The employees that the city wanted to hurry up and retire were enticed to leave by this and by the "Golden Handshakes" that were handed out in great number. A golden handshake is the city paying a full two more years into the Calpers retirement including the employees portion so the employee receives an additional 5.4 or 6%. This was said to save money but no numbers were given. Later it was found that it cost more partly because of the payout and future cost of the payout, partly because you still had to fill those positions with "acting pay" paid positions (the position cannot be filled permanently for those 2 years), and other reasons I am not fully sure of. City management wanted this and the city council approved it and now we are stuck with it. Hopefully, Orange County prevails in their lawsuit and we won't have to support 2.7 or 3% for the years prior to 2001 for current or former employees. This would be a great cost savings over time.

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 The city is only responsible for the years the employee serves with this city.

Captain   |January.08.2009 I have a question regarding the lateral PD recruit that is currently in background checks, and scheduled to be hired this month. I'll assume that he/she is from a local agency and currently receiving the 3@50 pension benefit. I'm also assuming that part of his/her career was worked under the 2.x@55 formula. Vallejo PS still works under the 2001 contract, with some modifications & extensions, that provides for retroactive pension benefits of 3@50. So here is my question. If Vallejo hires laterals, are the taxpayers potentially on the hook for paying this officers enhanced pension? Anybody know how that works?

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 Calpers has exposure to landsource/Lennar In June, LandSource Communities Development LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Last year, the California fund invested about $900 million in cash and property... http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081027/PRINTSUB/310279974/1031/TOC

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 Hmmmmmm......I wonder if the IAFF Local 1189 has any dealings with Bernard "Made-Off-With-The-Money" Madoff financial scandal? Perhaps the other unions involved with City Hall?...... Madoff Exposure Spreads to Labor Union Pension Funds By: Charlie Gasparino, On-Air Editor | 08 Jan 2009 | 02:10 PM ET http://www.cnbc.com/id/28561457 The financial carnage coming out of the Bernard Madoff investment scandal is now spreading from charities and wealthy individuals to labor union pension funds. In recent days, several have fessed up to their members their significant exposure to Madoff's investment scheme, which will result in massive losses to their members. CNBC has learned that one union, the Carpenters local in Syracuse, N.Y., has lost the majority of the $100 million to $150 million it had in pension money because of its dealings with Madoff, people close to the matter said. The union's money manager, J.P. Jeanneret Associates of Syracuse, didn't return a telephone call for comment.

streetsweeper   |January.08.2009 Your right about being laid off because the city can cut as many of us as they want unlike fire or police. So how is our contract crippling the city's general fund? If they can't afford us lower our numbers untill you can right? No need to reject our contract right?and on this shoemaker guy that I did vote for but only because the other guy was to self serving. Do you think he is guiding the rest of our leaders? God I hope not because there is a board that should make choices together.

Streetsweeper   |January.08.2009 I've been hearing down at the corpyard that we are close to a deal but that's just a rumor. On our legal council our money is just is good as psu. Plus I'm hearing we have alot more money to work with than psu. I'm all for a deal but not sure our leaders can pull it off.

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 SS: "[city] filed to throw out our contract" "[city] planned to screw us all" You drank Henke's koolaid, pal. The City's back was against the wall because no one was willing to make the concessions the city HAD to have in order to avoid BK. Why do you think all 7 voted for it, even Hannigan, pal of Jon Rielly? And you still have your little bankruptcy web site that claims the city isn't really bankrupt. Even Gloster admitted in front of the judge that the city's finances are in peril. But what did he suggest? No cuts, just get rid of everyone and everything until there's no more financial problem. Who did he suggest getting rid of as your fearless leader Shoemaker sat there & listened? Everyone, including IBEW...oh, but no, not the IAFF - Gloster knows who butters his bread. Apparently, Shoemaker and the rest of you don't.

On Fire   |January.08.2009 Then SS, why hasn't IBEW completed any re-negotiations as of now? They can come to a settlement individually you know! Although if all unions have not found a way to settle, then it will all be for not anyway as the judge will decide. But if IBEW was so confident that they are not part of the problem, why are they still soliciting money to fight the city? Why not settle? What your saying doesn't make sense. The city can't ask for bankrupcty without including all debtors, no matter how small. But the unions can come up with an agreement on the contract issues and the city can go back to court and can pull out of bankruptcy proceedings if they find a way to keep the city functioning. Since you all (all unions) have filed the appeal, it shows that they are not ready to accept that the city is broke and not ready to renegotiate the contracts. So it really doesn't matter that you are only a small part of the general fund, your still part of the problem.

streetsweeper   |January.08.2009 Rewrite history? Many of us thought the city was after the psu but when the filed to throw out our contract. Along with that, camps contract was thrown into the fire. Why would the city treat the only employees who would not even look at them wrong like that? Answer, they planned to screw us all. We were never the problem not finacially or politically. Do you think the judge will look at the Ibew contract and think it's sinking the city and must be rejected? I like our chances over the psu. I'm not happy with our leaders but don't know if they had a chance to get out whithout us getting the dirty end of the stick like always.

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 Streetsweeper, don't you dare try to re-write history! The city did not pull IBEW into the BK mess. YOUR leadership and Little Kenny Shoemaker jumped into the fight with VPOA and IAFF unnecessarily -- Henke called and gave you the bs about the employee unions standing together in unity. The city said they didn't have any problems with IBEW and CAMP contracts, they knew those contracts weren't bankrupting the city. But IBEW wanted to be bigshots and play the Henke game, so you formed the Triangle. IBEW is sharing the expensive costs to protect their contracts that were never in jeopardy in the first place! LOL!

On Fire   |January.08.2009 Street Sweeper, maybe then there is a need for a change in mindset. Maybe the unions need to think about protecting JOBS and not protecting CONTRACTS? I mean, what good is a contract if the Judge throws it out? Keeping as many people in jobs and how that can happen (cuts in salaries, self contributions toward health care and retirement plans, elimination of perks)would seem to be more important in this time of economic crisis. There are very little job opportunities for many people out there in other cities. So being able to keep a paycheck would seem to be more important that saving union face and taking that losing position of "big strong union" bully. National can send all the money they want, but will they pay your house note when you lose your job?

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 And the Unions have no responsibility in this mess at all do they? Wake up! This boat is sinking fast and we are all in it, regardless of your $^%#* national. You are all in bed: IAFF/VPOA/IBEW. So sorry you caught all those bedbugs. The City didn't and does not have the money and its only getting worse due to the horrible economy! Even proponents of Public Safety are now saying Vallejo's unions went too far! WAKEEEEE UPPPPP!!!

streetsweeper   |January.08.2009 I was told by my union rep that our union is only paying to protect our contract and the appeal. If the city only filed to throw out psu contracts Ibew would not be in this mess.don't know why the city came after us and camp we are 10 percent of the general buget and we offered to give up increase for a couple years plus furlough time. Now the city is having to now deal with our national and it's deep pockets for legal expenses.if the city was smart they would have given the Ibew a out long ago

Anonymous   |January.08.2009 I think the "union-friendly" council all caved because--sweeper had you been paying attention you would know this--the City's BK lawyer told them that if the Council was found negligent in protecting the City from its creditors by NOT filing for BK, they all would be personally liable. Surprisingly, there ARE limits to what they will do for Henke. And talk about war: what about Henke's frivolous lawsuits over the years against Schively and the others, that Henke had the audacity to appeal. The appeals court threw that out so fast that heads were spinning. Seems what Henkes was accusing people of was a funny thing called "free speech"? Did your union also agree to help pick up the tab for Henke's (and now the City's and Guiliani's) legal fees along with BK fees that the IAFF chumps are now on the line for? And the rest of you, following such a jerk, you should be ashamed. He has power because you gave it to him. Now look where he brought us all. Unions to Henke: Baa-baa-baa

streetsweeper   |January.08.2009 Stay bought? I thought half the council was union friendly till they voted for the bankruptcy and rejection of the contracts. I do not think unions should run the city but at the same time the council should not be at war with it's workers. Balance!

Anonymous   |January.07.2009 Corrupt System, you nailed it in the head. As long as our city employee unions are able to financially and non-monetarily support council candidates, we will have a corrupt system where citizens come last, if at all. Councilmenber Gomes has often quoted a frightening question she was asked by the unions in her first campaign: "if we endorse you, will you stay bought?"

Corrupt System   |January.07.2009 Can anybody comment on whether or not its possible for taxpayers to place a proposition on a ballot that would make it illegal for unions to have any contact, verbal or monetary, with council member candidates? If so, lets start getting signatures.

streetsweeper   |January.07.2009 Robert, I might consider paying some of my medical if all the other employees pay. Do you think it would be fair for Ibew to pay some of the current employees medical costs if any of the other city employees don't pay? I mean all employees including the city manager and council. Lead by example right?

Robert Schussel   |January.07.2009 Streetsweeper If you live in the Bay /Sacramento area you should not have to normally pay for any part of the retiree health insurance premium if you have the Kaiser North Plan. Anonymous What I related was information given to me by several sources.There is always the possibility you may be correct.To the extent possible I will try to verify. If you don't ask the right question or get lucky its hard to get all of the facts. I might add that no one has approached me and said are you aware of X abuse.People don't want to give up what they have even if it is hurting the City finanically.

streetsweeper   |January.07.2009 Robert, I thought it was 10 years for life time medical. Also, when I retire I have to pay $500 a month for me and my wife so it's not free. I agree with you employees should work more than 5 years for life time medical.

PSU Watch   |January.07.2009 Anon, Chief Nic doesn't like to hire new recruits. He likes his Oakland PD laterals. I agree with you. Let's bring in some new blood, preferably new blood from Vallejo. Train and hire our own residents so the favorite views of our police officers' isn't Vallejo in their rearview mirrors at the end of the day.

Anonymous   |January.07.2009 Mr. Schussel 10 years for IBEW Immediate for Camp 5 years for the PSU's You have to retire while in the employ of the City Of Vallejo, at least in IBEW. Verify your facts. PhD or not, posting bad data puts the veracity of your arguments in question. Just a warning as I respect your opinions. Yes, I am IBEW but I am also a concerned citizen of Vallejo.

Pyriphlegethon   |January.07.2009 My spouse and I, like the rest of us in the real world, pay about $400/month towards our employer covered medical insurance. And we have the typical co-pays and deductibles. And its only Kaiser. Of course the same people that feed at the taxpayer trough most likely would never want to see socialized health care (ask Henke the Republican what he thinks of that).

I Try Locks   |January.07.2009 "tries doors to make sure building is locked." Hey I do that all the time - can I get a raise to $170,000?

Fed up   |January.07.2009 Hey Street Sweeper, Life time medical after working for five years anywhere is like hitting the lotto! My brother retired after 30 years in Silicon Valley-Guess what his medical is? Cobra---$1,400. per month for he and his wife until medicare can kick in at 65---This is the real world!! And you have to hope like hell that you don't have a pre-existing condition.

Anonymous   |January.07.2009 From the Vallejo website, VPD is looking for laterals. It would be nice if they could find some wide-eyed recruits that could pump some enthusiasm into the blood of this experienced group. I love the requirement section. My favorite is,"tries doors to make sure building is locked." I guess I'm being cynical. The link (it's a long one): http://agency.governmentjobs.com/vallejo/default.cfm?action=viewjob&JobID=75629&hit_count=Yes&headerfooter=1&promo=0&transfer=0&WDDXJobSearchParams=%3CwddxPacket%20version%3D%271%2E0%27%3E%3Cheader%2F%3E%3Cdata%3E%3Cstruct%3E%3Cvar%20name%3D%27FIND%5FKEYWORD%27%3E%3Cstring%3E%3C%2Fstring%3E%3C%2Fvar%3E%3Cvar%20name%3D%27CATEGORYID%27%3E%3Cstring%3E%2D1%3C%2Fstring%3E%3C%2Fvar%3E%3Cvar%20name%3D%27 TRANSFER%27%3E%3Cstring%3E0%3C%2Fstring%3E%3C%2Fvar%3E%3Cvar%20name%3D%27PROMOTIONALJOBS%27%3E%3Cstring%3E0%3C%2Fstring%3E%3C%2Fvar%3E%3C%2Fstruct%3E%3C%2Fdata%3E%3C%2FwddxPacket%3E

Robert Schussel   |January.07.2009 Street Sweeper All Vallejo City Workers (including you) get free health insurance for life after 5 years of service. Now are you starting to understand why the City is in such big trouble. Everyone is happy to spend other peoples money and never bother to ask how much is it costing the City or what are the long term consequences if it is approved.

streetsweeper   |January.07.2009 Robert, your kidding right? 5 years and they have medical for life? I think there is a term for this. Carpet bagger right? I bet all those city managers like martinez and Thompson all have this medical deal to.

Captain   |January.07.2009 Anon From the TH: "Police Chief Robert Nichelini expects to hire two new officers in January." http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_11334986

Robert Schussel   |January.07.2009 Curious I was told that it was Curtola who helped get City Council members Free health insurance and the ability to enroll in the PERS pension plan. I am not 100% sure but I think that after 5 years of service on City Council the health insurance is free for life. The ability to get a pension through PERS is why Vallejo politicans fight to get on a Commission so that they will be able to retire with a nice pension.

Firebug   |January.07.2009 How interesting that the Registrar would change the number of signatures required. This warrants an investigation and I am glad to see this going to court. I call CAHOOTS... and given the registrar's past indiscretions with the OZZY election I can't help but question the results there.

anon   |January.07.2009 Captain, Read Garmans's review of the council meeting. Osby said they are freezing all general funded positions=no fireman or cops.

VHS   |January.07.2009 Im with you on this one Curious. Where can a tax payer get the accounting information for the redevelopment dept? Not the top line numbers on the CAFR but the sub ledger info. I cant find the documents on the city website. Anybody have an idea?

Captain   |January.07.2009 PD is hiring. The plan is to hire 2 officers per month until they reach 124. People on the TH Topix site didn't seem to be aware of this either. Apparently Job Openings are a well kept secret in Vallejo. You will find the info on page 10 of the updated budget: http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/uploads/48/102808%20-%20First%20Quarter%20General%20Fund%20Budget%20Update.pdf

Curious   |January.07.2009 What's happening behind closed doors in Economic Development? Thats where Al DaSilva and Terry Curtola worked their magic. I understand that Terry Curtola, a former mayor and GOB muckamuck, was hired for a position there with none of the required qualifications just so he could get a fat pension for the rest of his life from us taxpayers. Does the City's contribution to Terry's pension check and Al's check that goes to some foreign island come out of Redevelopment funds or the General Fund?

ROBERT SCHUSSEL   |January.07.2009 JUST ME Schussel DOES KNOW what he is talking about. Tell me what is incorrect or is this just another distraction from a Troll. I would bet you don't work for the Federal Government. The numbers came from a Federal Government Manager who has deep knowledge of their HR practices etc.

just me   |January.07.2009 Unfortunately Schussel doesn't know what he's talking abot regarding federal employees.

Anonymous   |January.06.2009 And don't forget Chief Nic's speech at city council a couple of months back when he had authority to hire more officers. He didn't want new recruits, he only wanted experienced laterals. So he didnt hire when he could. And he trashed all recruits that were unafiliated (he basically called them losers who couldn't make it anywhere else). Only Oakland Academy recruits were acceptable to him (his son was such a good example of Oakland academy training). He was pushed into looking at recruits from the Sac academy.

PSU Watch   |January.06.2009 They may be considered "full" at 114 (or whatever the number is now), but only because the city doesn't have the money to hire more recruits. With 3/4 of the GF going to public safety already, there won't be more money for more recruits, either. Until the city gets employee costs under control, this won't change. And I think that many of us agree that hiring more cops would be a good thing for the city. But not at the contract rates we have now.

Recruit   |January.06.2009 All of the talk about recruiting officers...guess what folks, there are no authorized opening in the VPD. They are are filled up with 114. Truth.

captain   |January.06.2009 That's unacceptable. Tax Payers should demand that all department heads perform to the highest standard. The Pay is high - why not demand that the level of performance is high!

Anonymous   |January.06.2009 Chief Nic is an aging dinosaur who needs to retire. Let the younger folks have a shot at it (NOT Cptn. Lee, Chief Nic's Mini-Me who apparently isn't qualified to run the PD mailroom let alone be a captain). Chief Nic is wasting space and preventing the department from moving into the 21st century.

Firebug   |January.06.2009 I doubt it captain the double standard is that chief nic says what academy's the city can't recruit from yet takes no responsibility for recruitment. His PSU groupies blame Human Resources for that. Chief nics repsonsibilities are whatever he says they are.

captain   |January.06.2009 STOCKTON - Not long ago the Stockton Police Department couldn't hire fast enough to satisfy the city's appetite for police, but last week it was forced by a shrinking budget to lay off four academy trainees who were about a month from graduating and joining the ranks. Sounds like some potential recruits for Chief Nichilini & VPD.

captain   |January.06.2009 Anonymous I completely agree - I just finished the article and came back to post the link. One of the more comprehensive pieces I've read. http://ecoworld.com/blog/2009/01/06/the-tyranny-of-unions/

Anonymous   |January.06.2009 GREAT article on the devastating role of modern unions. Our very own Edinator is even quoted! http://ecoworld.com/blog/2009/01/06/the-tyranny-of-unions/

PSU Watch   |January.06.2009 Isn't is amazing that the PSUs blame the city councils who approved their contracts, when those city councils had a majority bought and sold by themselves? PSUs buy City Councils ---> PSUs write their own cushy contracts ---> PSUs push their Bought Councilmembers to approve contracts ---> contracts eventually bankrupt the city ---> PSUs blame City Councils ---> PSUs make push to buy NEW City Council. Let's stop the circle and not let the PSUs buy our next City Council. That's the only way this nightmare will ever end.

PSU Watch   |January.06.2009 "...now I accept that in Vallejo GREED is clothed in a uniform, wrapped in hero worship, dipped in a lie and used as the key to unlock the piggy bank. Unfortunately, the piggy bank is empty." THAT is a beautifully written statement that sums it up very neatly with an ugly little bow. Kudos Marc!

captain   |January.06.2009 Here is an interesting article out of Philly: Nutter seeks big concessions in pollice, fire talks http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20090106_Nutter_seeks_big_concessions_in_police__fire_talks

Firebug   |January.06.2009 Marc, I have been reading many of the posts on the Times Horrid and have noticed even more anger than normal. The only thing I can attribute it to is your articles, and then this morning I made the connection as to which one. The PSU's appear very agitated about your reference to them "crying" for more money from outside unions. Kudos to you! You have enraged some of the more caustic poster's from the famous Oakland ISP's.

Streetsweeper   |January.06.2009 Robert, the 60k average I'm talking about is from the council meeting in december of 2007. Information on salary and benifits was included for all the labor groups. After that meeting those spead sheets were all over the place and you should have one. Oh, and the new folks who think I'm a plant because I don't talk about how terrible psu is calm down with the conspiricy theory crap. Psu stuff will be over soon then what? We going to continue this war on psu? Oh, and the city manager thing is just a rumor going around but we are about due to loose another one.

VHS   |January.06.2009 Excellent website on redevelopment LOL. It reads like a biography of Vallejo California. Wouldnt it be wonderful if the court would allow us to sunset all our redevelopment projects and disband the agency? One can dream.

Little Old Lady   |January.05.2009 I don't know exactly how Redevelopment works because it is a secret government with many layers. The Feds had a stake in urban renewal in the 1960s which created some of the most notorious public housing projects ever like Pruitt-Igo and Cabrini Green. These were imploded and HUD now touts mixed use Projects to replace the failed experiments. The redevelopment laws that now affect Vallejo are California laws. Check out the following for an explanation more complete than I could ever come up with. Some communities that were damaged by Redevelopment, including Portland OR, saw the error of their ways and introduced "Smart Growth" policies and programs that worked incredibly well as evidenced by Portlands high livability scores. I think Marina Vista has always been subsidized and I understand that it was/is owned by PG&E's retirement portfolio. But someone verify that. http://redevelopment.com/norby/index

Robert Schussel   |January.05.2009 Street Sweeper Not sure what you are referring to. I have never quoted an average salary for IBEW workers. I disagree about using other cities as comparision groups especially for IBEW .Many of the jobs have an exact counter part in the private sector.

gettin' stinky   |January.05.2009 On Fire: couldn't agree w/ u more, Beware: u must be talking about SS, & I think I know what IBEW jackass u refer to

Waz up wid dat   |January.05.2009 Dear Little Old Lady, for us dunderheads, who do not understand exactly how redevelopment funds/bonds work, please explain. Also, can you site any major city that has actually benefited and blossomed from the use of redevelopment funds, Portland Oregon??? Help us "dead commoners" be more knowledgeable about this subject, Knowledge is power!!!!! Viva Vallejo!

Beware   |January.05.2009 If you'll notice, there's a blogger here who emerged with sub-elementary level grammar. With time, his literacy subtly improved. He's is suspectfully an imposter. Most express that his ideas are ignorant and lacking, but yet he keeps coming back. Beware that this individual may be persistently trying to seed your thinking (with ideas about generating revenue)to delude & detract you from the idiotic greed of the union bosses. Such an IAFF union boss has done the same brainwashing on this IBEW punk.

Missmarvelous   |January.05.2009 When 201 Maine was built, was it designed as a low-income project? Was it just an apartment complex that was turned into low-income? The reason I ask, it there is an apartment complex in Benica on W.K street, it started off as regualar housing, went low-income and then somehow someone/company purchase it and rehab'ed and converted it back to regular housing...

Anonymous   |January.05.2009 Tanner is leaving? Where did you hear that? Or is that just your midnight fantasy because he's kicked your union's collective asses in a way nobody has in Vallejo history? Or maybe King Ozzy is at it again?

streetsweeper   |January.05.2009 Robert, as far as other city employees you must be talking about camp members because the average Ibew member under the general fund makes 60k. Not sure it's fare comparing the private sector to city workers. You should compare cities to cities you choose them just leave out Stockton. Also, throw in tanner to your spreadsheet for fun because I would love to see his numbers when he leaves in a few weeks.

Fed Up   |January.05.2009 PSU supporters can send money from out of town, but they can't vote from out of town. We must exercise our power at the polls and support candidates demonstrating a sincere attitude for Vallejo's prosperity. I will never vote yes on a tax increase to continue the current PSU gravy train.

On Fire   |January.05.2009 Why is the city wasting time trying to negotiate with the unions? It is clear that the unions aren't going to negotiate in good faith and this was already demonstrated over the years. They don't want to change a thing, don't believe that the city is broke and doesn't care how much it's costing the city to keep up this charade. If re-negotiation of the current contracts were possible, it would be happening now. The judge should move this case forward and be done with it. We all know that henke's ego will demand that they appeal that decision too. We all see through the fact that they are trying to stretch this out to 2010. If the money is flowing in, like the unions say, then why are they still begging? This money is going to go dry soon because the other cities all know their turn is coming and they need their own money to fight their own battles. UAW appears to be the only union that gets it. Either work now for less, or be unemployed.

Little Old Lady   |January.05.2009 And they did that in the 1960s because of the Federal Redevelopment Act. The City leaders believed that Redevelopment would save the city, get rid of the poor and pots of tax increment money would flood directly into the city's coffers. They were wrong. All communities that embraced Redevelopment went downhill and all the ones that didn't fall for it ended up much more prosperous. But our GOB's don't learn. They still think Redevelopment is the greatest thing since sliced bread and have extended those failing Redevelopment Areas by consolidating them and extending the time frame for another 20 years. These require more subsidized housing when that was all that was actually built (besides the infrastructure road realigments)last round. The bankruptcy might save us yet. Because the City will have a hard time floating a bunch of new Redevelopment Bonds for the downtown because no one in their right mind would invest in Vallejo now.

63 grad   |January.05.2009 downtown pretty much took the big hit when Mayor Douglas and council decided to bull doze the library, lower Georgia, the YMCA and the neighborhood where 201 Maine sits right now. The Coup de gr�ce was cutting off Georgia street from the waterfront.

Firebug   |January.05.2009 I am all for exploring the benefits of green energy on Mare Island per Mr. Golovich's letter ;however, I disagree that revenues from Mare Island have caused Vallejo to sink into bankruptcy. Vallejo's biggest loss in revenue came from prop 13 in 1979. Vallejo's down town died in the 1970's decades before the Navy pulled out. If folks want to bring people together they should cease putting out misinformation.

Anonymous   |January.05.2009 Nice article today about our city unions begging for money from unions across the country. Instead of paying more money and begging for more, why not just renegotiate the contracts? I don't get it. They will NEVER get what their current contracts call for because the city can't afford it. Those days are over. Why not just admit that and find a solution? What a bunch of crying babies.

VHS   |January.05.2009 Wind turbines should be a growth industry going forward. One of the areas under study by GE, MIT and government agencies is locating the turbines off shore on floating platforms. Vallejo should get itself in position to build the platforms in our dry docks to meet this demand. If we could get a turbine manufacturing plant on the island that would be a major win for us. I wouldnt hold out hope though for actually locating a turbine on the island. Too many not in my backyard environmentalists to ever get that approved.

streetsweeper   |January.05.2009 On fire, I read the same article and think it had merit. Not sure what technology would be best though. Wind mills might be ok as long as the can create the energy needed and not cause to many problems. Not sure what they would look like or how big they would have to be. The Feds would most likely support it and for a city with no money that's important.

On Fire   |January.04.2009 Street Sweeper, when looking at ideas for Mare Island, there was a good letter from Stan Golovich at that "other website", about developement of a clean renewable energy projects on Mare Island. While I wasn't crazy about his ideas for ship breaking on Mare Island, some of his ideas appear to be something do-able for Vallejo and possibly a good fit. This is what I see as moving away from knee-jerk reactionary businesses and having mediocre expectations for what can happen in Vallejo.

streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 Evil fruit and trees are you people making this stuff up? Not sure I have a bible in the house but I'm getting ready to look. I'm not hung up on the casino idea just think we should explore it. Mare island should have a balance and yes it would be great to secure the wetlands for hiking ect. Every time I ride the ferry I'm amazed at the potential of the island. The houses on the hill close to the old coast guard building would make a great bed and breakfast.

On Fire   |January.04.2009 Okay SS, I get it, you like the casino idea. You just keep your eyes and mind open and read up on how your idea may imact Vallejo. You may just be surprized about what the research says.

Sunday   |January.04.2009 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16-20)

streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 Your right one casino will not solve our problem but it would help. There is a major theme park in town and all agree our location is great down by the water so we have that to offer. All I am stressing is to look at all ideas that might help. We could have a diversity of industry in town. Just trying to find a way to attract people to Vallejo to spend money when the economy turns around.

Little Old Lady   |January.04.2009 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29: 2

On Fire   |January.04.2009 There is a big difference between a town that has a casino and a town that has casinos. One casino on Mare Island will not bring tourists that some and spend more than a day here. They may stay over night, but that would be a small percentage. People that go to the Casino in San Pablo, don't stay in hotels, don't do their shopping in town, don't eat in the restuarants other than Denny's. They come for the day or evenings and then go home. Casinos like Cache Creek are out of the way, so more may be interested in maybe staying overnight. But they don't spend time around town, as there is no town. Places like Tahoe and Reno are filled with casinos and other recreational areas so what you would consider a tourist destination. You have to know what makes each different and we would be closer to what they have in San Pablo. That casino has put money into the general fund, but has it helped with the growth of that city? No, it's still filled with poverty, and crime. No jobs other than in food service or working on the floor. Nothing has changed and other businesses around it have shut their doors there too. Gambling, just what we need for the poor here. Sorry, there is just not enough appeal of a casino that would make me think it would have a great enough impact to override the bad aspects.

silasbarnabe   |January.04.2009 Lake Tahoe Casinos are suffering from losses as well, but what they have that other big losing Indian Casinos do not is a tourist and recreation base.

Streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 Tahoe does not have a image problem caused by a casino. There is a balance between nature and gambling. Again, a casino offers much more than gambling. Why be so closed minded because of your own personal beliefs as far as what is exceptable to you? Not sure about the cash creek area having a bunch of problems caused by a casino but tahoe seems just fine. I have never been to cash creek but I think I will make a road trip this week to check things out. Maybe you will be right little old lady. Any more bible quotes?

Waz up wid dat   |January.04.2009 In this economy we do not need to associate Vallejo with a negative industry such as a Casino. Just what we need more negative press, people complaining that they lost what little they have at a Vallejo Casino. I dont see anything postive about casinos, it's not the

Auto-mall   |January.04.2009 Little Old Lady has it right on. Vallejo can have the "Vallejo Bienale" (we even already have the V) if we think we can. If we think we can't we never will.

Little Old Lady   |January.04.2009 Where there is no vision, the people will perish. Proverbs 29:18

Little Old Lady   |January.04.2009 Character problem. empty comment

Little Old Lady   |January.04.2009 Character problem. empty comment

Auto-mall   |January.04.2009 Take a trip to Altantic City. Then you might think 2X about casinos in Vallejo (that is, if you even live here and care about Vallejo, anonymous)

streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 Little old lady you have a great imagination. Vallejo has a great location and the weather is nice but how can you compare us to arsenale in Venice? Also the last time I was at the presidio I missed the rusting navy cranes and huge metal buildings. I don't think we should dismantle all the building, just the ones that look like oversized sheds. One idea that makes sense is to develop a industrial park some place in town. Thought they were looking at the area by the sanitation plant. Even Benicia has a industrial park.

On Fire   |January.04.2009 Anon, no one is stopping Street Sweeper from expressing his opinion. The fact that he has a continuous dialog here proves that. Nothing wrong with discussing the merits of an idea. Just because we don't always agree, doesn't mean it isn't worth having the dialog.

Little Old Lady   |January.04.2009 Silly! One persons "eye sore" is another persons National Historic Landmark. Ever heard of the Charleston Navy Yard? The Presidio of San Francisco? Fort Mason? One international visitor comparted Mare Island to the Arsenale in Venice, Italy where incredible cutting edge exhibits (the Venice Bienale) are held bringing visitors and exhibitors (green) from all over the world. Vallejo thinks at the bottom of the barrel rather than skim the cream off the top. With Vallejo's location and world class transportation linkages, Mare Island could equal the Venice Arsenale not Cache Creek. And yes, native americans lived here first. That does not equal "tribal lands" which are necessary for a Casino. Plus the tribes have entered into revenue sharing agreements to keep rampant capitalist competion from undercutting the existing casinos. So if you want to think out of the box, do so with a clear understanding of Vallejo's strengths, opportunities, constraints and weaknesses. The downtown will prosper, not by bringing in new businesses no one will patronize, but by ending the long misuse of the surrounding historic neighborhoods as dumping grounds for group homes, subsidized and slumlorded rentals and develop policies that encourage middle class owners to come in and fix up their properties. Think synergistically! Rehabilitating neighborhoods supports Foster Lumber and many, many construction workers. The cute historic neighborhoods bring visitors to look around and maybe spend money. The ferry would fill up in the reverse commute directions with SF tourists. Plus, the new urban dwellers are mostly childless couples who are not put off by the bad schools (or just start their own charter schools) and do not have much need to call the police, paramedics or fire department because they live responsibly. In my neighborhood, the PSUs only show up at the overcrowded slum up the street when someone overdoses or gets in a screaming fight with their many "friends" that show up for very quick visits. The new urbanists favor locally grown organic produce and frequent nice restaurants. Vallejo needs more of them and less of the low-lifes. When that occurs, new businesses will fill in the downtown like grass in the spring. Vallejo does not need a "sugar daddy" big fix like the Navy (gone) LNG or a casino. Vallejo needs a lot of little, incremental fixes increasing the quality of life. The work of creating the policy framework for Vallejo to once again become a regional and maybe global center requires a proper General Plan. But when the PSUs suck off all the oxygen, that won't happen. First things first.

silasbarnabe   |January.04.2009 Anonymous sure reads like "old timer". Why on earth would someone being treated at a cancer center or their family even consider gambling?

Streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 What's the deal with the clean up on the island? Did the navy provide the amount of money needed to clean up their mess? If not can we lobby the Feds to provide the money? Lennar told the press that the city dropped the ball on the clean up and that's why they have not been able to bring in more industry.

Anonymous   |January.04.2009 Streetsweeper, I give you kudos for thinking outside of the square, unless others on here shooting ideas down that did not originate from them. Unfortunately the Casino thing will not have support, although I believe once the Cancer Center is built, we need to offer some kind of lodging/shopping/entertainment center for patients/families alike. Wow, what a concept, those facilities could even benefit Vallejoans. Since Touro was talking about an amphitheatre at waters edge, we better put our thinking caps on "before" we are being told what others, not concerned with the rest of Vallejo, plan on. All facilities on MI have to benefit the whole of Vallejo. Green industries can be placed throughout the island with certain areas better suited for them i.e. sun, wind, etc. My biggest concern is that the revenues generated continue to be used strictly to bolster Lennars faulty vision for the island. I really do not share Ms. Schivley's opinion of the great strides Lennar has made. Who did not know that all of MI was contaminated and the clean up would be costly? I fear, due to Lennar's inability to proceed as planned, some of the remaining priceless assets will be sold off to the highest bidder, which will not be the City of Vallejo. So, Sweeper, continue to bring us your thoughts, I appreciate them!

Waz up wid dat?   |January.04.2009 Did anyone see the article in the Times Horrid a few days ago breaking down the crime stats for Vallejo and Surrounding cities? Yes, they said that murders were "slightly down" in Vallejo from last year (13 this year/2008, 17 last year) that would be a 30% drop. They also said murders were "slightly up" in Santa Rosa compared to last year (4 last year, 8 this year/200 that folks is a 100% increase in the murder rate for Santa Rosa, a fully staffed police department city, located right in the heart of the wine country... Waz up wid dat?

On Fire   |January.04.2009 Street Sweeper, we all know that Vallejo needs new revenues. With the current economy, we won't see it anytime soon. Casinos and the other knee-jerk type ideas (any business is better than no business)have not worked in the past for Vallejo and will not benefit the general population as a whole. We usually see a couple of people (good ol' boys) that make deals that fatten their pockets and then fall flat. Suggest you read the articles on Casinos that Silas linked to his post. If we are going to look for businesses and industry to come to Vallejo, I'd rather see the type that will bring good jobs and opportunities for our citizens and our youth. Something that doesn't include serving drinks and food service for gamblers.

Streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 oh, and on the ford dealership has anyone noticed that the waterfall out front has been on since they left? Wonder who is paying for that?

Streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 The cancer center is the only positive thing going on. Just hope that project survives and recieves plenty of support. Not sure how much revenue it will provide for the island but it will at least help with our image. As far as the casino idea, I like the thought of nice hotels, places to eat, as opposed to heavy industry along the water. I think the history of the navy and mare island is great but most of the buildings and cranes left behind are a eye sore.

Auto-malls   |January.04.2009 Like everything else, Vallejo is so day-late and dollar-short. Now that Casinos are proliferating, we want to build one too (stamp feet). Just like we wanted our little auto-mall - one already belly-up, the others? What a waste of land and now we have two empty behemoth buildings left behind by Cornelius Ford (good ol boy, friend of Jerry Davis?) that now aren't doing a damn thing for Vallejo... Casino on Mare Island? Dumbest idea I've heard yet. Lets get some original ideas. Speaking of original, there is a Cancer Treatment Center meeting on 1/21 (I think at the Mare Island Conf Center). Sweeper, you should check it out. At least there is something in the works right now, who knows with the economy but at least they are still moving forward.

Steetsweeper   |January.04.2009 I thought the indians were here long before us. Solano ring a bell? Did we build over a area the Indians were concerned about out in the Glenn cove area? Ok, so you tell me how to bring more potential consumer spending to the downtown area. Now tell me where the money would come from. There is a good article in the times today about energy being produced on the island via green tech. I know the casino idea is a bit out there but I think it would help with the face lift the waterfront needs. If you have a better idea what is it? Is it to sit around and complain about psu while the city falls apart? The contract mess will be resolved at some point but we need more than that or we will be talking about these same issues 20 years from now.

Curious   |January.04.2009 Or Vallejo could just cut back and live within our means like normal people do when they are faced with an economic setback. This "economic setback" is affecting a lot more than little Vallejo. It affects the state, feds and the whole world and means that "growth" won't be happening anywhere or anytime soon. So that obviously means that we start with those unsustainable vampire contracts of the PSUs. Ending those will be a really good start. So why all these "red herring" lame ideas like casinos? There are laws against those in California except the tribal lands loophole. Vallejo sure was not going to give any of Mare Island away and the most likely tribe is not recognized. Next dumb idea?

Streetsweeper   |January.04.2009 My god are you kidding me. Not sure if you know this or not but nobody is beating down the door to get in here and set up shop for anything. It's sad that the places your complaining about are the only ones we can attract but it is our reality. A casino is one idea and if it was set up like a casino in tahoe it would work fine. Not sure about the crime impact because a casino on the island would be isolated, we could stop pawn shops and liqour stores from being placed on the island. I would love to bring in some great industy to Vallejo but don't believe it will happen anytime soon. We have to do somthing because the survival of the downtown and mare island depend on it.

On Fire   |January.03.2009 Street Sweeper, why would we bring in a business that preyed upon another group of people, making money by feeding off another habit? Why not make prostitution legal and collect fees? Or better yet, make drugs legal and collect fees? We would make more money that way! If you will look at how these casinos have impacted the surrounding neighborhoods with the need for additional police services, it would give you an indication of why we don't need another preditory business here. If they were to set up shop on Mare Island, the only money that would come in would go to Mare Island and not the general fund. The smaller casinos make their money by attracting people who generally can't afford to gamble, but because of their addiction, they spend money they don't have. Only the big casinos like in Reno and Las Vegas attract people with disposable income. The only businesses that will make mad money will be the pawn shops, liquor stores and prostitues. Why do we continue to settle for mediocre? Quick fixes is what has kept Vallejo in the current situation. We have the Chamber that demands that we accept "any" type of business, i.e., smoke shops, any business that deals with alcohol, tatoo shops, etc. etc. If we are only in the process of looking, why not try to get services and businesses that compliment Vallejo instead of keeping us mediocre?

Big City   |January.03.2009 I had a first-time look at the PSU's "Vallejo Bankruptcy Update" web-site a few hours ago. What a bunch of nonsense, "half-truths" and vile propaganda! I'd like to expose the REAL facts behind a few of their "answers" in their "FAQ" section: 1) The PSU's claim that the reason that their percentage of the Vallejo budget is so high (~75%) is because the city has moved so many other functions into other funds. They're likely correct. However, the PSU folks are, apparently, trying to imply that the city did this as some sort of "devious plan" to "inflate" the public safety percentage of the budget. On that score, they are TOTALLY INCORRECT. I can virtually guarantee you the REASON the city has moved some functions into other funds is very likely to allow them to preserve more of the general fund revenue for public safety costs. So, OF COURSE the police and fire costs are going to consume a larger and larger portion of the general fund. However, the city has done this IN ORDER TO ALLOW THEM TO "CONTINUE TO FEED THE MONSTER". In other words, it was done for the BENEFIT of public safety. It's just one of the ways that the City has been able to "sustain the unsustainable" for so long. Cities (and not just Vallejo) have been doing this sort of thing for years in order to sustain outrageous public safety costs. They find "creative" ways to charge off city costs which CLEARLY BELONG IN THE GENERAL FUND to other funds. I have long believed that much of this "creativity" amounts to ILLEGAL EXPROPRIATION of special funds. They'll come up with EXCEEDING TENUOUS CONNECTIONS between functions (costs)and special funds. Some will be outright laughable but you'll never hear about them because all this "justification" is done in venues where the public is not present. Another point that needs to be made is accurate cost accounting. It's related to the above, too. In most cities, the cost of support services is charged back to the operating division IF the operating division is funded from a special fund. For example, a city's water department, if a city provides water service, is funded from water rates. However, the water department receives support services from general fund departments. For instance, the personnel department provides service to the water department as do the city's finance department, data processing department, etc. So, these services are "charged back" to the water department and the water fund. These charges are very fair and appropriate (assuming someone doesn't figure out a way to inflate them as a "back-door way" to extract extra funding out of water department funds and which IS OFTEN AND INCREASINGLY DONE). However, the costs for these support services are usually not "charged back" to general fund departments LIKE POLICE AND FIRE. The argument usually is that it's all coming out of the general fund, so what does it matter. Well, it matters because it HIDES the true cost of general fund departments. They, essentially, get all of their support services for "free" since it doesn't show on their budgets. Instead, it shows in the "general government" or some such section of the budget. So, the bottom line is that the actual percentage of the general fund budget which police and fire consume is usually HIGHER than the reported figures. I STRONGLY SUGGEST that the citizens of Vallejo insist, at some point, on a COMPREHENSIVE AND THOROUGH AUDIT of ALL of Vallejo's funds and charges thereto. I don't mean one of these "quick and dirty" audits designed merely to see if funds are being embezzled, BUT A FULLY COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT TO DETERMINE THAT COST ACCOUNTING IS PROPER AND, MOST IMPORTANT, THAT SPECIAL FUNDS ARE NOT BEING INAPPROPRIATELY CHARGED TO EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT THE GENERAL FUND. 2) The PSU's lament the fact that they have to pay their 9% share of the retirement costs whereas other city employees do not. Here's what they don't say: Many years ago, most cities went to a system in which they paid the employee's share of PERS costs in lieu of a salary increase. This had the effect of giving employees a bigger "in their pocket" raise while costing the city less than the a raise of the same percentage. In their final year before retirement, employees were allowed to "convert" to paying their own retirement and receive an increase in salary equal to that amount. This was a form of retirement system fraud and CalPERS eventually stopped it. However, the system of the employer paying the employees share of the retirement contribution continued for quite awhile. Finally, it was changed FOR SOME EMPLOYEE UNITS so that their salary was increased by the contribution rate and they paid their own employee contribution. Do you know why? It was because PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS INSISTED UPON IT. You see, these folks want their base wage rate to be AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE because they FEAST ON OVERTIME. Most other city employees really didn't care about a change because most receive little, if any, overtime. So, now you know the "rest of the story".

Streetsweeper   |January.03.2009 What is going on with that cancer center? Any industry would be better that what we have now, but if you want to have anough traffic for business to do well there has to be a reason for folks to want to come to the downtown area. If the downtown was complete with plenty of shops and was safe it might have a chance but that's not the case. We have to find a way to create revenue without increasing taxes then use that money to complete the downtown plan. Also, we have to try to lobby for fed money anywhere we can. What happened to the money the money the navy gave us for the island clean up?

silasbarnabe   |January.03.2009 How about pharmacuetical company? MI is easily accessible to ship goods, or how about the proposed Cancer center? Why aren't you even looking at that? A Casino brings crime and like WalMart (that will not share revenue figures at AMCAN) it is not clear whether the additional city services needed to accommodate such an industry will yield any net revenue for a city.

streetsweeper   |January.03.2009 LNG and a casino are two different industries. I was not happy with the LNG plan because it presented a danger. What danger would a casino present? All we would have to offer is maybe a building and some land at a good price. Maybe more than two dollars. It's easy to say no to everything. What ideas do you have to make people want to come to mare island or the waterfront area? At the rate things are going for the downtown and the island all we will have is the section 8 housing. I like the thought of a casino better than a prison which was another idea I heard.

silasbarnabe   |January.03.2009 The issue you leave out is that these studies have nothing to do with me, they are independent of Vallejo. If casinos wouldn't be making large amounts of revenue for Vallejo what would make you think there would be any money to fix roads and clean up hazardous waste? Your sales pitch is very similar to the LNG sales pitch none of which would have delivered what was promised because key facts where omitted from their reports (And they were bias)

Streetsweeper   |January.03.2009 I agree, doing studies and spending a bunch of money on consultants seems to be a waste. I have never been to cash creek but I hear it is nice and has many other things to do other than gambling. Fine dinning, good shows with great artists, and world class spas. Now put all that on the island with it's great veiw. I know if I could catch a ferry with my family to Vallejo then send my teenagers to discovery kingdom while me and my wife enjoyed all that a great casino would have to offer, I would love it. I might even explore the naval museum and check out that battleship.

Vallejo   |January.03.2009 needs a casino like it needs another low income housing mecca. Vallejo doesn't get the development it deserves because it has "the good ol boys" club running the city. This is why you have a low income senior complex without fire alarms and sprinklers and why you have 201 Maine Street. Businesses come where their is viable cusomers to support it. The northeast Vallejo quadrant, for example. Southwest Vallejo and the downtown area has nothing but low income and underemploy/unemployed residents. The business owners down there like it that way. Unfortunately, it also has the waterfront and Mare Island, and you can see clearly the stranglehold this people have on the city.

VHS   |January.03.2009 I agree with you sweeper and think we need to be pragmatic and rebuild our business base. It really doesnt matter what the data shows or the fancy analysis that people produce. All the best laid plans have turned out to be wrong. If 5 years ago we asked for an analysis on why the Empress would succeed or why the downtown development under Triad would succeed, we would have been presented with glossy brochures that made the case for success. It really boils down to what people want. One group wants A and manufactures data to support it. Another group wants B and manufactures data to support that. The winning group is going to be the one that stacks the council in the next election with like minded people.

VHS   |January.03.2009 I agree with you sweeper and think we need to be pragmatic and rebuild our business base. It really doesn

Streetsweeper   |January.03.2009 I never said a casino would bring in a huge amount of cash to the city, just people that would otherwise never set foot in our waterfront area. I do believe revenue for the city from a casino would help pay to develop mare island. Right now the mare island thing is a complete mess as all of you know. Also, if a investor put up all the money to build a casino and develop the area plus pay for city services it would help. They might even pay for the hazardous material clean up that we can't afford. I believe a casino on the island would be better than all the others already around because of the location. Maybe we should research the positives and negatives and see where we end up. We don't have many options now why not start creating some?

silasbarnabe   |January.03.2009 Streetsweep, Could you please show us the data the demonstrates your optimism in revenues about a Casino on Mare Island? I have read numerous reports that gambling is not recession proof and that with indian casinos open everywhere, that customers aren't coming and spending. Las Vegas has the highest unemployment ever, and Indian Casino are making less. http://www.thecasinoguru.org/2008/casinos-not-recession-proof-after-all/ http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_D_gaming27.2aa145d http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2157981/posts?page=9

Streetsweeper   |January.03.2009 A casino on the island with ferry service from the sf area would be huge. All those people that drive to cash creek and those other casinos must hate driving out into the middle of nowhere to gamble. Also, we could probably find a investor to put up the money to build. Next, fancy hotels and fine dinning. We could turn over one of those old buildings that's serving no purpose now.

anon   |January.02.2009 yeah, a casino is not a bad ideal. It sure will get all the flipinos out of Hiddenbrook and St. Basils.

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 I would love for the downtown to become the Mecca you folks invision but it will not happen with the plan we have. There is no reason for people to venture downtown because it has nothing to draw them there. This is the simple truth, plus now the crime is worse. We have to make money in another way and in another part of town with more traffic. Then when we start making money we can fix up the downtown. The waterfront could be awsome but mare island with all that rusting metal is a eye sore. If you want people to flock to the water front you would have toput in a casino on the island. It would not be popular with you folks but it would work.

On Fire   |January.02.2009 Well VHS, I guess one would first have to define "upscale". Since there are other eateries in Vallejo that charge about the same amount for dinner as Baci's, it may be that we here in Vallejo have had so few choices that a place that has real linens and a wine list would be automatically called upscale. Yet they would not be what would be considered "upscale" in other cities. Your right in that as long as we don't attract people with more disposable income, we won't be able to support places like Baci's and The Empress. My concern is that because the downtown developement has been put on the back burner for now, the building owners will try to get anyone in as long as they pay the rent. The only new growth downtown has been the new eateries and most want alcohol included. When the support for food goes away, then we will be back to only bars on every block and nothing else. What a nightmare that would be. I don't know what the answer is for businesses to be successful downtown. I do believe that we need to move past blaming "poor" people for being the demise of Vallejo and labeling them all as the problem. I think we need to stop herding all low income people into "project" areas like downtown. But we need to also look to the amount of assistance our city s continuing to provide. I'm sure that given the choice, many of the decent people who are needing assistance in housing would rather be somewhere else in the city as well. As long as the Maine Street type projects remains in place as is, and businesses like Greens and the Maine Street store are allowed to feed off of the misery of these poor lost souls, we will continue to have trouble getting the downtown up and viable. We need to start holding the corporations like the ones that own the Maine Street projects accountable. As well as all absentee landlords. We give up so much with so little coming back in return. Fighting Back had a great model that would be a starting place for rental properties owners becomeing accountable. With all of the foreclosed homes in Vallejo, we are opening ourselves up for more problems with no accountability from most of the absentee landlords and large housing corporations that leech off of the poor and governement. This was almost the same scenerio when Mare Island closed and people sold off their homes to move where the jobs were. Except this time, it's the banks that will sell off the homes and most will be for rental income, no live in owners.

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 Ok, I will try to give my definition of a blue collar worker. He or she would be considered a worker bee for whatever industry we are talking about. Would not have a 4 year degree or not be in charge of more than 15 or 20 workers. Most of the time would have to send his or her kids to public school and also somtimes eat typical fast food. If you get your hands dirty at work that would be another good indicator of a blue collar worker. In the past workers involved with industry and unions would be considered blue collar.now, it has more to do with salary and education.

VHS   |January.02.2009 On Fire, I liked your post. I bet most of us that live here feel the same way in that we need to work together to get out of the mess. How do you see us building successful business in Vallejo when so many people are on public assistance? I just cant imagine how anything up scale is going to work with the large poor population we have.

curious   |January.02.2009 Let's define some terms. "Professional" means someone who has the education and passed the necessary tests to become a doctor, lawyer, architect, or college professor. It does not have anything to do with how much money one makes. Most "professionals" make less than Vallejo firefighters. Most artists, film makers, musicians, video game designers, etc. that qualify as "creative class" workers make only a fraction of the salaries paid to Vallejo union workers including streetsweepers. Even the US president makes less than some of our firefighters. "Blue collar" has always referred to folks that don't wear white shirts to work but nobody does that anymore. So what does "blue collar" mean to you? Folks who accept things as they are and does expect that they will ever get better? What does "community organizer" or "activist" mean to you? It means "change is on the way" to me.

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 Just because somone does not make the money of a professional, does not mean they do not share similar tastes. I think the poetry cafe was a great place to go and experience. Baci was a great place to try a exotic martini. I also like a top shelf vodka with my martini. I think it's great to have choices even if it means trying somthing new. We can all live here and work toward the same goals even if we have different plans on how to achieve them.

WHAT?   |January.02.2009 ?? I bet you actually believe the bologne you just dished! You define "Blue Collar" as someone who considers eating at McD's and chowing down on Krispy Kreme doughnuts and basically be a Simpleton. Correct? It is wannebees like you that give artists and those Levi wearing information age techies a bad name. I am not surprised that the "Blue Collar" Simpletons that are populating Vallejo do not trust you, the discriminating ambience seeker. Whatever campaign you will mount will not be fruitful until you change your attitude towards the majority of residents living in this town. Pointing out that they made obvious mistakes in the past is a good step, however being disdainful and disrespectful, is not the way to go!

On Fire   |January.02.2009 And another thing street sweeper, I've been in Vallejo for over twenty years. Bad and good, it's been my home. I am not looking for Vallejo to become any other city, but a place that has it's own definition and charecter. Just because someone has lived in those other cities and makes reference to the choices offered there, and wanting those choices here, doesn't necessarily mean we want Vallejo to mirror those cities. But I do love my choices just like I'm sure you like a change of pace when you go out too.

On Fire   |January.02.2009 Street sweeper, there's nothing wrong with a "blue collar crawl" every now and then. I like popcorn with my beer when that's what I'm in the mood for. I think that the people define the "watering hole" and not the other way around. But what I also would like is choice. Baci's offered one of those choices. A high end martini consists of a higher grade of vodka and a great martini maker. Not good when made with generic vokda (or gin) and someone who doesn't know what they are doing. Kyle and Wesley were one of the best. But it was their skills, personality and friendly style that added to the experience. There is nothing wrong with places that blue collar workers frequent, no more than having a Baci for alternatives. It's about choices. We can all have our choices in this town and still all be happy. It's not about "us" verses "them" but about us all working together to make this town better. Vallejo is constantly evolving and the term of 'blue collar' is slowly becoming more of a frame of mind, instead of the type of work that defined this place in the past. There is room for both and everything in between. But in order for this city to have the revenues to keep things moving, there needs to be more people that are willing to spend their money here in Vallejo. That won't happen without "choices". A blue collar mentality won't keep Vallejo growing because right now, there is very little blue collar work available. There are still "some" good eateries and places to have a drink, but as this economy continuing to tank, there will be less and less choices. That means we will be forced to take out money outside of Vallejo. Who loses? We all do. The business owners like Baci's and Georgia Street Grill, that believed and invested in Vallejo, the employees who are now facing even more economic uncertainty, the patrons who want choices, and the city that needs that tax revenues. It's a sad situaion for all. To the Baci crew, best wishes and thanks for the great service and providing a place of choice. We will miss you and hope to see you around. Hopefully we will find Kyle and Wesley serving the 'tini's up somewhere here local. Cheers!

Curious   |January.02.2009 "Blue collar" does not correctly define the new Vallejo creative class workers because the latter can think for themselves. These artists, information age techies, etc. might wear levis but they also are discriminating consumers who wouldn't eat at McD's or buy a Crispy Creme donut if they were starving. Nor would they frequent some dive bar. These folks have moved here because the ambience is fabulous, the weather is great, it is close to everything and the older neighborhoods are full of affordable historic jewels. Since they can think for themselves, they also can discern the stupidity of the existing political situation and work together to mount whatever campaign is necessary to change things. "blue collar" workers, like streetsweeper, believe what their leaders tell them and do what they are told. Don't think Vallejo will ever change? It is!

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 Wow! You guys are out there today. Please look at the history of this town. It is what it is. Not sure what you guys thought this town would become, maybe Sausalito or navato but it's not going to happen anytime soon. I think we are headed back to dark times for this city for many reasons. I've been through it before and I'll deal with it this time. How about you guy? Can you stomach what's to come?

Pyriphlegethon   |January.02.2009 Great analogy, Curious. This town has been looking so hard into the window that they crashed the car: it could be totaled (bankrupt). I think the PSUs and their apologists refer to Vallejo as only a blue collar town because it allows them to control the place. People moving here who are used to questioning authority are a huge threat to those who have never had a better vision and especially to those who have been profiting from Vallejo as it is (PSUs; the Chamber of Horrors; absentee landlords).

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 Blue collar town does not mean navy or union just means hard working middle class town. Just means we are not a fancy town with a lot of rich folks living here. Look around even though the navy has been gone the landscape has not changed or the people. I don't think this will change, ever unless this city finds a way to make money and improve our schools. And no! Not make money to pay city employees tons of money.

Curious   |January.02.2009 Driving while looking only in the rear view mirror is really dumb and a good way to kill yourself. So why do the PSUs and their apologists keep referring to Vallejo as a once and always blue collar town? Didn't they notice that the Navy left and none of the unions are working much because construction is dead and all the manufacturing jobs left for overseas? The old guard can keep frequenting the old navy dives while the new guard sadly drives up to Napa because there is nothing left for them here. "Leakage" they call it in the planner trade when the disposable income is on the freeway heading out of town. This is an "evolve or die" situation.

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 Might be able to get a basic martini not the exotic ones your used to. They will be much cheaper, maybe half the price your used to but you can forget about the top shelf alcohol for a bit. Might want to pick up a case of two buck chuck from trader joes untill the economy turns around also.

Anonymous   |January.02.2009 Now that's funny, Sweeper! Do they offer martinis on the Blue Collar Crawl?

Streetsweeper   |January.02.2009 Real sorry about the baci that was a change from other places in town to drink at. More expensive but worth it and what a cool bar. I believe if that place was in a area more accessable to the public like the northgate shopping area it would have Been packed all the time. Not sure what his rent was downtown or what it would have been out at northgate though. Just a real shame for a great owner. Now I feel bad for spending new years at zioafreado. Now that and the front room is all that's left really. Soon it will be back to draft beer and popcorn in a dish at the dive bars like the old days. Don't worry vibers it's not that bad doing the blue collar crawl.

Robert Schussel   |January.01.2009 Streetsweeper If you read my article I was very careful to point out that everyone in the City except IBEW receives the Longevity Incentive. I also stated that if used selectively it was worth doing. The ironic thing is that some of the IBEW positions are the ones that need a Longevity Incentive. The problem like most things in our City's Contracts are that the benefit is used abusively and costs the taxpayers dearly.

PSU Watch   |January.01.2009 Let's not forget that longevity pay for police and fire started in 2003. It was yet another gift to Vallejo from PSU Suckup Martinez as he was walking out the door. Longevity pay is a joke. Not only does it cost the city while the employees are working, but it's the gift that keeps on giving as it permanently increases their retirement payouts. And why the hell should Vallejo taxpayers pay for time in service to other cities? Outrageous! Martinez should be investigated and shunned from the city management profession for what he did to this City.

Streetsweeper   |January.01.2009 Oops employment

Streetsweeper   |January.01.2009 Robert, paying employees to reward them for not seeking inployment else where is not uncommon. For jobs that have a high rate of turnover it makes sense. Nobody in our union recieves this longevity your complaining about.

Streetsweeper   |January.01.2009 Ok, guess I did not read mark's story. As far as that shoemaker guy following the psu leaders around not sure where you get that. Have you seen him following henke around? I've been told the unions are negotiating at different times now. The only thing they are doing together is sharing legal costs. I asked a union rep if we had anything to do with the billboard and he said no. I've also heard we may be getting close to a deal. God,I hope so this crap is getting old.

PSU Watch   |January.01.2009 Sweeper, read Marc's article "Judge to Unions" -- it says your man Kenny was deposed yesterday. As to my anger, nope. I have no anger towards Kenny. More like embarassment and a bit of pity. He just looks so pathetic following Henke around in hero worship. And in doing so he hurt his union. As to who I am, you're cold. Be careful throwing names around as your blind guesses could hurt innocent people.

admin   |December.31.2008 Happy New Year Everyone! Time to start a new Daily Scream. All those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand. If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it Steven Wright