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Daily Scream - June 2008

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Edinator   |July.01.2008
avatar Very good article on City's request to reject labor contracts.

http://www.bondbuyer.com/article?id=20080618218D1M2S
Gabriele   |July.01.2008
L O L, I agree with you.
The landlord has to care enough to inspect his property on a regular basis and screen the tenant, so the entire neighborhood is not impacted by a trashy, uncaring tenant.
Also the opinion was given, should the tenant not uphold his end of the contract, to simply evict them.
How difficult is that? Would it not be easier to screen these tenants thoroughly before you let them onto the property? To spell out every detail of what is expected is a must!
My particular neighborhood has also been hit by a heavy turnover of renters vs. owners. A few original homeowners
remain, but it is very clear which home is rented out and which is owner occupied.
Rents are running $1800 and up with dried up lawns, etc. One would assume that it is in the best interest of the owner to keep his property to acceptable standards as spelled out in the CC&R's, if the neighborhood has them.
I also believe if Code Enforcement would enlist volunteers who would follow up on complaints and have the ability to give warnings and/or citations, more revenue would flow to the city, faster.
momster   |July.01.2008
Landlords should require tenants to clean up their garbage and eye sores.

I tried to rent a place in Fairfax of Marin County. The landlords wanted me to be a vegen, non-smoker, atheist, and bluh bluh,and..also wanted a thesis from me.
So, asking tenants to clean up their property is a small request and should be the landlords responsiblity to enforce that request. I've also rented homes where the landlord asked for an extra $50 in rent for gardeners to maintain the lawns.
On Fire   |July.01.2008
avatar Ann O Nemus if the tenant leaves trash and furniture all over the property, the landlord would receive a notice from Code Enforcement, (if they had time and the manpower to get to it)and then it would seem the landlord would get on the tenant. If the tenant doesn't take care of it, the landlord can evict them, keeping the security deposit and last months rent, which is supposed to be used to clean up the place for the next renter. If the landlord/owner then decides to keep the money and leave the trash, it would be the landloard's responsibility, or as LOL stated, if it becomes a health issue,
then the City has to step in. It should also give the landlord the realization that they needed to do a better job of screening their tenants.

We had a rental home in the neighborhood where I used to live, who changed tenants every few months. He never made any real improvements other than cosmetic to cover up the real bad things. There were so many people running in and out of the house that we really didn't know who lived there. They had some real bad actors that the tenant seemed to hang around and would get into fights with on a constant basis. We complained continuously to the home
owner that trash was being stored on the side of the house and the backyard was a scrap yard for misc. auto parts. No surprise, the owner never responded. After the tenant moved out, the owner came looking for some assistance to find out what had happened to his house. The renter had totally trashed the house inside and out, and it took two garbage trucks and a couple of dumpsters to clear out what the renter had left. Code Enforcement had notified and fined the owner, and the clean up cost was on the owner. Just a little responsibility from the absentee landlord would have prevented a big
headache and costly bill.
Little Old Lady   |July.01.2008
We have reached the heart of the matter.

The property owner has the ultimate responsibility so he or she should screen tenants, have a good rental agreement in place that spells out the tenants responsibilities to keep the place clean and evict problem tenants that don't comply. Where is VHA? Don't they inspect for Code violations? That is what they get paid to do. Who is responsible???? Everybody but the poor people that live in that neighborhood.
Ann O Nemus   |July.01.2008
Then, it's a flawed law. It encourages some people to live like pigs, they don't have to take any responsibility, afterall. It's the landlord who has to clean up after them. If the people who litter gets the citation and eventually the tab, I bet things around here will be a lot cleaner.
Little Old Lady   |July.01.2008
continued..

weeds, vegetation or combustible materials; junk, debris or garbage; offal or dead organic matter; rodent harborages or stagnant water.

The property owner is required to comply with the Code and if they fail to do so, the jurisdiction can come in to remedy the violation and lien the property. But Vallejo staff has no time or the political will to inforce the State Code, so, yes, it's OK here.
Little Old Lady   |July.01.2008
As defined by California Health and Safety Code (H&SC), Section 17920.3, a substandard building is any building or portion thereof in which certain conditions exist to the extent that it endangers the health and safety of its occupants or the public. Conditions include the accumulation of:
Ann O Nemus   |July.01.2008
littleoldlady wrote: I have never seen him or anybody from VHA cleaning up the pile of broken furniture that has been in the back yard in full view
for months.

LOL, are you saying that it is now the government's responsibility to clean up people's backyards? I dunno about that.

I happen to have a Sec 8 tenant who is unemployed, so you'd think that he's got time on his hands. He's got garbage strewn around the back yard, plastic bags, piles of junk like an old bed, a dresser, etc. As the landlord, should I go there every weekend and clean up after him? I don't think soooo
On Fire   |July.01.2008
avatar Awhile back there was discussion regarding the need for a rental property review board and I found the information that was initially presented by Fighting Back Partnership. It's a comprehensive community model by Alliance for Healthy Safe Rental Housing.

http://www.fight-back.org/rentalord
On Fire   |July.01.2008
avatar It is a real shame that the seniors in North Vallejo have to lose their meals site. This is just one of many programs that will suffer because of the financial situation in Vallejo. These seniors have worked diligently to try to get their program back and with little help from the City or anyone else. It appears that the funding is there from the Federal Government, and is being funneled through programs like Meals on Wheels, but now that the North Vallejo site was cut from the Meals on Wheels program, they have also lost their share of the funding and meals as well. Apparently even though MOW
stated that they could continue to serve the seniors that have participated in the North Vallejo program, unless they our housebound or ill, they won't deliver the meals to their homes.

They have their non-profit status which will help when they can get their program structured, but still need help with that as well. Once the paperwork is completed they can submit it to the City and County to seek funding for the food. They need help so does anyone know how the process works to get funding from the Dept. of Aging for a nutritional program?

It's a shame that this is what you can look
forward to when you become a senior. They aren't looking for handouts, at least no more assistance than what's available to all other seniors in Vallejo. Any assistance with helping them get organized and/or support in funding till they can get on their feet would be appreciated.
John K   |July.01.2008
Ominous, On Fire.

"...There is a persistent myth that generous pension and other benefits are needed to attract capable people to take government jobs. The fact is, surveys disclose that on average, the governmental agencies pay more in wages and salaries than the private sector but have not correspondingly reduced their pensions and other benefits..."

"...The Grand Jury recommends ... switch from a defined benefit plan for pension benefits to defined-contribution plan for new
employees. The defined-benefit plan not only makes it difficult ... to budget an amount specified for
this benefit but also puts all the risk of providing the benefit on the governmental agency and thus, the taxpayer... Further, the Grand Jury recommends the ... City work with the unions to reduce the terms of pension plans which allow an employee to retire well before age 65 at a high percentage of his/her working compensation. This early-age retirement also exacerbates the problem of retiree health benefits. Because of the generosity of these pensions, public employees retire with health benefits 5 to 10 years before they become eligible for Medicare..."

The Grand Jury document is
worth reading:

http://tinyurl.com/64mm2a
On Fire   |June.30.2008
avatar Apparently the city of Napa is facing some of the same issues as Vallejo when it comes to city employee salaries and benefit packages. The Grand Jury made several recommendations which addressed the salaries, benefit packages and negotiations of the contracts for both the City and County. I suppose the maybe henke will need to start worrying that he may see a number of the higher paid ff's leaving for better paying cities and maybe a fear that the less experienced, less qualified ff's that take their place will put his safety in jepardy!

This is an excerpt from the Napa Valley
Register 06/30/08:

By JILLIAN JONES
Register Staff Writer
The city and county of Napa could risk bankruptcy if they do not reduce their generous pensions and post-employment benefits, according to a report by the Napa County Grand Jury.

In order to avoid a fiscal situation like that of Vallejo, which recently filed for bankruptcy, the grand jury said Napa County and the city of Napa must reduce the escalating costs of employee benefits. The grand jury report also cites a conflict of interest on the part of the Napa County Board of Supervisors and Napa City Council, who are involved in
compensation negotiations from which they directly benefit.

According to the report, the city of Napa and Napa County pay 80 percent and 54 percent of their annual budgets respectively for wages and benefits.
The total cost to Napa County taxpayers for county employee benefits over the next two years will be more than $39 million, the report concluded. The estimated cost to fund city employees


The rest of the story can be found at: www.napavalleyregister.com
Firebug   |June.30.2008
avatar Seems to me they (Touro) already have a rather large investment in Mare Island and Vallejo. The only other land available (through Lennar)for development would be Hunters Point and Oakland Army center? which I beleive are already spoken for.
VHS   |June.30.2008
I love this project. I really think it will attract private money and be a net positive for Vallejo. Can anyone explain what the attraction is for Touro? If the property is so expensive to build on what value does Touro get out of the deal?
Good Faith   |June.30.2008
Did anyone here watch the Touro item at tuesday's council meeting or do people just like to spout unsubstantiated opinions? The land was independently appraised at NEGATIVE $16 million. The negative is because the cost to demolish, clean up and then build on bay mud with 80-foot pilings is more than the undevelopable land is worth. That piece of property has been under contract several times in the past few years, but the developers have backed out because of the cost of development.

This will be a grea deal for Vallejo as it will spur additional projects related to the medical facility on
the remaining no. end properties, which will have to be negotiated at fair market value.

Contrary to the PSU's opinions, everything that happens in Vallejo isn't related to them. This is an econ. development project with complex financing that will bear fruit for the city in the long term in terms of sales taxes and more commercial development. This was NOT a one-time sale of land to generate a few dollars the PSUs can grab in their greedy hands to pay their high salaries -- as Henke and that moron Sessler suggest in their pleadings.

And Mike, go back to the Times Horrid blogs. They suit you
better.
momster   |June.30.2008
oops.. I met "new breed of people."
Firebug   |June.30.2008
avatar It is one of those situations of being damned if you do or damned if you don't. PSU'ers and followers have criticized the Mayor and Council of selling the land for $1, and surely if the City asked for the $16,000,000 is is allegedly worth and Touro politely declined the PSU whiners would be right back here saying this Council has runout another business opportunity.
momster   |June.30.2008
I feel it's a great honor that Touro took a chance and planted its seed in Vallejo. It is a privilege to have a cancer univeristy/treatment located in Vallejo. I'm hoping Touro brings a need breed of people--goal oriented people--and then perhaps maybe we'll get a book store. Touro will also generate employment and put monies into maintaining their properites--
something Vallejo can not afford.

Touro is the probably the most uplifting project that has happened in Vallejo.
Mike   |June.29.2008
I have read the pleadings on the City's web page. We all need to remember that there will be NO winners in BK. This will hurt us all for years to come. I think that the city has been mismanaged for years and now we have a CM who wants to take his share and leave us high and dry. I predict that he is gone in month or two fired/retired whatever. He has his 380,000 a year and has made his last hiiiighest year. How can we pay him that kind of money and sell off our land for a dollar? That kills me. I am not opposed to paying him that if he is worth it but we cannot pay him that and then
not try to make some money. WTF....
What was the Touro land worth on the open market someone said it was 16 million. If that is true that is a familiar number. I think that it is more than that. This is prime land it may need work but they are not making any more dirt.
What happened to the Sunday Funny's?
Truth Teller   |June.29.2008
As is stated on the front page re: the ff'ers Doin' The Sunga about the Am Can ff'ers LYING about having degrees "The sickening part is that the cheaters will not have to give the money back." Can anyone say Civil Suit? Let's hang 'em high since we all know they knowingly and willingly LIED.
Ah Ha   |June.29.2008
Why does the question from anon re: the Lang's creep me out?

I do know they joke and call each other brother and sister but they are not related. Does that make you happy Creep Anon?
Anonymous   |June.29.2008
On this Touro Mare Island Project: Is Bruce Lang, the CEO of Touro Mare Island Development, related to Diana Lang? Just wondering.
Firebug   |June.28.2008
avatar Roger M's report forgot some possible revenue enhancements. All city vehicles including Police and Fire vehicles could have advertisements painted on them from major corporations. He also didn't mention the possibility of human tatoos for advertising I believe some hotels in Las Vegas are paying out to folks that wear advertising body art. Seriously Roger M's report is so bottom of the barrel it defies morality and shame.
silasbarnabe   |June.28.2008
Absolutely shameless is so true! On item 28 of the Roger Mialocq report he states that there is potential saving in vacant positions...earth to Roger Hello!!!! Did you take into account all the payout owed to those that vacated these positions? Joanne West got half a million.

I can't wait to read the Gadfathers retort! The implementation of of landscape districts when Vallejo already has more than average, and the litigious 911 fee all laughable!
GoodFaith   |June.28.2008
I read the pleadings last night. Wow. Shameless had it right. I just can't understand how people can be so greedy, selfish and lacking in reason.

Herb Shrum, a retired police officer who lives in Auburn wrote an objection to the city's bankruptcy filing. He said that the city has to "full-fill" its obligation to him -- otherwise his quality of life would be impacted.

WTF? Does this man care that the citizens of this city have lost all of our services? Our kids have nowhere to go after school? Our seniors are begging for support for their senior centers? SHAMELESS.


I won't even start with Mustafa's insane rant in his objection. I knew he was a bit off, but I didn't know he was as crazy as this objection reveals. Scary.

And Fred Sessler, the very definition of a Good Ol' Boy, who has been milking this city dry for years and benefitting from the losses of Vallejoans -- has the gall to give a list of properties the city should sell? One time money to pay for a long-term debt? Sell property in this market?? You wouldn't run your real estate business like that Freddie, so don't ask the city to do the same. We don't play your game anymore. It's time
for you to retire and leave us alone to recover from your years of abuse.

And finally, I find it amusing that Henke and others are whining to the judge that the city just sold 191 acres for $1 to Touro. They forgot the other side of that story was that the land is worth -$16 million, and only with expensive clean up and infruasture work will it be developable. Oops. I forgot, Henke hates telling all sides of an issue.

Go home Henke. Take your disability and just go home to Napa. No matter what happens in bankruptcy court, your UBLing, bullying the public/elected officials and Alameda
college scam days are over.
TheyHaveNoShame   |June.28.2008
The priority of any future revenue should be fixing our streets and maintaining the infrastructure of this city, not raising fees for employee salaries.

The pathological indifference of Vallejo voters has got us into this mess just as much as the sleazy negotiating of the unions with Vallejo management.

A grand jury investigation should be completed just to vet out those responsible, so they can't continue with their careers in politics at taxpayers expense, i.e. Intintolli.
WATZ UP WID DAT?   |June.28.2008
Lets all ignore new VIB blogger/troll "No PSU" he/she is only trying to bait everyone, no one hates the VFD and VPD, just like not all the FVD agrees with Mr.Henke,or the VPD with Mr. Mustard. That being said "Continue as you were."

Viva Vallejo
silasbarnabe   |June.28.2008
No new revelations in the objections. Sell everything that can be sold, borrow from the water fund and of course get back any money the general fund has ever loaned out dating back decades. It did have a pretty and professional looking template, I hope the unions didn't pay too much for this legal service beause outside of the cool legal template it has nothing substantial.
VHS   |June.28.2008
No PSU, the way I read the latest court document Vallejo has made a motion to the court to have the labor contracts altered or voided. The judge has granted the motion and now the two sides will make their arguments. I have no experience in legal proceedings but I looks to me like Vallejo taxpayers have won the first battle.
On Fire   |June.28.2008
Again, I don't hate the PS employees. Don't care for the actions and comments they have made and continue to spew. But hate is an awful strong emotion and they really aren't that important in my life to feel that way.

Yes, read through portions of the documents and had a lengthy discuss about them with some people who are familiar with the legal process of bankruptcy. Still found nothing that would be doubt that the city was correct in their decision and nothing in the rantings from the unions that made me thing differently either. It was expected that the unions would go full tilt on
their stories of unfairness and mistreatment. But I'd say we will soon learn that the city will in fact prove it has a case and the judge will start things in motion soon. But the PSU's and their fan club claimed it would be thrown out today didn't they? Must have been some of those who have that diplomas from Almeda U!
No PSU   |June.27.2008
On Fire,

Did you read the Pleadings??? Someone is not telling us the truth. I hate the PSU folks just like you, but something is wrong here. Could it be us bankruptcy proponents are wrong? I hope not. I still hate the police and firefighters...win or lose.
On Fire   |June.27.2008
No PSU, I'm not sure who you are referring to as "us folks that hate police and fire fighters" because I've never said I hated anyone. But my understnading of what happened today is that the unions wanted to delay the procedings until August as they were busy doing other things, and the judge said "no delay" and so we will be moving right along. I don't see that as something we have to worry about unless you have a crystal ball that can see into the future. This was a step to accept pleadings and evidence, take in objections and evidence and set the next court date which is
what I understand happened.
On Fire   |June.27.2008
Anon, this story broke at the Napa paper almost two weeks ago. I've been posting comments oh the times horrid blogs since Monday and here we are Friday and thepaper finally puts the article in. I had not seen the paper when I posted.
No PSU   |June.27.2008
Has anyone taken a look at the PSU Bankruptcy pleading on the City of Vallejo web site? It doesn't look good for us folks who hate the police and fire fighters. Maybe they were right all along.

Put the champagne away, this could get ugly. Even if they win we will continue to hate them.
Anon   |June.27.2008
On Fire, the AmCan firefighter diploma and rescinding of raises story was on the front page of the Times Herald.

What is your definition of "hint"?
Curious   |June.27.2008
Here's a good paper on the failures of subsidized housing.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/7_1_we_dont_need
OSCAR RUSS   |June.27.2008
THIS JUST IN!!!!! ANOTHER MURDER AT PENNSYLVANA AND MARIN !!!!!
On Fire   |June.27.2008
avatar I think it's ashame that there wasn't even a hint of the A/C scandel in the times horrid. This is so telling of our local paper and the way that they have bias reporting and favor/protect the unions any way they can.

A big shout out to Mr. Kirk who brought this news item, along with the other links that were so informative. Thanks for being alert and sharing this information without it. It would have flown under the radar and hopefully Tanner will use this information as part of the "good faith" negotiation standards our union has demonstrated over the years. While most people would
want the safety employees to be paid a fairly good salary for the work they do, it is unconscionable that they would try to defraud both the employer and the taxpayers by bumping up their salaries with a worthless piece of paper as if they had actually gone to school and earned the degree. It is one other reason that these contracts need to go through some sort of public committee to have another review and so these type of loopholes are closed out. Similar to the UBL issue, there are too many grey areas that can be exlpoited and by the time it comes to the public's attention, the damage has
already been done and the money lost.

So big thanks Mr. Kirk.
Little Old Lady   |June.27.2008
I support Overpaid's idea that affordable housing is one of Vallejo's positive attributes. But which affordable housing are we talking about? Most of us think affordable housing is a house that someone earning less than the median income could actually buy or rent and still have some money left over for food and gas. But HUD, the State and the VHA only count subsidized housing as Affordable because they can't quantify the other type. So in the grand scheme of things Vallejo has a lot of real affordable housing (a good thing) plus a overconcentration of Affordable Housing (the subsidized
type). What Vallejo does not have is a handle on how much affordable housing of all types we have, its condition, where it is, the health of the various neighborhoods that have an overconcentration and strategies for growing the middle class, increasing livability of various neighborhoods and actually helping people move out of poverty. We have to deal with the sacred cows overgrazing our commons.
Truth Teller   |June.27.2008
Wow, PS'ers found to be doin' The Sunga, surrrprise, surrprise, surrrprise! And this priceless quote:

""I strongly object to the implication that our firefighters were trying to rip off the taxpayers," Caldwell said in a written statement."

Are you frickin' kidding me? Of course it was theft of public funds. These PS'ers might not be the brightest bulbs in the bunch but I know - and you know - they knew that they were buying these phony 'degrees'. These is nothing innocent about this. Hellloooo Vallejo, let's take a look at our own PS'ers. Visual: wringing hands in
anticipation of delight.
Anon   |June.27.2008
Here's what Wikipedia says about Almeda University---The "Educational Institution" where Am Can FF's got their so called "degrees".

Almeda University (possibly also called Almeda College[1][2]) is an unaccredited American institution that offers various academic degrees through distance education, including a "Life Experience Degree". Almeda was founded in 1997.[3]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Programs and courses
* 2 Accreditation and legality
* 3 Commentaries
* 4 References
* 5 See also
* 6 External links

[edit] Programs and
courses

According to its website, Almeda offers associate, bachelor and master degrees using "Prior Learning Assessment" and also master and doctorate programs in business and theology that require the completion of a thesis or dissertation. Almeda University also claims to offer over 1000 technical and business courses and certification preparation programs by e-learning.[4]

[edit] Accreditation and legality

Legally, Almeda University is a corporation registered on the Caribbean island of Nevis. [5] Almeda claims accreditation by the Council for Distance Education Accreditation,
Interfaith Education Ministries (IEM) and the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX); [6] none of these are recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.[7] On its website, Almeda states that its claimed sources of accreditation are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, with the results that students cannot receive U.S. federal loans or assistance under the GI Bill and Almeda degrees may not be recognized by academia or employers.[6]

* Connecticut: According to the Connecticut Department of Higher
Education, Almeda was ordered to cease operating in Connecticut in October, 2001. After an investigation in 2002 indicated that Almeda was continuing to advertise its programs in Connecticut, the Department of Higher Education sent Almeda a second cease and desist letter and referred the issue to the Connecticut Attorney General for possible legal action.[8]
* Florida: In 2003 the Florida Department of Education made an agreement with Almeda to cease operating in the state. Although Floridians can still get a degree from the online university, Almeda warns Floridians that its degrees may
not be valid for public employment in Florida.[9]
* Texas: Almeda is on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boardlist of "Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas."[2]
* Other states: Almeda's website also warns Almeda degrees may not be valid for public employment in Illinois, Oregon, New Jersey, North Dakota, Washington and Idaho.[5]

[edit] Commentaries

Almeda's academic standards have been criticized by a variety of education organizations. According to Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, Almeda College and University is a
"nonwonderful" [10] web-only university that offers degrees based on an assessment of a candidate's "life experience". Bear notes that Almeda states that it is accredited by the Association for Online Academic Excellence, but that that association is itself unrecognized.[11][12]

In 2004 the CBS affiliate in Albany, New York, ran a report on Almeda that featured Peter Brancato, who had filled out an application for an associate degree on behalf of his dog, Wally. Part of the "life experience" listed on the application was "Plays with the kids every day ... teaches
them to interact better with each other ... Teaches them responsibilities like feeding the dog." Almeda granted Wally an associate's degree in childhood development with a course list including European culture, college algebra, American history, and public speaking.[13] In reply, Almeda claims Brancato perjured himself by creating a false identity using a fabricated name and date of birth. They write, "He completed an application that included a background of the following: Eight-years tutoring pre-K children, curriculum design and development, teaching coping skills, and volunteer
coaching."[14]

In 2005 Wired News included Almeda University in an article about educational accreditation and diploma mills.[15]

In 2006 a Naples, Florida, police officer was required to pay back a salary increase based on a degree from Almeda.[9] Two Naples police officers were also fired after investigation showed that they bought diplomas from Almeda University.[16] On October 28, 2006, both officers were given their jobs back with back pay but received 10-day suspensions and were required to take an ethics course before the end of the year.[17]

According to Better Business Bureau
(BB records, the Boise, Idaho address listed for Almeda University is a UPS Store (private mail box). Almeda University offered to provide their physical location to the BBB provided the BBB would not make it public. While the Better Business Bureau provides reports on Almeda University, Almeda is not a paid member of the BBB, however, Almeda does have a satisfactory record of complaint resolution.[18]

According to the online shopping reliability tracking service, ePublicEye.com, since 2001 customers of Almeda have reported high levels of satisfaction in such categories as "Management
Accessibility", "Customer Support", "On-time Delivery" and "Privacy Experience".[19]
Anonymous   |June.27.2008
Follow the leader? I mean, COUNCILMAN Hermie Sunga bought his MBA (that he bragged about so often in his campaign) from a degree mill that was later sued and all degrees revoked. But I guess he "did not have enough information" to know that buying a degree is pathetic and a slap in the face to all people who earn and pay for legitimate degrees.

I can't wait for a review of VFDs degrees. Smells like UBL. And Henke and Riley.
Firebug   |June.27.2008
avatar When Fred Soley turns over the rock of online education certificates I doubt we will be blessed enough to get the names of the scammers. I am willing to wager that they say "this is a personnel matter so I can't comment" and like the UBL scandal swept under the rug.

And WHATZ UP they come here and criticize "intelligent discourse".
silasbarnabe   |June.27.2008
Overpaid-

"I disagree with LOL that low income housing is 'the' crucial issue. Affordable housing is one positive thing for Vallejo. The problems are: bad schools turning out an uninformed and victimized citizenry, an apathetic electorate, council members that don't know how to get things done, and who don't have the time/skills/ interest to acquire the knowledge by working with people wo want to help them, staff members who don't care about the big picture, or are too tired to work at it any more. I don't believe in the whole "blame the poor people" for Vallejo's problems.
Nope."

Help then understand what you did say... you say you simply stated facts and didn't blame our problems on anyone. Did you know these facts?

1) The majority of students that attend our schools are considered to be from poor families.

2) Voter registration is much higher in affluent areas then poor areas.

3) those that vote are more likely not to be considered poor.

4) Council members endorsed by developers real estate industry, public safety unions aren't likely going to put priority on anything other than issues that involve those that gave them money. (The poor
usually do not contribute to candidates to the magnitude of the above special interests)

You concluded that you do non't buy into "blaming the poor for Vallejo's problems" yet nearly every problem you stated involved "the poor". For someone that does not want to "blame the poor" you have just made an excellent case that if we want to alleviate the "facts" you stated much more work will need to be done in poorer communities than in affluent ones.
VHS   |June.27.2008
Some of the most foolish and wrong thinking individuals I know have college degrees. If I had my way, Vallejo would have a common sense committee with Leon Singleton as the chairman and John Osborne as the co chair; Joann Shively would be the council liaison. All planning and policy matters would need to pass through the common sense committee before being enacted.
WATZ UP WID DAT?   |June.27.2008
Hey, maybe we can all go online and get our Fire Fighters certificate and paramedics license online, just skip all that pesky training and work experience...
WATZ UP WID DAT?   |June.27.2008
I thought the FFD was full of intelligence! After all, they figured out that the city is hiding money, put together a "spending plan for the city" faster than you can say "Kurt's your uncle." Know all the stats for minimum staffing. Have proudly showed off their well negociated contracts to other counties so they can inflat their salaries too... What? They could'nt tell that Almeda online college was not accredited by WASC? You cant be smart enough to give us financial advise and dumb enough to know you cant get a bonifide college degree that quickly on the internet. Give me
a break!
Bobo   |June.26.2008
On Fire, you make a valid point about the problem with arbitration when re-negotiations become due, but only because the safety contracts have gotten so out of hand.
I must say, education incentive pay regardless of the institution it was obtained from is BS. It is just another way for the unions to manipulate more money, but that has been hashed out on this site before, just like years of service pay for working in another city. It might serve the citizens well to know that online courses would most likely have been completed while on duty if you are a fireman, they do have a lot of downtime
in several stations.
Thanks for the intelligent discourse.
On Fire   |June.26.2008
An article from Sacramento on the bogus certificate scheme and related binding arbitration issue"

Using Rochville University were Capt. Bryon Mefford, firefighter Craig Wexler and apparatus operator Don Morelan. Almeda University was chosen by apparatus operator Robert Arbaugh and
firefighters Dawn Ogden and Jeffrey Shilin.

The men did not respond to requests for comment made through Doucette and their union. However, Shilin -- a bodybuilder once featured as a bare-chested Mr. August in a firefighter charity calendar did respond when Leo Baustian informed him in an April 10,
2006,
email that his raise was canceled and an investigation would begin into his "overpayment" of $3,586. He fired back a bitter reply. "Sure would be nice leo if you, the administration and the city would stop trying to take from
firefighters and try giving once in a while, gee what a concept!" Shilin wrote in the e-mail, obtained through the state Public Records Act.

City settled with union in February, the union grievance was rejected by Edward J. Takach, a city labor relations officer. "Local 522 provided no documentation to support that these degrees at issue
here were obtained
through normal course work and study," Takach wrote. "To allow the incentive to be paid for these degrees would open the door to other degrees which can be obtained just by submitting a check."

In his grievance, Charron claimed that the degrees had come from universities accredited by the World Association of Universities and Colleges. That met terms of the union's contract with the
city, he maintained, which does not specify which accreditations are acceptable. Takach responded in his ruling that WAUC is not a proper accreditation agency and is not

recognized as one in the higher education world. "No request has come from the union to expand the standard to online degree programs from
diploma mills," he wrote. "The union interpretation would lead to a nonsensical result."

Despite Takach's ruling, the union took its dispute to binding arbitration on Feb. 9. That move, Baustian said, left fire officials worried they could end up worse off if they continued efforts
to recover the $50,000. "We feared if we lost the arbitration, it would open the door to people coming in and using more of these diplomas," he
said. The city settled the dispute with the union on July 23. The deal was simple: The union withdrew its grievance while the city dropped plans to recover the $50,000 in incentive pay and agreed
not to punish those who submitted the degrees.

Written by Sacramento Bee
Mike   |June.26.2008
How do you expect me to believe things written by someone who calls herself Aging Disco Queen?
Mike   |June.26.2008
Just because you changed your name
Anonymous   |June.26.2008
On Fire wrote,

There are many cities that are closely watching Vallejo
as they too are considering getting out of b/a.

Don't get ahead of yourself friend, the judge has not accepted the BK just yet. I know some are already ordering the celebration cakes, but even if he accepts the BK it does not mean the MOU's are thrown out. The City's own BK attorney said it was a 50/50 proposition. The BK supporter's arrogance is amazing to me. "I'm all in with 50/50 where is the chapmagne? I'm a winner" slow down folks...it ain't over.
On Fire   |June.26.2008
BoBo I agree with much of what you've said and after witnessing what has happened for the last ten years plus, that is exactly what the problem has been. A council that has not bee able to make good decisions when it came to the contracts. We have had a majority council that is/was supported and endorsed by the unions, and they have not had the ability or the notion to sign a contract that is fair to the entire community.

I don't agree though that by eliminating binding arbitration from the city charter, that it would be enabling the city to pull a contract anytime they wanted to. To go
with your statement that if they negotiated a good contract, there would be no need to pull it. So, how many "good" contracts has this city seen in the past ten plus years? With that said, my understanding is that with the wording in the current contracts, even after they come to an end, any changes to this contract wording would again trigger binding arbitration. Example, by requiring the ff.s to have evaluations as mandated by the city charter, they would have to sit down at the table and come up with an agreement on how those evaluations would be worded and how that action would be
carried out. Do I believe that the IAFF and the city would be able to come up with an agreement on that issue within the duration of this present contract or any time in the near future? No indeed. I doubt that any negotiations at this point for anything would be not be even remotely possible. Again, I would point out that the vast majority of California cities have been able to negotiate contracts without b/a. The courts have determined b/a was unconstitutional. The League of California Cities has determined that b/a is bad for cities. There are many cities that are closely watching Vallejo
as they too are considering getting out of b/a. Do we need to have a council that makes better decisions for the city? Absolutely, but when you have the type of political backing from the unions as our council majority has had for the last twenty years, you get what we have now - bankruptcy.

Another side note, the recent controversy with the American Canyon ff's and using bogus certifications from Almeda University to garner salary bonuses is yet another perfect example of council signing contracts that are a joke. Apparently the wording in those contracts as well as ours, doesn't
stipulate that the school certificates should come from accredited institutions! Yet the employee's can pay $500 and buy a degree, paid for by the taxpayers, and then qualify for a 5% bump up in salary. With a bogus worthless piece of paper! How stupid is that? Yet, if Vallejo were to try and change the wording to include "accredited", this too would end up in binding arbitration. There would be no end to the unions stalling, making excuses, and never really negotiating to change a simple and reasonable clause in their contract and the only remedy would be is to take it to binding
arbitration.

We have tried working with b/a for thirty years and the evidence of where that got us is here smacking us in the face now. Let's try collective bargaining and negotitations without it and see if that improves the way we do business. If it falls short of what is expected, the voters can always put it back on the books.
little old lady   |June.26.2008
Overpaid...

I apologize!!!! I jumped to conclusions because so many staff people don't live here and don't seem to care much. No excuse tho.

I don't think poor people individually are the problem; I qualify as one of them. It's the overall system I have problems with. If we are going to create a sustainable economic system, we need to ask all the hard questions and seek a balance.

Mea culpa...
overpaid   |June.26.2008
LOL, you've missed me by several miles, but won't take the time to dissuade you from what's really not important, only I'm a vallejo resident, and neither mor nor any of my friends are wealthy enough to own rental housing.. Only surprised to have such an aggressive tone from you. I merely disagree, and don't think the affordable housing issue is 'the" main issue you believe it to be. My opinion is that the labor contracts are so unaffordable that we have no services left to enhance the quality of life, the schools (yes, my children attend school here in Vallejo) are a problem, I'm not
blaming them Silas, I'm just stating a fact: they are a problem. They are bad. And these, ladies and gentlemen, in my opinion, are the two worst problems that I see today. Poor people living in affordable housing, are not a problem, in my book.
Bobo   |June.26.2008
The below post was an e-mail to the editor and wasn't submitted as a post, ergo, I must respond...
I fully understand your point, On Fire, but what you seem to be saying is because we can't control the apparently low IQ that has been so prevalent on the city council, we need to be able to rescind the contracts at any time. That is BS, why even have a contract. If the contract is written properly in the first place, you don't need to arbitrate! I understand you didn't state it that way, however, that is the only conclusion I can reach from the argument presented. Binding arbitration should
only be necessary for violations of a contract when one party is trying to pull something on the other, not because the contract was approved by inept people who gave away the store (minimum staffing comes to mind). Who puts that in the contract?!!! That should be a city mandate, not contractual. Once again, we would not be in this position if these contracts hadn't been approved.
A rosy financial forecast does not give council and staff the right to approve a contract which awarded over 45% in raises in 5 to 7 years. When IBEW and CAMP gave up raises, they didn't just delay them, however
Safety did and it was approved. That is ludicrous, insane, I could go on... Regarding evaluations, they should be given by management personnel, ie., CAMP union employees, who are At Will employees. Then, when they don't do their job, they are fired. We recently allowed police captains to be represented by Safety instead of CAMP, does this make good sense?!
I am not 100% behind binding arbitration, only because Vallejo's past bureaucracy reminds me of that movie "Ideocracy". But I am very concerned that both our citizens and employees may suffer as a result.
VHS   |June.26.2008
I wonder if it would be possible to form a volunteer inspection force. From what I understand many section 8 landlords do not comply with the rules about keeping the property clean and in good repair. If the VHA or other traditional inspectors are short staffed perhaps volunteers could help fill a gap.
On Fire   |June.26.2008
avatar "A few observations;
Debating about section 8 projects and how many poor people are subsidized in Vallejo misses the point. This is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Not only is the discussion irrelevant, it is unproductive."

Excuse me phoenix but the conversation had been focused on the problems associated with the projects that this city has created and the problems associated with it. You consider the conversation irrelevant and unproductive. I don't think I mistook what you said at all. I participated in a string of ideas on how the community can volunteer and help
deal with the issue. You obviously feel that dealing with the issue is not important. So my advise to you is to go out and fix the other problems (since your so smart and have all the answers) and at some point, as promised by so many policy makers, (I won't hold my breath) the trickle down theory will eventually help the poor people. I am by no means blaming the poor people for all of the problems but there still exists a need to address the issue.

So tell us, oh wise one, what insight would you offer to accomplish your list of priorities for this city. Do tell and enlighten us all.
phoenix   |June.26.2008
Obviously the ability to read and comprehend is not on fire's strong suit; how he ties revenue enhancement to volunteer efforts in my statement is incomprehensible, but given his level of discourse understandable.
My god, it's the poor people who negotiated the union contracts; it's the poor people who mismanaged this City the past decade; it's the poor people who fail to support a school system that is broken; its the poor people who get ouitrageous salaries for minimal work; gee maybe this goes back to the biblical theory of Calvin who thought people were poor because God did not favor
them.
This dialogue is the most pretentious load of bs I have heard. The poor people are dragging us all down because they are all crimminals and drug dealers.
I hadn't realized that the dialogue of insightful analysis and perspicacity had risen to such a high level.
momster   |June.26.2008
Although, I like Vallejo b/c it's kind of funky.
I will not be sending my child to school in Vallejo. When he turns 5, I will be submitting an inter-district transfer so that he attends school near my employment. It's not that Vallejo schools are not good enough, I think the kids are bullies. My God daughter dropped out of VHS and begin home schooling b/c she said, "the school is too Ghetto." All my friends send their kids to St.Basils/St. Pats.

And, there isn't much to choose from in private schools, except for parochial, in Vallejo; such as, montessori, Waldorf, or Reggio.


I've attended Vallejo schools and know that they are worse now, and I say "no way!" for my child. I will sacrafice flat screen T.V.s and luxury cars for a better school.
Little Old Lady   |June.26.2008
Overpaid...

Spoken like a true Marin educated liberal. You go back each night to a community where your wife is safe, your kids go to really good schools feeding into the best universities and you can spend that fat paycheck in any one of a number of places offering healthy food at competitive prices. One of your Marin cohorts owns the Section 8 property next door to me. I only see his big BMW with the Marin license plate surrounds when he rents the place. But I have never seen him or anybody from VHA cleaning up the pile of broken furniture that has been in the back yard in full view
for months. VHA just sends him the check so he never has to come to Vallejo.

So, please, start lobbying in your Marin hometown for "affordable" housing for just 5% (that's all we ask) of your population so Vallejo can address the issues around the concentration of poverty realistically by spreading it out throughout the region.
On Fire   |June.26.2008
avatar I think most agree that the contracts that were signed were done in good faith. The problem with the information used for those contracts, depended on a rosey financial forecast that didn't pan out. So now we are stuck with them through 2010, even though it's clear that we can't afford them. Now, we are going before a judge who will make decisions on the contracts and we have no way of knowing whether or not they will be upheld or not.

If they are, the problem with still having binding arbitration on the books, is that when the city comes out of bankruptcy and negotiates a new contract,
anything can be send to binding arbitration again. And we are right back to where we are now. Basically everything is covered by binding arbitration. The city is acknowledging that even though the city charter mandates job evaluations for all employees, the fire dept has not complied with this mandate for over 20 years. Now that the city is trying to get them to comply, it will be stalled until it goes to binding arbitration. Nothing that is currently covered by their contract can be modified unless the unions agree to it, and we have evidenced over the past ten years that this won't happen.
The city needs to be free to set employment policy without having an outside party come in. The city needs to be able to set a budget for all dept.s without having an outside party come in to decide the issue. Over 400 other cities in California are managing fine without binding arbitration and many of the 22 or so that are still covered, are looking to end it. There is a reason for this, and it has a lot to do with what's going on in Vallejo.
Bobo   |June.26.2008
I understand the frustration, but binding arbitration didn't cause the problem, the contract signed by the council and senior staff did. If you sign a contract to have your house painted, the contractor gets 3/4 done, and then you decide you want to change the color of the paint, you can't just do it, you have to re-negotiate. The contract protects both the contractor and the homeowner if written properly. Your take is that the homeowner can do whatever they want, then that person needs to paint the house theirself. Perhaps you think you are protected because firemen and policemen can't strike
as per the law, you fail to remember there is another union, they provide water, street lights, traffic lights, and a host of other services. Who will fix that water main break or the hydrant that got knocked over because the traffic signal stopped working? See how we fare if they went out on strike, especially if you have no water in your tap. Arbitration forces both sides to honor the contract. If you don't like the contract, don't sign or enact the damn thing, it isn't complicated. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water... If lawsuits with damages are preferable to arbitration, go for
it.

Lot's of people are losing their houses right now because they were fiscally irresponsible, they felt the housing market would stay strong, this city will not survive if it continues to issue contracts based on feelings. The people who approved these contracts are irretrievably pathetic, and the safety unions will eventually lose. The sad thing is, we have always been short on money due to fiscal irresponsibility and have approached the unions for concessions multiple times, is a contract negotiated in good faith ever going to be honored by the city? Now the council is talking about a
salary survey (I heard Mr. Davis say that he believes everyone working for the city is over-compensated during a recent council meeting) Vallejo did that back in about '92 also, they ended up giving most people a raise, hmm..., I wonder if it will backfire again?! Safety is the major problem and they will have their pay cut, but they aren't the only ones working for the city, I've got bad news for you... Most of the top level managers will get a raise, all of our engineers, check for yourselves.

If all this wasn't so sad, it would be funny.

The council has done whatever they wanted for too
many years and our paper has continuously failed to keep the public notified. Hopefully, most of the public is now aware and will pay attention in the future.
VHS   |June.26.2008
GREAT and timely program this morning on cspan Washington Journal. Hanna Rosin, a contributing editor for the Atlantic magazine has published an article in the July issue on section 8 housing. This is a must read for those of us interested in the housing situation here in Vallejo. Watch the cspan interview here: http://tinyurl.com/6qfwkp
silasbarnabe   |June.26.2008
Overpaid-
It would be foolish to blame all of vallejo's problems on any one group whether it be the government, public safety unions, the rich or the poor. Before you blame Vallejo's schools for all the problems you should look at the CDE website and see who attends our schools, the pooverty rate (defined by those who qualify for free and reducd meals). In 1999 Vallejo's enrollment was 21,000 and now it is about 14,000. Like it or not no one wants to attend Vallejo schools and apparently those that could afford to go else where or had an address handy from other school districts have done
so.

From what I understand reading some of the statistics about students that "qualify" for free and reduced meals over half of those enrolled at Vallejo school are poor. So while you so you aren't one to blame all problems on the poor you blamed Vallejo schools which has the majority of students attending classified as "poor". Like it or not it appears as much as one third of students have left our schools I would consider that as a strong statement of the desirability to not attend our schools.

These families have left and aren't likely to return, support new taxes
until they feel safe, clean and the schools offer and enriched curriculum. Not fighting back (although I feel they are a great organization) or holding slum lord owners accountable alone will help poor families in our city without the help as Firebug said) of a strong and aggressive Police Department. I remember how great the Fighting back/Dare program was and our attempt at community based policing.

Bullying at schools and violent crimes must be brought under control in Vallejo and in our schools. Here a little something about Vallejo schools and how crimes have gone unreported, please
note this is the year that the school district stopped funding for school resource officers.

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/a09e0025.pdf

I know that making excuses for criminal behavior is not conducive to solving problems it only "enables" behavior to continue. I am with Firebug if we continue to go doen the path of crime and codependent behavior we will never solve this problems involved in poverty.
On Fire   |June.25.2008
Mike, suggest you watch the council meeting online. You had to be there to understand the $ deal. Or wait on the upcoming story from Marc. The deal was detailed and Ms. Gomes gave a display on how to do your homework before coming to council. Even the community activist from San Francisco were impressed with her questions. Yea Ms. Gomes! At least some people know what a clapper rail is!
Sonic Toad   |June.25.2008
avatar Mike, Gomes and Schivley made a point of making sure that staff explained why the sales price was $1. The basis is due to the huge amount of infrastructure required out there to even make the property worthwhile to build upon. The appraisal takes into account not only the square footage of the property but also the investment required to bring it to a condition where it is ready to go. At this point I think the city did well. The details are on the city website.
overpaid   |June.25.2008
I disagree with LOL that low income housing is 'the' crucial issue. Affordable housing is one positive thing for Vallejo. The problems are: bad schools turning out an uninformed and victimized citizenry, an apathetic electorate, council members that don't know how to get things done, and who don't have the time/skills/ interest to acquire the knowledge by working with people wo want to help them, staff members who don't care about the big picture, or are too tired to work at it any more. I don't believe in the whole "blame the poor people" for Vallejo's problems. Nope.
Mike   |June.25.2008
I just got home from work and saw your headline. Are you for real they sold the North end of the island for "ONE DOLLAR". How can we pay the City manager 400,000 and do deals like that. This city goverment is crazy. They cut sevices and then sell off there land for a dollar.
Sonic Toad   |June.25.2008
avatar I love the when we post a : 0

Momster, I forgot about the sex offender item. Vallejo is indeed a dumping ground. I for one think the fines for not meeting standards for affordable housing should be much more significant so that a Napa or Mill Valley would have to evaluate the issue seriously. Spreading out affordable housing into more cities and counties would make life better for everyone in the program or impacted by the program. Somebody needs to talk to the guvinator about that!
Little Old Lady   |June.25.2008
Thinking regionally.

Consider attending the first hearings on the flawed Solano County General Plan on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 from 30 pm - 50 pm and 6:30 pm - 90 pm at the Board Chambers at 675 Texas Street.

Although groups are opposing the plan because of the amount of prime ag lands that are proposed for conversion to estate residential, the other part of that issue is that the "affordable" housing component required for all that new development is planned to be located in the unincorporated area of the County within the City Limits of Vallejo.

Looks like Vallejo
City staff did not comment on the negative impacts.
Little Old Lady   |June.25.2008
Shay...

So what if Marin, Walnut Creek, Lafayette and other affluent communities took their fair share (maybe 10% of their population) of our subsidized housing and sent us 10% of their rich people in exchange. That would allow some of the disadvantaged kids in our community to attend first class schools so they can get good jobs and get out of poverty. And it would increase our tax base and favorably change our demographics that the developers use when they site new businesses. This is a regional issue.
Shay58   |June.25.2008
Forgive me Miss Marvelous - my glasses fell off my nose while posting. My previous post was meant for Little Old Lady.
VHS   |June.25.2008
Call me cynical but I smell a rat. I keep thinking someone must be making big money in this game for us to have so many subsidized housing projects. Speaking for myself, I want to understand the money that comes into the system from state and fed funds, how it is allocated within VHA and the other agencies involved. I want to know who owns what property, what tax advantages are being taken, what rents are being charged, what level of maintenance is occurring in the living units and what are we pay in public safety costs to support subsidized housing. Id say we should get tough with the
management of these projects, turn up the heat on them and levy a public safety fee for troubled tenants. Lets get these tenants out, out of town, out of state, I really dont care. The 90% good and decent people deserve to live in peace and not fear going outside after dark.
Shay58   |June.25.2008
So what's your proposal Miss Marvelous? That the so-called project people be pushed out and scattered to the winds, only to end up concentrating in North Vallejo? What's your solution?
On Fire   |June.25.2008
avatar Phoenix, while working on bringing in new revenues is something the city needs, just how would community volunteers accomplish revenue enhancement, job creation and program design? If the point is to decrease the excess use of city resources, dealing with our city's projects would certainly accomplish that. At a time when the city is already facing a shortage of police, we certainly don't need them tied up in one or two locations and not able to cover the rest of the city. Fighting Back is a non-profit that is set up to help the community with issues of drug and alcohol abuse and the
associated problems, parolee re-entry programs and other social service programs that include job training, and family counseling.

It maybe considered irrelevant and unproductive to you but it is a major problem that has plagued this city for too long. If community members want to volunteer to make the neighborhoods a safer place for everyone, what's wrong with that? I certainly am not advocating decreasing the number of poor people in Vallejo or attempting to drive them out of Vallejo.

If this is not your area of interest, then you can certainly make your suggestions on issues you'd
like to volunteer with and work on. It's not limited to what we are discussing and there are certainly more than enough other areas that people can contriubute to. Aside from dealing with these problems, the city needs to realize that they can't continue to create these type of "projects" and that we should be looking toward intergrating low income families all over the city and not isolating them. This isn't trying to mirror Orinda, Mill Valley or any other city. This is trying to improve Vallejo.
Little Old Lady   |June.25.2008
Phoenix...

Concentrations of poverty in one overwhelmed community...that's us...has a major impact on all those things you call revenue enhancement. In order for shoppers and tourists to come spend money, especially in the downtown, Vallejo has to feel safe, clean and have stuff people want to buy. Drive down Georgia Street, check out the no-man's land between Marina Vista and the downtown. Feel safe??? I don't. In order for stores to prosper, someone has to come spend enough money to offset costs like permit fees, parking extractions or shoplifters and still have a little profit left
over. With the ring of Section 8 Projects completely encircling the downtown, you would have to build maybe 10,000 units of market rate (unaffordable) housing to make the ratio attractive to prospective developers.
phoenix   |June.25.2008
A few observations;
Debating about section 8 projects and how many poor people are subsidized in Vallejo misses the point. This is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Not only is the discussion irrelevant, it is unproductive.
Where are the ideas on revenue enhancement? job creation? program design? more efficient use of current city resources? volunteer efforts?
Vallejo is not Orinda or Mill Valley; if you want less poor people create entry training and job opportunities; improve education and after school programs.
Also I don't care how good you think Tanner is, he doesn't
deserve over $300,000 in a bankrupt city. For $300,000 I want to see him turn water into wine or cure lepers. Oakland which has more problems then Vallejo and is 3X our size pays its City Manager $255,000. What kind of message does this send?
Let's come up with some concrete ways to help the city and encourage retail, commercial, and industrial development,especially on Mare Island.
On Fire   |June.25.2008
avatar Firebug I think for the most part we are all in argreement that the issue of "projects" needs to be addressed, and we have a varied opinion on how that is to be done. Somewhere in the offerings of ideas, there is an answer that could be submitted to the policy makers. For the most part, my prior comments were simply historical. The management hired by the property owners often times are the lowest bidder and not capable of handling the problem. The end up being just as much of the problem as the bad tenents. I agree that this too should be left at the foot of the property owners and
they should bear the cost of any excessive us of our city's resources. Another part of the issue are the thugs that are causing the problems. Many of which don't live in the complex but have friends, family and sympathizers. If the courts would simply specify that these people are not to return to that area or risk violations of the probation or parole, it would help. But that ain't happening.

The problems are complex and will take a lot of work to correct. If the city want's to organize a committee to come up with some solutions with the assistance of professionals. We have a perfect
resource available to us right now and that is Fighting Back. They have the expertise in many of these areas and so I will talk with the director, Tony Pearsall to see if we can set up a community meeting. Will keep you posted. Please continue to post any suggestions on how we can work in this issue.
momster   |June.25.2008
Sonic Toad:

You forgot to mention sex offenders. Vallejo has the majority number of sex offenders lving here. And, most of these sex offenders didn't even commit their offense in Vallejo.

You see there are a numberof sex offenders who commit their offense in Marin County or Napa County, but since Marin is so affluent and the moms in this county do not have to work--when not shoe shopping at Nordstroms, they have time to cause a stink. It's because of economic status.

for example: Marin's infamous serial "Ghilotti" rapist was paroled to Vacaville.
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.25.2008
Oh, yeah, did you all know that the VFD would give a bit of a raise if you had an education? Yep some went on line through an internet school that was not accredited and got their certificate (aka cheating.) Once it was discovered where their degrees were coming from, an "end" was put to it, but it shows the mind set... This also happened in American Canyon, and is sort of a scandal right now, as their old chief is running for county supervisor, but I will let you check that out on your own
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.25.2008
Personally, I think that any "blue collar" job that pays over $100,000 a year is a pretty hefty wage. My spouse is a "blue collar" worker and says "if I wanted to make the wages of a doctor or lawyer I would have gone to school and paid my dues to become one." He works in the private sector and faces dangers everyday that no one "glorifies" or makes a big deal about. He certainly does not charge his customers more because he has a semi-dangerous job, its the job he choose and doesnt blame any one for. BTW, he's self employeed, pays for his own benefits and
retirement (and gets double taxation in the process.) No one's getting rich here folks...
Pay your dues, get a good education (not one you bought on the internet so the fire deparment would give you a raise,) and make the big bucks!
i love vallejo   |June.25.2008
joe tanner made 316k last year which is 98k more than kurt henkes 218k in 2007

tanner is worth every penny as he does a lot for this city and we need him

henke on the other hand ..........
Sonic Toad   |June.24.2008
avatar He's making that kind of money because of all the other City Managers that have been chased out. Nobody would take that job for less - Nobody. The previous councils created this monster and this price tag. Good news however is that he's the best Vallejo has had in 20 years. He's also not making $400. It's in the mid 300s I think. Still big money I admit, but like I said nobody would take that job considering the history here.

There is no requirement to live in Vallejo and most city staff don't live in town. It's tough living here. I don't exactly enjoy having to lock all of my security
doors, set the alarm, and still worry that some punk will break into my house. I don't enjoy having my windows rattle with motorcycles, sirens, and rap crap. I don't need that kind of aggravation. Note that the majority of cops and firemen don't live in Vallejo either. What is their motivation? Good Schools, Clean Streets, No Potholes, Less Noise, and Less Crime. Pretty motivating isn't it? The only glue here for me is the people I know who live here and they're pretty great. That's a huge plus, but the negatives are massive.
Mike   |June.24.2008
You should be helping to expose the fact that the City Manager, who refuses to live in our City, is being paid so much money. When I found out that me makes $400,000 he lost my support. How much of that fat salary is he giving up? What are the other benefits and perks he gets? Please help us get to the bottom of this
Shay58   |June.24.2008
I think you're reading a bit too much in my post and I wonder why?
Firebug   |June.24.2008
avatar shay58-
"It requires that those in charge (city and federal government officials) see these complexes as neighborhoods with families and not problem areas with problem people. That seems to be the mindset here and it has gotten us no where."

Any high crime area section 8 or not is generally looked at as a "problem area". Community based policing is about as close as anything I know to having the authorities work with families to come forward and help the police.

I am counting myself of a discussion that would make excuses or condone criminal behavior and blame it on
poverty or other social ills. There is a problem of violent crime and other criminal activities in such developments and I simply do not think that telling management they have to simply evict hardcore violent individuals is the entire answer.

We have a highly trained group of professionals that get paid to extricate such individuals from society. I subscribe to letting the professionals do the extricating, and those that profit from such a development pay the lions share of the bill.
Shay58   |June.24.2008
Firebug - don't count yourself out on the Fix Section 8 issue because of anything I've posted. I doubt if I would be involved with you on this issue.
Shay58   |June.24.2008
Firebug - Sorry, I don't get your post.
Firebug   |June.24.2008
avatar So am I to understand that despite drug dealing, and violence our leadership isn't supposed to consider 201 Maine a problem area? If that's the the case you can count me out of the fix section 8 issue. Admitting there is a problem is the best way to find out you have one. I agree with Silas we shouldn't make excuses for thugs and illegal activity.
Shay58   |June.24.2008
On Fire - Some HUD officials(not just here) have a reputation for attempting to create problems for tenant groups but that can be overcome with the help of strong leadership from within and the support of city officials who honestly want to see these complexes work. It requires that those in charge (city and federal government officials) see these complexes as neighborhoods with families and not problem areas with problem people. That seems to be the mindset here and it has gotten us no where.
VHS - I read that post by "Benicia Resident" on the T-H blog and found it interesting. If
it is true that someone on the Downtown Revitalization commission (or any city commission or board) owns that property - what a scandal that would be! It would also answer some questions regarding why nothing has/is being done to fix the problems at Marina Vista. It would seem the ownership should be easy to trace.
On Fire   |June.24.2008
avatar This is what I've heard about the complex for years. They actually tried to have a tenant's association which worked well initially until management started trying to control them and putting 'their' people on the association board. If anyone would become too vocal, they would stop working with them and ignoring them. This was some years ago and not sure if they have one now. Security there was what brought attention to the situation. The people were not allowed to walk through their complex from the parking lot to the apt. without being stopped for ID. They were not allowed to sit on the
steps when the evenings were hot, in groups of more than two people. There were a number of evictions and some unwarranted based on whether or not you were in good standing with security. The security guards were verbally abusive, etc. etc. All condoned by management. So life was/is hell there for the people that did not cause any problems due to a number of factors.

So if we look for models of these type of "projects" that are being run effectively in other cities, we could demand that our city require the management companies follow those models. I am convinced that if a quality
management team took over that complex along with the other one on Sereno, with stiff penalties for violations and excessive abuse of resources (police dept.) they would straighten up. You can manage without creating a prison atmosphere.

This is why the VPD get zero cooperation when something happens there. They know if they complain, management will make their life miserable. If they tell, management and the police will not protect them from the predators.
VHS   |June.24.2008
Reprinted from the TH blogs by Benicia Resident

My condolences go out to the family because any life lost is a trajedy. I used to work security at the Marina Vista Apartments, I did for about two years. Not everybody in the complexes are bad people, in fact, most of them are law abiding citizens, who are afraid to go outside. The main problem spots are the R, S, and P buildings, which are located on the Marin street side. The management at Marina Vista does not care what these people do in these buildings, until they do not pay their rent. What the people of the city need to do is speak
with the owner of Marina Vista, who is on the downtown rejuvenation committee. The few times I spoke with him, when he came to Marina Vista and walked around. We gave him many suggestions and all he wanted to do was improve the lighting. The residents need to ask the management for a better security company, as well. One of the main security guards there, who was fired a few weeks ago, was selling drugs to the residents, and making drug runs for others. The residents need to take a stand against the management, to hire a better, more capable security company. So that the residents arent afraid
to go outside or answer their doors after dark, in fear of being robbed.
Firebug   |June.24.2008
avatar Section 8 housing is a firestorm all over the U.S. just google it. I agree with MISSMARVELOUS and LOL in that we have done our fair share for the poor and do not need anymore section 8 developments here. (I guess that is part of one solution or suggestion) The other solution I would like to entertain is to create a community based policing task force to crunch the numbers it would cost to hire additional officers that did nothing but deal with section 8 issues through community based policing (I really think developing relationships in the developments will help although thoughts of the movie
"training day" sends shivers up my spine). This will likely cost a lot of money how would I propose to pay for this? I do not think slum lords and the federal government mandatating section 8 are paying their fair share. Like has been suggested before slum lords need to be taxed or have additional fees imposed.

I feel that asset seizures of drug money and vehicles should go to the local agancy to be sold and the money used to support the community based policing effort. I would love to hear what other folks opinions are for solutions as so far we have only heard from a few here.
One thing is for sure if what happened at 201 Main continues and we force the community outside of section 8'ers to get invovled, the usual solution of just hiring more cops and cracking down will likely result on a war zone where the development like a few in San Francisco in the 90's gets leveled and the inhabitants told to look elsewhere.
VHS   |June.24.2008
I agree onFire. The financial issue as I see it should be focused on the landlords and building owners. In order to get the property tax exemption, the owners must comply with a number of conditions. Vallejo has a large number of living units that are operating under the property tax exemption. As an informed citizenry we should demand that all of the regulations, inspections and appropriate economic advantages that flow from the tax exemptions actually reach the people that the legislation was designed to benefit. On the renter side of the equation, we must insist that VHA vigorously enforce
all of the rules and regulations that renters are subject to. In the case of Marina Vista, it probably has just a few bad apples not in compliance with the program that cause ninety percent of the problems. These bad apples should be removed for non compliance. I think it is immoral to allow the few thugs to remain in the program only to victimize the rest of the honest majority.
On Fire   |June.24.2008
I get an uneasy feeling while reading post after post of comments regarding people on section 8 and the poor. I remember these same type of conversations prior to the 1997 raid on 201 Maine and it seemed to be a frenzy of statements focused on blaming the poor but not too much on how to rectify the problems. The majority of the families and people there were/are wanting better conditions but don't have alternatives. I think the steady steam of negative attention further hurt the chances of dispursing poor people throughout the community instaed of hurding them into projects. Many people who
had rentals refused to rent to poor, thereby effectively keeping them locked into the projects. By the way, the class action law suit cost this city millions. It was a hugh blunder to bring in the media while invading innocent people's homes.

A windy intro to say that we should be focusing on solutions to deal with the problems with city made projects and not just harping on how many section 8 people live there and indirectly blaming poor people for all the problems surrounding the issue of the projects. Let's not forget that they did ask to live in projects. That brainchild came from our
policy makers.
MISSMARVELOU   |June.24.2008
Whoops, lets try this address instead:

http://members.aol.com/poesgirl/vallejo that should bring up several SF Chron article about 201 Maine from 1997.
MISSMARVELOUs   |June.24.2008
Take a look at this 1997 news article in the SF Chronical, it pretty much describes the conditons at 201 Maine, which appear to be better now...

http://209.85.141.104/search?
VHS   |June.24.2008
The Marina Vista apartments have project based vouchers which means the entire complex is subsidized. Read about project vouchers here http://tinyurl.com/6eewec

To look up addresses and see what property tax is being paid go here http://tinyurl.com/5tnjlr

Look here to see the legal framework that allows the property tax exemption http://tinyurl.com/4vdvol
Truth   |June.24.2008
Of 236 units at 201 Maine, six families currently receive "Section 8" vouchers. Read: There is at best a marginal financial relationship between Marina Vista and the Vallejo Housing Authority.
Anonymous   |June.23.2008
I was looking around the internet for Marina Vista (201 Maine) and found this:
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/28722/bk0000n484v/?&brand=oac

Interesting!
On Fire   |June.23.2008
Mike, the council's 700 is not going to show their earnings. The 700 is used to report any potential conflict of interest. You wouldn't be able to find out that information unless they work for a public entity and the only one that does is Ms. Gomes as she is a federal employee and they will only give you a range.
Curious   |June.23.2008
I heard that the Maine Street Project was owned by PG&E's employee retirement fund.
VHS   |June.23.2008
Mike, email the city clerk mellsworth@ci.vallejo.ca.us and ask for the form 700 on each council member. That would be a start.
Mike   |June.23.2008
day job? I think that's an important question, for me as a taxpayer to know since it tells me a lot about how people think, and how they set priorities. That would be a real public service.
Mike   |June.23.2008
Can you tell me how much each of our City Councilmembers make in their
Mike   |June.23.2008
Not sure why this is not working...TEST TEST TEST
Mike   |June.23.2008
Character problem. empty comment
Mike   |June.23.2008
Sorry my whole post did not hit let me try again...
Edinator thanks for the info can you tell me how much each of our City Councilmembers make in their
Mike   |June.23.2008
Ediantor thanks for the information, can you folks tell me how much each of our City Councilmembers make in their
Anonymous   |June.23.2008
Thanks everyone for commenting. I was sceptical about the post, however it could have been a possibility. Does anyone know who Vallejo Maine Partners LLC is? All this is a huge learning process for the uninitiated. Smoke and mirrors every where one turns, has the simple truth gone out of fashion?
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.23.2008
I dont believe the City of San Francisco owns 201 Maine/Marina Vista Apt. It is owned by Vallejo Maine Partners LLC and their tax bill is sent off to a Fairfield address. I think San Francisco has enough of their own "gettos" in the Mission District and the Bay View Hunters Point areas. It would be more likely that places like Tiburon and Marin would be off-loading their poor onto Vallejo as they have no plan to house their poor people. Also look out for our up-valley neighbors in Napa County, they have no place to house their poor either, and have been sued many times, they are
mandated to build 3000+ affordable units, but have not done so. We have been supporting the poor of the Bay Area as well as parolees for far too long, and its because other cities know we will accept the monies they throw our way to take care of their social problems...
Curious   |June.23.2008
Check out www.preservecitypark.org/subsidized for the type and location of subsidized housing by census tract as of 2006. VHA administers the Housing Choice Vouchers that move around. My understanding is that Project Based Vouchers are negotiated directly with HUD. Most of the downtown census tract is Project based, not Choice vouchers. So I don't think VHA is involved with those. In the past, the City of San Francisco has just handed folks a Choice voucher and told them to take it to Vallejo. Now that SF is getting rid of their more notorious Projects, do they have a policy of just
off-loading people to Vallejo and foisting off all the reasons their Projects were so horrible on us?
Where is she?   |June.23.2008
What's happened to the Aging Disco Queen? Has she gone off and ruled another website?
On Fire   |June.23.2008
I know if a question is posted and I don't know the answer, I generally tend to leave if for someone that may know the answer. So I don't think any question was purposely ignored but maybe overlooked. Might I suggest that if no response is posted within a reasonable amount of time, that the issue is again posted with a request for response?

And the troll remark was posted in response to someone posting as Troll Digger. Though it may be 'so yesterday' it helps to know when one is lurking and is attempting to reek havoc. We have been caught unaware in the past and went through great length
to respond to the questions posed by a troll only to find that person would only post questions just for the sake of posted questions over and over again to tie up the blogs. I believe it was NBR. So troll alerts even if passe, are handy at times.
Gabriele   |June.23.2008
Firebug, thanks for all the attention. It was just a general observation on my part over the last couple of months.
Maybe something we could work on from this point forward.
Michael Tatham   |June.23.2008
201 maine st is still owned by the same partnership. sec 8 is administered by the various housing authorities that cover specific geographic areas. 201 maine is definetly under the vallejo housing authority
Firebug   |June.23.2008
avatar Gabriele,
Sorry if we ignored you I can't seem to find an unanswered question in this months blog, with handles on the TH blog like Shamus Gadfly, Blimpkin Flynt, Dirty Lincoln, and Dirty Sanchez I hope you can understand our concern over trolls and other vermin that come from the TH blogs.
Gabriele   |June.23.2008
Thanks for your reply. I had to do a search for this particular post and you will find it under "Vallejo Man Dies After Shooting, 11 comments, post #7 by Sad Day In Vallejo". Maybe I have to pull items that are of interest and save them in the future.

Quote:
The city of San Francisco had purchase[sic] a majority of the apartment units at 201 Maine St for subsidized housing for their own Section 8 residents. Smart move and investment on S.F.'s part. Poor decision on Vallejo's part. So now, 201 Maine St is here to stay. Look at the county records if you don't believe me.

----------------------
I am not very knowledgable in these matters, so if someone could investigate further, I would really appreciate it. Thanks again.
Anonymous   |June.23.2008
Gabriele, can you point out the address for this blog entry? I'm curious to see what it says. I don't think its legal for the City of SF to do this, but one never knows, eh? Thanks for the tip!
Gabriele   |June.23.2008
I have read on the TH blog that the City of S.F. "invested" and purchased properties in Vallejo for their Section 8 people. If correct, how is this possible and why are we housing people from out of town when we have long time residents on a waiting list?
I also noticed that the blogs here are dealing with a small circle of the same people and their posts. Questions are answered usually only when they come from these select few. If input from outsiders is not welcome that stance has to be noted. The tired "Troll" quote is so yesterday. (I do admit that the little green guy
is cute.)
Just come out and say, look we do not want your comments, or we do not know but will get back to that at a later time, instead of just ignoring a well meaning, advice seeking person. Please think about this, thanks.
Edinator   |June.22.2008
avatar Mike,

The pay differential for council members is because some council members choose to get health benefits through the city. The ones who have benefits through their employer or spouse etc. get the equivalent in cash.
Mike   |June.22.2008
Good work on exposing yourself on this blog! I was interested in your article showing how much each city councilmember got paid last year. Why are they different amounts? How come Mr. Bartee got $10,800 and Ms. Gomes took in $17,284?
Mike   |June.22.2008
I see now that our Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes has started her own blog. On her profile is says: Age: 41, Gender: Female, Astrological Sign, Aquarius, Zodiac Year: Horse. After watching her on the City Council
Michael Tatham   |June.22.2008
i am hearing all this about the terible shape of section 8 housing as the landlords neglect the properties and make absurd profits

the vallejo housing authority inpsects each sec 8 unit twice a month. the landlord is required to make all necessary repairs within 30 days (immediatley if it is a hazard). if the tenant is at fault, according to the housing authority, for damage they are required to make the repairs.

being a landlord for the most part is a marginaly business because of the debt service you get from a mortgage. we have inflated prices from the city (our garbage bill- due
to no competetive bidding) is 60% higher than the county- our water bill is 20% higher than adjacent communities- our sewer bills are outrageous)
on top of that we have a building dept that is totaly uncooperative, actually hostile to anyone that requires their service. once while trying to build new stairs- my contractor was told that the blueprints were rejected because they did't include the nail size. when he asked what was the proper size he was told by the city employee that he should find it out on his own.
most of us know who the bad landlords are and there are a heck of a lot
less than their was ten years ago. many of us, including code enforcement when it wasn't so overwhelmed, have worked very hard to rid vallejo of these bad landlords. now it seems that the responsible property owners have lost a valuable allie since the city has had to reduce their efforts due to the budget
and ten years ago their was a very gung ho police officer who worked on beat health and he really helped get on the back of the slumlords.all the good landlords loved him and worked with him (i can't mention his name). i see that this talented person is still on the police force and it is
ironic that in the salary list published he wasn't anywhere near the top. this is one police officer who is underpayed
Shay58   |June.22.2008
Silas: All the more reason for tenant associations that could help foster trust between the complex residents and cops.
silasbarnabe   |June.22.2008
Shay-
I can only tell you that if you talk to anyone in local law enforcement about many of the law abiding citizens in those complexes they will tell you a large part of the problem is that they will not cooperate and bear witness against the troublemakers.

LOL and MISSMARVELOUS are correct about putting the poor in large developments is a bad idea as the strong prey on the weak.
Shay58   |June.22.2008
Does anyone on this thread know if Vallejo's subsidized housing complexes have tenant associations? Working on ways to limit the number of these housing complexes in our area is important. But there is also the issue of existing complexes. Much of the work regarding these housing complexes and the problems faced by tenants must be done from within. I know HUD at one time required that subsidized housing complexes must have tenant associations. These groups can be extremely effective and I have seen troubled complexes turn around as a result of strong tenant advocacy. If anyone knows
about these associaitons please post.
Little Old Lady   |June.22.2008
Amen all!

The reason we blame staff for the terrible state of subsidized and substandard housing is because the City makes money on it so there is a big incentive. HUD sends the money for the Housing Choice Vouchers directly to the VHA who administers the "Program" for a small fee... say 20%. Well 20% of some $30 million is a chunk of change so why would the City do anything that might reduce that? And VHA is administered directly by the Economic Development Department in charge of Redevelopment. Get it. Concentrations of poverty + no code enforcement = substandard housing and
"blight" = Redevelopment. Owners of Projects negotiate their vouchers directly with HUD so as near as I know, the City does not profit directly...only indirectly.

With the bankruptcy, the City's ability to float more redevelopment bonds is in the toilet. That's a good thing.
Anonymous   |June.22.2008
Why always blame City Staff for section 8 and the terrible state of low-income housing?

The Chamber of Commerce and all the realtors in town (do they live in town?) can take a big share of the blame. Section 8 and rentals in general generate big bucks for a lot of folks. High turnover of housing is bad for neighborhoods but it sure is nice for realtors. How many of you are seeing bank owned homes turning into rentals on your street. So sad for those sub-prime mortagees, but a nice windfall more houses to sell!

I like Little Old Lady's idea. Fine owners and property managers to the
hilt!

Make it much more expensive to do the business of low-income housing in this town and that will discourage it.
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.22.2008
On Fire, you are making our point exactly, we know that "social engineering" of placing high concentrations of poor people together does not work! That is our point exactly, the strong (drug dealers trouble makers etc.) will prey on the weak in any circumstance, so building large projects should be a thing of the past, but the VHA would love to build a new one, or aquire another big building and turn it into another "getto." Remember, high density house, plus poor people = getto. I grew up in undesirable parts of Oakland as a child, my mom was a single struggling mom working
two jobs. She knew to stay away from "low income projects" and instead we rented attic and basement units in houses, not very big spaces but much safer than living in the projects in Oakland. So we are not blaming the good but poor citizens of Vallejo that receive voucher assisted housing, we are blaming the environment of "social segregation" that large housing projects perpetuate...
On Fire   |June.21.2008
I think that the rior proposal from Code Enforcement after being tweeked should be brought back to council. While I agree that much needs to be done about our "projects" the responsibility should lie with the people/companies that profit from the subsidies and tax breaks should bare the brunt of responsibility. There should be some mandate to anyone who maybe owns more than one housing unit and rents them out. A higher fee for those like 201 Maine. The fee should cover the expense to the city if there is a need for multiple police visits. If the number of calls for service become
excessive, your fee goes up to meet the additional use of resources. All rental units should have to be registered with the city. Problems with tenents would be directed to the home owner and if not rectified, mabe a fine for maintaining a house of nusince. The cost to them may make them more responsible to who the rent to. There also should be a rental review board that deals with complaints and compliance. A yearly fee would pay for code enforcement reviews of the rental units and for other resources such and the police dept. Additional fees when the calls get excessive that continue even
after the situation gets better until they establish a better track record. There are several models already established and sucessful.

To blame all of the people that live in our "projects" isn't fair. The majority of people that live in the rojects are simply poor people who I'm sure don't want to live there either. I'm sure they would prefer to have a place to live where you feel safe and at peace. They too are preyed upon by the trouble makers and their complaints to the management falls on deaf ears. They also become part of the the pattern of abuse by the so called security
team and managment. They would be happy to have the problem people removed and kept out.
admin   |June.21.2008
avatar I've enlarged the avatar image upload option to 100x100 with an icon of 75x75. A bit hard to tell what you've uploaded at such a small size. Upload again if you desire, or not.
Little Old Lady   |June.21.2008
Miss...

All taxes require a 2/3 vote of the people but "fees" don't. I think a "business license fee" on gross income for people who operate rental businesses in Vallejo, or an "inspection fee" for smoke detectors or billing for the cost of excess police services can be passed by the City Council as far as I know.
sHAY58   |June.21.2008
Silas - Thanks for the tip but I think I'll stay in Vallejo. I want to see what it's like to witness our rebirth.
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.21.2008
Little Old Lady, do you have your "ears on?" Can you tell us how we could go about having a mandatory tax added to our ordinance with regards to rentals? I know many realtors who would agree that a tax is now necessary, especially when other cities have inacted such a tax. Our resources are being drained by a lot of out of town landlords who dont contribute to our tax base...
silasbarnabe   |June.21.2008
Mike: Firing one of the bigger mis-managers Chief Parker was a step in the right direction.

Shay58- The place is called Tortilla Flats, the Author John Steinbeck. You should read in particular about the Paisano's and the burden of owning anything. Actually the Paisano's had it harder than most if not all in the section 8 developments around here.
Mike   |June.21.2008
Your article on Shipbuilding returning to Mare Island shows another missed opportunity by the City Council and City Management. You say that talks broke down with Lennar in 2006. Why have our grand leaders done nothing to recruit another bidder for over 2 years?! That should have been on the front of your homepage, not buried at the end of the article. But your group seems to be giving the city mis-managers a pass on their failure to give us a solid economic foundation.
Shay58   |June.21.2008
Silas - I agree with you on many of the things you posted. I especially agree with you that slumlords should be made to pay their fair share in taxes. I took exception to your reference regarding poor people as having more rights than the middle class. Can you point me to that place so that I can move there? Based on my income I will do quite well there.
Mike   |June.21.2008
I am referring to the way the people on this blog refer to the hard working people in this city. You can spin it however you want. We all make choices you make yours I make mine and the council makes theirs.
silasbarnabe   |June.21.2008
Mike,
You you mean the add criticizing the entire City Council the majority of which were elected with money from the same group? Nothing hypocritical there.....
Mike   |June.21.2008
How can you criticize city employees for placing an ad after you have spent months attacking them both personally and professionally? You are totally hypocritical.
silasbarnabe   |June.21.2008
Shay- This isn't startrek where we can materialize anything we want or cure every disease, in our world everything costs money. This isn't about banning the poor or (I hope)the condoning of criminal behavior. Section 8, welfare, and general assistance should all be temporary not a way of life. I am proud to have a country that can ask those that can (by the IRS and francise tax board definition)afford to help those that are in need. All criminals should have to pay their debt to society, all I am asking is that those that profit from the taxpayers (slum lords) should pay their fair
share.

Without all of us working together we will never improve our schools, neighborhoods or quality of life unless we take measures that our city leaders will not (like taxing slum lords). We will never progress in our efforts to make this city better by attempting to make excuses for the crime that surounds or section 8 developments.
Shay58   |June.21.2008
Silas - When are poor people ahead of middle class people in any way? There has to be a way to deal with this affordable housing issue without blaming poor people.
On Fire   |June.21.2008
Yes and I believe when we tried to put a similar ordinance in place that required that all the people that had rentals would be required to register with the city and I believe pay for a license, the Board of Realtors and Chamber came out and squashed it. Code Enforcement was all for it, but they didn't have the same support that they have now from the public.

On another note, I didn't realize that the henkettes would be so ****ed off by my asking a question about their procedure for all six stations responding to one house fire. I simply thought it was odd but it appears that the
times horrid left out some of the more important details in their story. Now that's a shocker. But it's good to know we have backup from Cordelia, Benicia and Crockett when needed.
silasbarnabe   |June.21.2008
Thanks MISSMARVELOUS and Little Old Lady we are certainly being treated as third class citizens. In Vallejo

First class = public safety employees and Chamber connected.

Second class = the poor

Third class = all the rest of us that are considered middle class

There you have it folks how do we get to be first class citizens in our own City? Sign the BA petition and vote for it, and work with everybody to tax slum lords in Vallejo and make them pay there own way!
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.21.2008
BTW Silas,
the 201 Maine property was purchased in 1998, so the value of the property is taxed at the 1998 evaluation plus the small increment that the county is allowed to access per year, also I made an error, they pay $24,000 a year in taxes for 2 buildings worth 12 million, what's 1 percent of 12 million, $120,000 (they are under paying by $100,000 per year) you get the picture...
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.21.2008
Dear Silas,
I know it's hard to believe that the taxes imposed on 201 Maine are so little, but is is on the County tax record and is public knowledge, you are correct, the taxes are against us so to speak. Little Old Lady is also correct, Napa did do something regarding their problem, as did the city of Oakland. We should access the rentals in our town and access a $100 fee for in town landlords and a $200 plus fee for out of town landlords, it would help defray costs associated with rentals, especially owned by out of town landlords. Viva Vallejo!
Little Old Lady   |June.21.2008
The City of Napa had a similar problem and, due to citizen outcry, passed a slumlord ordinance which passes the entire cost of calls to the police and fire departments over three per year to the property owner. That would stop this abuse dead in its tracks. The police say over 600 calls for service come in from that Maine Street "Project". Also, all apartments and rentals in the City of Oakland (owners of rentals pay a business fee so the City knows who they are) are inspected yearly by the Fire Department to check for operable smoke detectors, venting, egress, junk stacked against
the waterheaters and, in the process, notice other stuff like meth labs. The fee is $75 per unit paid by the owner. In Berkeley, a letter goes out to any absentee owner calling to their attention all calls for police and fire service with the threat that if it becomes a habit, the owner is in big trouble. In San Francisco, the city is working on a proposal to convert one of their more notorious subsidized "Projects" into a higher density mixed use project so that the concentration of poverty is diluted by middle income people.

Another example of how those that do not live in
our community take advantage of the extractive economic system allowed by our city staff. Other communities don't tolerate this kind of abuse and work hard to close the loopholes that foster it.
silasbarnabe   |June.21.2008
MISSMARVELOUS-
That is odd are you saying that they pay less than the 1 percent of assessed value that we pay? For example if I owned a home worth $1.2 million I would pay $12,000 in taxes a year. In your example you used a property valued at $12,000,000 to pay the $12,000 in taxes which would be the same as someone with a property valued at $1.2 million.

If that is what you meant to say it looks like the tax system is even against us. I am wondering if it would be possible to pass a tax using the intiative process that we could call a slumlord tax on such large establishments that would
charge a tax based on units say $100? We could use the money to offset the (over) use of police and fire calls to such areas.
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.21.2008
201 Maine St. Another murder at mid-night which only followed two previous incidents during the same day. Vallejo Housing Authority are you paying attention? The tax payers of Vallejo DO NOT WANT any more Low Income Housing Projects in Vallejo! They dont work! Chicago had to tear down "Cabrinni Green" with a recking ball and separate their voucher based housing all over the City. 201 Maine is owned by Vallejo Maine Partners LLC. The first building is valued at $4,053,015 and they pay $11,000/year taxes, the second building is valued at $7,099,470 and they pay only $12,574.00 in
taxes. So you have a piece of property worth 12 million and taxes are only $12,574.00? Lets not forget they also get the voucher money from the Section 8 program to supplement the rent each person pays... No wonder this city is in such a mess, a high percent of police calls are made to 201 Maine/Marina Vista Aparments every year (call the police department they can verify this, they went there yesterday three times, third time for the fatal shooting.) Do you think $12,000 pays for all the police calls? Hey Vallejo Housing Authority are you paying attention now?
Viva Vallejo!!!!!
Anon   |June.20.2008
VPD and VFD have been running hard the past few days. "Perfect storm" I don't think so..."storm" season is just beginning.
On Fire   |June.20.2008
Perfect Storm!
Apparently there were two house fires today, within an hour of each other and every fire unit was used. Benicia if first to arrive at second fire, and no one was hurt at either, both houses though damaged, survived. We also had two medical calls while the fire was going on and Crockett and Cordelia responded. Looks like everything worked right in our time of shortage. Vallejo survives to see another day! Who'd of thought!

Viva Vallejo
On Fire   |June.20.2008
Something I missed during my 5 minutes of "news" coverage reading at the times horrid. Apparently the VPD is giving a presentation on hiring and recruitment policies? Well I thought Nichelini said just this week that there was no way that they would be able to attract any new lateral employees and that they were losing the cadets because they wanted more stable employment. So now they plan to give a presentation? Okay, I just find that a bit odd. Could be perfectly legit but these are things that make you go hmmmmmmm.
Gabriele   |June.20.2008
Any and all proposals have to be heard. Too many deals have been passed "without" much input from the general public. By the time the regular person was presented with these sweetheart deals, the backroom decision was already made with a pro forma vote by the council. (The more I am enlightened about these deals, the more angry I become!)
No business should be turned away before the facts are presented, because some may not like to see actual work being done on the island's waterfront. If we have the facilities and a working infrastructure to accommodate these businesses and they
have the financial resources, we should welcome them.

So far Vallejo residents have not benefitted from much that has happened on MI. It is high time that the island again becomes the proud work horse that it once was.
Little is known about how much of the infrastructure has been left in working order, as well as not dismantled and pilfered, or simply destroyed to make any further industrial use impossible.
If the drydocks are indeed useable and in working order they have to be utilized to benefit all Vallejoans!
Anonymous   |June.20.2008
I'm with you On Fire. Its interesting that people in this town are so angry with Lennar and with the City's award of Mare Island development to them, but when the City looks at the fly-by-night (have you seen their web site?) Santa Maria shipping and says "these people have no money, we can't approve their proposal" the City gets you-know-what for it. And of course everyone loves to blame Lennar.

If the guy has the cash, he can present it to the community in a public setting. It has to be public, otherwise Santa Maria and their cronies will continue to point fingers and Lennar and
the City for what seem to be the faults of Santa Maria.

And, if Santa Maria is depending on ship-breaking to dredge the straight, why would we allow them to be the contractor and sub-contract shipbreaking?

If the City allows shipbreaking, I would want the City to directly contract with whoever does it, and not have Santa Maria be a middleman.

For such a dangerous and toxic undertaking, any shipbreaking project must be directly accountable to the City! Subcontracting such dangerous and enviromentally sensitive work could be incredibly problematic!

I am not against the project, I
just think it needs an incredible amount of scrutiny. The City has to do its due diligence.
Firebug   |June.20.2008
avatar I can totally understand your position Onfire. I am going on my 9th year here and I can't think of any deal except for the Touro deal that will benefit the needs of all parties in our City. Vallejoans have been fed angles and gimmicks and out right B.S. for so many busines opportunities it's hard to even take the "we need more revenue" PSU robots seriously anymore. The Automall is a perfect example of how Vallejo brings in "new" revenue.
On Fire   |June.20.2008
I guess my view of these grand schemes is a bit more jaded than most. In the twenty something years that I have lived in Vallejo, I've seen too many of these "we can save vallejo" businesses come and go and the only party receiving any benefit has been those businesses. From that auto mall boys who got sweetheart deals, Mandrich with his grand senior complex that really didn't turn out to be a senior complex yet he wrangled tax and permit fee breaks out of the city, and now may be facing bankruptcy, the shipbreaking deal on Mare Island, and on and on. So yes, I would not be
opposed to hearing what they had to say, to see how that would fit in with the reuse and master plan for Mare Island, and of course, show me the money!
Firebug   |June.20.2008
avatar I agree with John and Silas let's see if these guys are the real thing and not just a bunch of jive-turkey's looking to line their pockets at the expense of the taxpayers. That automall deal deferring tax revenues for 20 years was incompetence at least and corrupt at worst. Mommster that is very interesting on the status of the lawsuit. Poor little Henke won't be getting his money back if they throw it out of court...again.
John K   |June.20.2008
Ship Dismantling

Little Old Lady, your images of a dirty operation are amusing and bring back memories. In the bad old days ships had their hulls sandblasted in an open drydock environment, and airborne dust could drift with the wind. After completion of work in the drydocks, a rudimentary cleanup was performed and then the docks were flooded to float the boat. Then the caisson (i.e. drydock door) was opened to the river. It was not considered to be a hazard and regulations to control such operations were few or none. Such practices have gone the way of the dodo bird.

Lead base paint is
one of hazards that must be controlled. There are several different hazardous materials associated with the old ships, and each one has its own haz-mat specifications and controls. The word "breaking" is not very descriptive. Dismantling is a better word. Deconstruction. Modern technical work documents will likely specify that dust-producing operations be minimized, since they will have to take place in a totally enclosed space by people wearing moon suits. That type of work was performed in the Naval Nuclear Program on Mare Island. The air inside of those containments is HEPA
filtered. Dusts will not be released to the environment. There will be no toxic gases, dust, etc. to drift over to the city side on the prevailing winds.

For modern dismantling, much of the work will have to be performed in tents or air tight enclosures, by people wearing protective clothing and using written procedures following federal, state, and local environmental control regulations. All hazardous materials would be contained. Like when our Public Safety guys bring in a haz-mat team to clean up a meth lab. The workers are all protected and all hazardous materials are contained and
transferred for proper disposal. It is very expensive.

Witness Allied Defense Recycling (the ship breaker) has applied for a permit that requires strict controls on water quality prior to pumping water from the drydock in order to make a ship available for work. That is just the first step in a long and expensive process as they attempt to gain approval for work on Mare Island. There will be public hearings where the operator will present the game plan and explain the operations and controls in great detail.

I agree with Silas. Let's see if these guys are legit and have all the money
they need to start and operate this business. It's going to be an expensive operation, but if it can be done in compliance with environmental regulations, then I'd like to hear about it.
momster   |June.20.2008
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=500739


Henke v. Guiliani, et al.

If anyone is interested.
momster   |June.20.2008
Gosh, my allergies are a lot better since I moved here from Petaluma. After I did some traveling throughout Europe and East Asia, I really appreciated that fact that we have the cleanest air here. Folks, Vallejo can't afford to refuse any type of industry are revenue at this point.
silasbarnabe   |June.20.2008
We already got burned by Pegasus in shipbreaking. The owner slithered out of town leaving an abandoned ship and about 100 employees without their paychecks. I remember all the tall tales and pie in the sky promises of jobs and revenue.

If this maritime busines is a good deal then the owners will show up with ALL the money to setup operations and get their business off the ground. We don't need more empty promises like we'll pay when the feds reimburse for dredging or some other excuse for lack of cash.

I think everyone agrees that giveme and sweetheart deals like the Vallejo Automall
scheme was bad for Vallejo especially now. Let's see if these guys are legit and have all the money they need to start and operate this busines or they are just another bunch of chumps looking for a handout at the taxpayers expense.
On Fire   |June.19.2008
I totally agree with you Little Old Lady. This pipe dream for some hard core mariners has been played out over and over. They don't have the money to set this up, and they expect the feds to come in and pay for the dredging and help set up the dry docks. They were turned away before because they didn't have the financial backing and still don't. Why anyone would think bringing those toxic ships into our channel and further polluting our city is a good idea?

We have the highest asthma rate in the county and they want to add to that? I don't think so. This is like LNG revisited! If this was
such a good business deal, why hasn't any other city picked it up after all these years? How many more of these vultures are going circle this city?
Little Old Lady   |June.19.2008
And the answer to all of Vallejo's budget woes (part 2)....(drumroll please)

Bring in environmentally dirty business that no one else wants because Vallejo is poor and needs jobs, jobs, jobs. This proposal is not shipbuilding, its shipbreaking those toxic heaps leaking lead and all kinds of nasty stuff into Suisun Bay. When the ships are broken down, toxic gases, dust, etc. will drift over to the city side on the prevailing winds. Lead, as you all know, causes cognitive problems and learning disabilities in children exposed. The Environmental Justice provisions of the State Planning
Guidelines for CEQA address this problem of locating dirty businesses where they affect low income neighborhoods.

Are we forgetting that in order to comply with the BRAC (federal base closure requirements) a Master Plan was undertaken with much public involvement and environmental compliance. Shipbuilding? Maybe. But I think those container ships proposed are too big for those drydocks. This is really about shipbreaking. Nasty business. No. We don't need it. Remember the USNavy does not have to comply with CEQA. Anybody using those drydocks now would have to deal with current
environmental regulations. Another bad idea predicated on desperation.
John K   |June.19.2008
Marc, that's a great article you wrote about Santa Maria Shipping and their desire to use the Mare Island drydocks. Looks like you scooped the times horrid once again. Viva VIB! Here's a link to a blogger thread:

http://tinyurl.com/4ua5k7
WATZ UP WID DAT?   |June.19.2008
People, please... Be kind to each other we are all neighbors, tax payers, sharing many things in common... Except for the trolls blogging... They dont live here, pay taxes here or share anything in common with the citizens of Vallejo, so "Continue as you were!" Viva Vallejo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Fire   |June.19.2008
avatar Go back to your cave troll digger. You can try to disrupt all you want, but this isn't the times horrid and we don't tolerate sock puppet's bad behavior.
Troll Digger   |June.19.2008
***** stands for PU55y. If you still remember what that is.
Troll Digger   |June.19.2008
...
No we are not running out of cash. We just like to keep your ***** happy, since you can't.
Firebug   |June.19.2008
avatar I liked the add as well because it wasn't in the form opf a "glossy" mailer. I can use the paper form for my kitty litter box. So why not glossy mailers? Are our PSU's running low on cash?
Troll Digger   |June.19.2008
I loved the ad. You all are crazy lunatics on the VIB. Do you see your small amount of the same supports blogging on here daily. Nothing you will do, will ever come to light. You all are shameful wanna B's. Marc Garmen, you actually look like a troll. Good luck little group of nobodies.
momster   |June.19.2008
I will gladly contribute to a rebuttal as well, and sign my name. I like Mark's rebuttal-- it should be sent to the TH.
Firebug   |June.19.2008
avatar Sonic-

The bankruptcy agenda back in March had total compensation and cost to the city for the above. I beleive it was $171,000 for a Police Officer and $169,000 for a Firei fighter. Clearly when you add in mandatory staffing which is outlined in the Citygate report (which also concludes it is cheaper to pay overtime).
gmanicotti   |June.19.2008
I'd gladly contribute whatever I can for a full page rebuttal ad....
That would proudly display the names of the citizens funding it's placement.
Sonic Toad   |June.18.2008
avatar John K, Yeah - I'd like to finally see the concrete numbers. I really have not seen the proof one way or another. The assumption has always been that paying OT is cheaper and I tend to believe it. BUT it would be good to see the concrete numbers for the whole employee package including expected increases over the years, training and projected payouts.

On Fire I think we started to see Shermie's spots last night on the TV. Good news is that Osby seems well clued into the situation as are at least a couple more council people. Me thinks that Shermie revealed a bit too much last night!
On Fire   |June.18.2008
John, while the overtime may pay to hire some employees, it won't pay to train them. Shermie said that no laterals will come to Vallejo, so their only hope is to train new ones. So this remedy is much like the pie in the sky Rose report. How long will it take to train new employees? That's after the process to recruit and hire them. So it won't be this year that this fantasy scenerio would even begin to impact our budget.

Where would the recruitment money come from? Where would the training money come from? If what Shermie said was true about us having no chance for laterals coming, why
would a new recruit want to jump into this mess? Remember, they would be the last hired, first fired. I on't believe that we won't be able to hire experienced public safety employees. It is the fear of the henkettes and mustardettes that people will come on board that they haven't brainwashed with henkeism and can't control.

This type of play is straight out of shermie's old playbook. This is exactly why the community didn't want him to be the fire chief ten years ago. He comes off as one of the good guys and then he spins his wicked web of deceit. Don't forget that henke groomed him for
the top dog spot, and there was a reason for that. Fire dogs don't change their spots. Keep your good eye on that one or he'll snooker his way into the crown and open the doors to henkedom.
Little Birdie   |June.18.2008
Whew! long flight from the times horrid cuckoo's nest. The article is great. When all of the "it's all about me" employees put the last job and location on their resume, the employers may think twice about employing them. These employees come off like ingrates who didnt appreciate what they had (which was a good thing) and disrespectful to those that paid their salaries. Now would you want these malcontents on your payroll? When will they turn on you? Maybe that's why they didn't want to sign their names or union affliations on the ad? Hmmmmmmm......
John K   |June.18.2008
Sonic Toad, I've been pondering that question, too. If Chief Sherman would present the figures, then maybe City Financial and HR could give an opinion. From his presentation, he has 66 people to cover 22 positions. I think he said eight others are unavailable due to injuries. Assuming $4 mill per year in OT, and maybe $250K per year per FF includes the whole compensation package, then he could hire maybe 16 more FF permanently with that OT money. Would that put an end to scheduled OT?
Sonic Toad   |June.18.2008
avatar Wow, the best article yet Marc. A complete and total slap down of each and every item on that full page ad in the paper today. The question at hand however is "does the average Vallejoan believe that ad"? I certainly hope not and I am encouraged that since last fall the rumblings of "did you hear how much the firemen and police make" is in the ears of many residents. The seniors are now impacted also which prompts questions from that demographic as well. So I feel the tide is turning and with full page advertisements such as today with really no particular group identifying
themselves speaks volumes regarding the desperation of the Public Safety Union leaders to dig themselves out of the hole they've created. Look for more propaganda as the IAFF deals with the repercussions across the rest of California as the other troubled cities look on with interest. Should be an interesting summer!
g.manicotti   |June.18.2008
I want to know who specifically paid for that ****** ad in the Times Herald today.
Aren't they required by law to divulge the funding for such ?
Sonic Toad   |June.18.2008
avatar John K, I question if Chief Sherman included the long term costs of hiring additional employees including retirement. I continue to believe what many on this council and previous councils have stated that it is still less expensive to pay OT. When you're talking about annual salaries Sherman may be correct, but add on benefits and retirement packages to that equation and there is no way it's less expensive to hire new people.
Michael Tatham   |June.18.2008
i remember about 20 years ago while working as a union business agent for another solano county city we had to negotiate with the city to avoid layoffs. there were hot heads on the union committee that wouldn't accept that citys financial plight- but reality had to set in.

we negotiated a pay freeze in return for no layoffs
Check the numbers   |June.18.2008
I was astounded by Sherman's assessment that the OT could be used instead to hire new staff. I smell a rat! Was the City of Vallejo set up to pay thousands and thousands of dollars in OT? It WAS the union that pushed back in 2000 I believe (maybe it was 2003) to increase the shifts to 96 hours.

What is that saying, be careful what you wish for? Now that the staffing level has gone down, they are finding that they HAVE to work OT, instead of calling in sick for each other so that they COULD work OT....

And although Sherman said that the cost of new staff = OT, I would like to see
those numbers crunched by a finance person. Remember, hes a fire fighter, NOT an accountant. We already got burned by Parker pretending to be an accountant.
Alun Whittaker   |June.18.2008
Vallejo Times-Herald
The Editor,
Dear Sir:

While the First Amendment gave you the right, and good business sense gave you the reason, I hope that you took no pride in selling space for the full-page advertisement titled: "BANKRUPTCY: ANOTHER BAD DECISION BY VALLEJO'S CITY COUNCIL" Although no named organization took credit, we can only assume it was paid for hard working, city public employees at the behest of their self-serving union leaders, having worn out their welcome to place propaganda pieces on your opinion and editorial page.

Just as those union leaders have done
before, this advertisement attempts to cynically manipulate public opinion with half-truths, slanderous innuendo, and spin. It quotes from the so-called Rose Report, apparently stating that bankruptcy is unnecessary. Yet it does not explain why union leadership worked so hard to keep the full text of the Rose report, which was also paid for by union members, from being shown to the public. The advertisement also states that our City Council rejected union budget balancing proposals. Again, it does not explain why the union leadership used confidentiality rules to prevent the full scope, and
limitations, of their proposals from being publically discussed in the Council Chamber.

The advertisement also accuses the City of wasting "Millions of dollars in legal fees". I wonder if you took a poll asking people to: "Name one principal in this process who has wasted most legal time and money on frivolous law suits" , or to "Name one attorney who has prominently featured in this affair", how many people could name a single person who is not a leader, or representative of a public employee union. Union members, ask yourselves who's really wasting time and
money?

Finally, and most destructively, the advertisement attacks every member of our City Council, and their right to serve. Contrary to what is stated in the advertisement, Mayor Osby Davis was not "elected by only 2 votes"! He was elected by the majority of Vallejo citizens who chose to vote. There are those of us who may have voted for his competitor (who, incidentally, was even less willing to make concessions to city unions) but democracy has spoken, and now Mayor Davis quite rightly speaks for us all.

The advertisement states truthfully that we have: "a few new
Councilmembers (sic)" and "the majority of the Council are the same people." More importantly, it is also true that all of these Council Members, new and established, won their seats in an electoral process that for years has been severely distorted by the massive influence of public employee union cash, and political propaganda. Nevertheless, after months attempting to placate union leaders with concessions and buy-offs, even the most pro-union Council Members accepted reality, and they voted unanimously for the bankruptcy resolution.

This advertisement closes with a claim
that it was paid for by "city employees, including..." thus avoiding the normal practice of specifically naming the actual organization that wrote the actual check. This seems to be typical for these union leaders. At City Council meetings, and in the pages of this newspaper, we see the same small group of individuals making sweeping accusations that we the people, and our representatives on the City Council of Vallejo, are mistreating, misusing, and abusing our city employees, while they themselves are just trying to get the best deal for their members. This isn't true; this union
"leadership" cadre speak only for themselves, their own power base, and their own "perks", and benefits.


And how about that "best deal"? Under current union leadership, our city employees have lost pay, lost job security, lost seniority, lost time off with their families, and are beginning to lose the respect of the public they are sworn to serve. Finally, our City Council has come to its senses and accepted reality, and now is the time for union membership to do the same, get rid of the power-broking union bosses, and replace them with real representatives who
will bargain openly and fairly with the Mayor, City Council, and citizens of Vallejo to produce honorable and economically sustainable employment contracts.

Yours sincerely

Alun Whittaker
John K   |June.18.2008
If I heard correctly, there was a significant idea proposed last night by Chief Sherman. There is maybe $4 million budgeted for overtime and he said that he could take that OT money and hire more firefighters to eliminate the need for the OT. This assumes the current staffing of 22, and 6 stations open. He said it wouldn't cost any extra, other than $300K needed for the fire academy training. Did I hear it right? Sounds like a pretty good deal if he can pull it off.
Setting it straight   |June.18.2008
Parker was justifying overtime - and the severe overuse of overtime - WAY before Pearsal was on council. I remember back in '04 when he was admonished by the then council to try to rein in OT and Parker got all "Shucks, yes sir, I'll try" on Intintoli. Meanwhile Henke, et al were bilking the city on UBL and whatever else they could get away with as Parker looked the other way.

And don't get me started on the whining Sherman did over the training program. Those $'s were used up by UBL and the scam bandaid.

Gotta say that Sherman dropped many rungs last night in my estimation.
Perhaps IAFF has his dog and is holding it hostage if he doesn't do a good 'sell job' for the Mayor & Council. That was some serious controlled rage by Osby last night after Sherman's Show.
On Fire   |June.18.2008
Poor PS employees...they got their intsy bitsy feelings hurt?

It's okay if you want to be stupid about it but stop trying to make us to be stupid with you! We are not the citizen's of prior years that believed everything the mustardettes and henkettes told us! We've seen the numbers and we aren't buying it!
On Fire   |June.18.2008
Okay, since when was the maintenance of the parks a city employee function? The ad in todays paper is a joke. I noticed that the ad mentioned that the Oz only won by two votes? I thought that they were happy about that? I guess the honeymoon is over for the Mayor and the funded four.

Funny thing that the police chief comes to council stating that his employees are hurt because of all the name calling on the blogs, (insert snark snark)and need reasurrance that they are wanted and appreciated.......so they put an ad in the paper that essentially blames council for everything that's wrong and
that's going to garner reassurance? Yeah, well guess they really didn't want to extend that olive branch did they? Again they tout the Rosey Report as their justification for believing the city isn't broke?

Talking out of both sides of their face I say!
momster   |June.18.2008
Congragulations to two Vallejo residence to be the first in Marin County to take their vows.

www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_9614986
momster   |June.18.2008
testing
WATZ UP WID DAT?   |June.18.2008
Did ya-all read the Times Herald this morning? A few months ago Chief Nic was stating that he feared that crime was going to run rampant in the V-Town City due to the mass exodus of Police Officers. This morning: Violent crime has gone done in the city for the past 14 years, he doesnt think that there will be a increase in crime in Vallejo (unlike the City of Oakland that he calls home.) Anyway, that's that, we can all feel relieved that Chief Nic has announced that crime will not increase, whew...
On Fire   |June.18.2008
I knew it was a matter of time before someone would exploit the death of that young man and blame it on Council!

There is nothing to say that the young man would not have died even if the other fire station was open. I uderstand that everyone would like all of our fire stations opened, enough people to man those stations, and enough police to patrol our city. But when the boys in blue and black decide that their salaries are more important than keeping staffing, it's clearly the union that is to blame for that station being closed. Maybe if that same young man had not had
too much to drink, maybe if he hadn't drove so fast....There are many variables that came into play that night. But reality is what it is.

I only wished that Ozzy would have chewed into "dickalini" as well as he did the same thing as Chief Sherman. The only difference is that Sherman is trying to win over the support of his ranks and tried harder to make the union's position. Dickalini lied about there being drug dealers on every street corner when he was hired. I know because they were all hanging out on my street. What dickalini failed to acknowledge was the fact that all of the
programs like Beat Health and the others, were successful due to citizen participation. It was the will of the people to take back their streets back then and it will be the same now.

Viva Vallejo
Sonic Toad   |June.18.2008
avatar Parker should be mocked. He was an extremely poor manager and had zero creativity to fix a broken and bloated fire department. There are contractual obligations that he couldn't control, but there also was no interest in determining where the city could save some dollars. Managers such as Parker, Nichelini, and Sherman are not members of the Unions. They are managers and just a step below our City Manager and need to keep that affiliation close. All I see is a bunch of so called managers protecting their own turf (including Sherman now) by not coming up with options to cut costs unless they're
told to do it by council. Was impressed that Davis wanted more "options" and I hope that staff, fire and police will give the council something to work with.
silasbarnabe   |June.18.2008
"People will die" I wonder if Parker, Henke, Mustard ET AL understood this when contracts were negotiated putting the unit cost (total compensation) of a cop or fireman at nearly $200,000? By doing this they essentially denied vallejo citizens services like a hospital denies a patient that can't afford a heart transplant a heart. Yes my union friends people have died and will continue to die as a result of unaffordable safety services.
Anonymous   |June.17.2008
Ms. Lang, again, mocks past Fire Chief Parker at last nights council meeting, repeating "People will die". She then goes on to assign a Tony Pearsall quote to the ex-chief "Its cheaper to pay over time than hire"

Its ok to question these topics, but get your facts straight. There is a flower memorial placed within eyesight of now closed station #7 where a car accident victim died. If that station was open, the victims odds for survival could only have been increased. Was Parker prophetic? Is Ms. Lang aware of the incident .... someone did die because, according to the Dr.,
it took too long for proper help to assist the individual.

Maybe Parker did say: "It cheaper to pay overtime" I never it heard it from him. The first time I heard that phrase was from the councilman Pearsall
overpaid   |June.17.2008
The Solano County Office of Emergency Services is the agency which is charged, by state law, with coordinating and providing emergency services to the citizens of California. This includes paramedic services and ambulance providers.The only reason the Fire Dept provides it here in Vallejo is because we have chosen it to be this way. We can unchoose.
Little Old Lady   |June.17.2008
The answer to all Vallejo's budget problems is.......(drumroll please)
a sales tax increase.

That will solve everything (according to the public safety unions). Only problem is that sales taxes are regressive taxes. That means they increase proportionately as income goes down or to put it more delicately...they soak the poor. Imagine families making $150 thousand a year or more. A fraction of a percentage sales tax for durable goods bought in the City of Vallejo is nothing especially when you are driving to Walnut Creek or Napa anyway. But imagine a low income family making $25
thousand. Minimum purchases will require a bigger percentage of income. Sales taxes are always regressive while income taxes are progressive.

Vallejo has a very regressive tax system. Take the sewer bill. In Napa, the sewer infrastructure improvements go on the property tax bill so someone with a $800,000 house pays 4 time more than someone with a $200,000 house. But in Vallejo, we all pay a flat fee. The $800,000 5 bedroom house pays the same as someone living in a tiny cottage. And since it is a "fee" not part of the property taxes, the complete cost is usually paid by
tenants of rental properties. Then there is that new garbage "fee".

Bottom line, the poorer you are in Vallejo, the more "taxes" you pay for less and less. As gas and food goes up and people have less and less disposable income, the Public Safety Unions act like the Sheriff of Nottingham...taking from the poor to give to the rich. Sound fair???
admin   |June.17.2008
avatar To those of you who've been itching to get an avatar for yourself I've fixed the account problem. After logging in you may now click on "Account Details" just above the login box and either add a new image, change your existing image, or remove it entirely. Of course you would need to register in order to have the option.

Look on the lower left hand corner for the registration and login option. Have Fun!
Michael Tatham   |June.17.2008
to anom- houses are not cheap either in north jersey- not quite as high as here but close. but look at the cops in new york city (high cost of living) they start out at 35 k and a patrolman maxs it at 65 K
Linky   |June.16.2008
Here's an interesting link: http://www.sandiegoinstitute.com/index.cfm/commentary_188.htm
anon   |June.16.2008
Michael Tatham,

Please tell your your brother I can't believe the prices of houses back east. $400,000 will get you a mansion. Out here $600,000 with get you an average trac home.
Anonymous   |June.16.2008
I am not neccessarily anti-tax but I am a fiscal conservative (why waste tax $ on bloated out-of-control salaries when they can be spent on good things that will move our city forward).

I wanted to point out that whats good for the goose (Nicholini) is good for the gander (the tax payers). He'd like to see us raise our taxes to keep him in style, I bet he wouldn't vote to raise his taxes on his fancy Oakland house.
On Fire   |June.16.2008
Love the Sunday Funnies! We should have these made into coffee mugs and give one to each council member as a present.

City Policies out of control!
anonymous   |June.16.2008
Article about Vallejo in The Manchester Guardian (UK) http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jun/14/subprimecrisis.useconomy
Michael Tatham   |June.16.2008
i am also an anti tax conservative republican so don't put those two in my boat. i also have a brother back east who is a police officer. i have friends i grew up with on the east coast who are now retired firemen and they can't believe the compensation we have for our public safety officers.
Firebug   |June.16.2008
avatar Nichelini is just like Henke and every other conservative anti-tax Republican. Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree.
Anonymous   |June.16.2008
Speaking of Nicholini: The guy's an anti-tax Republican. Anti-tax except when it comes to our poor little populace.

Go back to Oakland, Bob.
momster   |June.16.2008
Idiot: I'm not a hatter of cops, although I have been accused of being one. You could not pay me enough to be a cop. My job requires me to work with cops daily; however, the day you joined forces with IAFF, was day the day I had to question your "Integrity."
Absolute power breeds absolute corruption.
I also was a volunteer for VPD some 16 years ago. The cops were nice;however, My opinion differs with personnel department administrations dept. I was mistreated, I walked out of VPD, and the next minute a representative of VPD was calling my work-- apologizng prefusely on behalf
of VPD.

Because of where I work, they did not want me to make a stink about what occurred.

this became the day, I decided not to become a part of Vallejo police force; I already went throught the schooling. I figured I can serve and protect in an office and in a town with less animosity--a more behind the scenes office.

I do not feel the people on the VIB are hatters. If this blog existed 10 years ago, perhaps Vallejo would not be in this position.
J.M   |June.15.2008
since were somewhat on the same subject, I would like to add, if anyone likes Authentic Mexican Food, "Las Palmitas Mexican Restaurant" on Nebraska at Sonoma Avenue has the best Authentic Mexican Food, I kid you not. Give it a try & you won't be going to Taco Bell anylonger Las Palmitas Restaurant, Vallejo, California.
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.14.2008
Thanks Little Old Lady, I guess the point is, there is actually quite a lot available here in Vallejo, you may have to search it out, but unless you are looking for a "diamond tiara" its most likely right here, and a local shop owner/business could be providing goods, and in turn we can keep our tax base local. Lets visit Vallejo first,helping ourselves in the mean while by increasing our sales tax base. The grass is not greener East of Highway 80. Viva Vallejo!
BTW, if any of you are looking for something in particular and want to challenge me and my shopping skills, I am up for
the challenge, present your shopping/dining here on VIB, it will be a fun exercise refering local businesses. Viva Vallejo!
Little Old Lady   |June.14.2008
Don't forget Food4Less. They have a bounteous display of fresh fruits and veggies at good prices. And they have long supported Vallejo by funding July 4th fireworks.

There is another farmers market at Kaiser Hospital on Fridays midday. And I changed banks from World/Wachovia in Napa to Bank of the West. Nice folks and are now the only bank right downtown Vallejo.

Lumber and hardware at Foster Lumber and the nice folks there will help order trims from Victoriana so you don't have to drive to SF.

But I sure wish that someone would run the aggressive panhandlers out of the US Post
Office parking lot downtown. I tend to go elsewhere because the panhandlers get hostile and it is scarey.
MISSMARVELOU   |June.14.2008
I grew up in the cities of Oakland and Alameda, good places to shop if you like a lot of varity and excellant places to eat! I admit, I love shopping at Nordstrom, Saks, Macys, Copperfields Books, Trader Joes, and slurpping coffee at Peets. I have not crossed the bridges to frequent any of the above mentioned shops for quite a long time, I have tried to leave most of my disposible income in Vallejo, afterall its "my town." If you make an effort, there are good places to eat and shop in Vallejo. Its good to support our local business, we want them to stay and attract more
businesses! I use to be a professional "personal shopper" to the elite clientel at Nordstrom, and here is what I have found: Very upscale attire at Helen Lyall's on Georgia (as good as at Nordstrom,) look in the bargin basement for "haute couture" at 50% off. Also beautiful dresses and shoes at prom/dance attire on first block of Georgia West of Sonoma. More up scale clothing at Stelerno's in the large shopping center by Ross. Everyday clothing for men,woman and children at Kohl's, Mervyns and sometimes Costco. Discount designer and mid-style clothing at Marshalls, Ross and
Old Navy. Household goods at Pier One, Costco, Cost Plus, Mervyns and Kohl's. Groceries at Safeway now much easier since the freeway off ramps have been re-worked on Admiral Callahan. We like their butcher and produce and they have a good wine selection. I love Grocery Outlet, with their ever changing products, sometimes good wine selection and great prices (Narcie David had everyone going to Grocery Outlet when he advertised their excellant but cheap Port wine.)Dont forget our Farmers Market with organic produce. Seafood market has a large varity as well. Sunshine Bakery and It's All Good
Bakery will satisfy your sweet tooth. Good eats at Gracies, Baci, Front Room, Zio Freidos, China Wok, Red Onion, Chai Am (plus all the other franchaise family restaurants.) Film at Empress Theatre, movies at the Cineplex. And last but least (I kid you not) the Vallejo Naval Museum on Marin St., has a pretty good bookstore (they even have Obama's book out right now.) We do need more places, we have a population of 120,0000 + so we can most definately handle more shops/eateries. We have all gotten in our cars and driven out of our town to shop elsewhere, we are convinced that another city has
much more (many cities have more it's true) in fact we have been told to leave to go shopping, just head East to the big mall, spend your money there! It's worked, we have been leaving to shop, eat and play and as a result our sale tax base is being given away to other cities, this hurts our chances for new businesses to come to Vallejo, as they look to see what the "spending power" is of a city.

So I say, "Visit Vallejo First!!!"
Viva Vallejo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous   |June.13.2008
And their personal attacks and character assasinations on the Horrid blogs, nasty behavior, political games, threats, intimidation and temper tantrums aren't working! So much anger and frustration and negativity. Tsk tsk.
Firebug   |June.13.2008
avatar I think the frustration is that no one is buying their fear mongering anymore. Cops will leave, we will hire new ones life will go on and you fellows won't be getting your safety tax.
On Fire   |June.13.2008
The angry blathering has washed over to VIB!
The boys in blue have their panties in a bunch. Simple logic would have prevented this from happening. If they took the cuts in pay two years prior, they would not have to leave the "job of their dreams". The fact that not only salaries have a possibility of being cut, and that all the other perks that go with the PS jobs must be the real reason. But it appears that the leap to higher pay grounds will be short as all cities are looking at the benefit packages and at some time or another, they too will be feeling the pinch
and work to reduce the cost to the city and tax payers. Why the PS employees think that it's alright to have the rest of the city suffer in order to continue them in the lifestyle they have become accustom to is the real issue. The sky isn't falling you all. Criminals and thugs won't be rioting in the streets. We just have to pay attention and watch out for our neighbors. When the dust settles and the PS employees have all gone, the city will look at it's budget and we will start hiring again. There are many officers that will be looking at working closer to home because of the cost of gas and
will consider moving to Vallejo to work. Vallejo doesn't hold the corner on "experienced" PS employees.

Funny how they refer to this site and the people associated with it as haters (hatters for those who can't seem to get the word right.) yet they can't stop coming here and reading. What's that about? I guess they can't yell loud enough at the times horrid site so need to vent over here too!

2008 - Vallejo's Extreme Makeover - Viva Vallejo!
Idiot   |June.13.2008
Can't you people read. This guy is not a Cadet. He is a sworn officer who began his career in the VPD cadet program. He is transfering to Napa PD, also as a sworn officer.

While it is easy (and ignorant) to say "let them all go", if you live in Vallejo you should be concerned. You remind me of the VIB cartoon a
few weeks ago with the bird's head in the sand.
Buh Bye   |June.13.2008
Yeah, that Sonoma cadet just took a paycut but made it up and then some in gas savings! What happened to the police officer's "calling" that they love to talk about? If they love their "calling" so much, they would be TRUE heroes and stick with Vallejo and HELP a hurting city and its residents get through these bad times. Instead, I keep seeing our cops (led by none other than Chief Nick) scaring the crap out of people, inviting criminals to come on down and take advantage of Vallejo, and whine because they aren't getting their whopping raise this year. Oh yeah, and jumping
ship. (I won't say like what animal that has long whiskers, a long skinny tail, a pointy nose and beady eyes.)

The difference between most of the cops (including our own Chief Nick) and us, the taxpayers of Vallejo, is that we live here. Our kids go to school here. We have to deal with reduced hours at our libraries and fewer senior services and less city help with our trees and our roads. We can't just take our marbles and play somewhere else and follow the shiny penny.

Not only can't we, but many of us wouldn't even if we could. We love Vallejo. We're fighting for Vallejo. We're
going to see Vallejo prosper despite the best efforts of certain groups of people. Viva Vallejo!
WATZ UP WIT DAT?   |June.13.2008
Todays Times Herald has a story about cadets fleeing for their lives from the VPD. A particular cadet "Josh" is taking a job in Napa. Josh appears to live in Sonoma County, so working in Napa will save him at least 30-45 minutes of commuting one way. The TH does not point this out however, just that he is taking a pay cut. They do point out that folks are being treated poorly. Last year were they being treated poorly? How about the year before that? Ho, Ho only treated unfairly when an "accounting" is going on, here for the good times, head'in for the hills in the hard
times... Its like a marriage really, "in sickness and in health..."
On Fire   |June.12.2008
It appears that the city is trying to pull another fast one with redevelopment funds. The city plans to pull funds from the Flosden RDF to put into the downtown RDF. Yet there is nothing other than cosmetic remedy for that area proposed for this coming year. Here is another cash cow waiting to be milked and the Flosden area will continue to suffer twice as much as their improvement funds are stolen to help another area with no plans to ever return the funding to them. The area can't manage to even keep their senior meals site without the community stepping in to help, with no assistance coming
from the council majority. Try as they might, Schivley and Gomes are being ignored by the rest of council and preying on the people who live to the north. Sad Sad Sad! I hope the people in that area rebel!
Ann O Nemus   |June.12.2008
Little Old Lady wrote:
"Increase the sales tax and the big ticket tax...from car sales...will decrease because Vallejo will lose its competitive advantage. People really think about where to buy a car when it means a couple of thousand dollars."

Speaking from personal experience, when you buy a brand new car they use your county of residence as basis for calculating the sales tax. A couple of months ago we bought from a Concord dealership, and that's what they did.

Why didn't we buy in Vallejo? Because of the shabby treatment we've received from the local dealership a few
years ago. I vote with my feet and wallet. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Little Old Lady   |June.12.2008
law of unintended consequences...

Increase the sales tax and the big ticket tax...from car sales...will decrease because Vallejo will lose its competitive advantage. People really think about where to buy a car when it means a couple of thousand dollars.

But as Michael says, we all shop out of town for staples anyway. So wouldn't it increase tax revenues if the City were just run better and people with disposable income had a local place to spend it????
Michael Tatham   |June.12.2008
an increase in sales tax?? it won't make much difference as most of us have to shop outside of vallejo due to a lack of shopping here
John K   |June.12.2008
SALES TAX

I recollect from my childhood... some of you may also remember... in the 1950's we had a sales tax of 4%. I remember this because the local hobby store sold custom agate "shooter" marbles for $1 and I had managed to obtain the necessary dollar, but the store owner told me it wasn't enough... I had to go find an extra four cents for sales tax. Since that time I've never trusted retail pricing, and have always known that advertised prices are bogus.

A sales tax is a very basic tax and it has the greatest impact on those who are least able to pay it. A kid in the 50's could
scrape up an extra four cents by cashing in two pop bottles for the "deposit." But adults purchasing a major appliance or a car had to come up with significantly more to cover the tax. A few years ago, I recall Vallejo actually reduced a tax. If I remember rightly, it was an extra quarter or half percent on junk food or candy, and I think the tax was actually repealed when it reached an expiration date. Anyone remember that? What usually happens is the politicians try to keep the tax forever. No expiration dates.

It was 4% when I was a pup, but now it's 7.35% - in times of
prosperity, that number should have gone down. Instead of gold plated employee contracts, the sales tax should have been reduced. If we think we need to do something about Vallejo's relatively low sales tax rate, then let's put it on a pedestal and honor it as a treasure. We have a half percent in "reserve" compared to other California cities. Let's save that half percent margin for something special. Not for salary hikes.
NBR   |June.11.2008
Scroll down to page 4
http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub71.pdf

for sales tax comparison by city and county
Ann O Nemus   |June.11.2008
It'd be a lot easier to support a sales tax increase if the burden is shared between locals and visitors like in other Solano county communities. A good portion of sales tax at the Vacaville outlets, for instance, probably come from out of towners. With Vallejo, residents will have to bear the brunt.

Just look at our retail landscape. Not that appealing, isn't it?
On Fire   |June.11.2008
I believe that the State is purposing a new tax to help bail them out of their fiscal fisaco. So any additional tax from Vallejo, would be on top of that.

If I felt that the money from this new tax would be directed specially toward helping Vallejo and the citizens then I would be all for it. But it appears that any new revenue is swallowed up by the PS contracts. If there is money available, then we have to pay it as part of the contract in place or we end up in binding arbitration again. I understand that the city has to go for this new tax as a "new revenue" but it should be
written in to specify what the money would pay for. If it's only going to continue the salaries of some of our employees and leave nothing else, forget it. I'd watch ozzy on this one. He's talking way to fast and it appears that he is making decisions all by himself. Last time I checked, we live in a democracy and there should be no back room decisions.
Firebug   |June.11.2008
avatar Erika,
Yes it is true other counties pay a higher sales tax than Solano and many of them pay for BART. Without the BART component raising the sales tax in Solano County will do little to get cars off the road rather than fix potholes and add more lanes. I would like to see a City sales tax for tranportation I would support street repair subsidizing the bus service for seniors and commuters coming in to use the Ferry.
Erika H   |June.11.2008
I will ask this question here since I know I can get real, informed answers. Isn't it true that other counties pay a higher sales tax because they pay for the BART system? We don't have BART, heck the bus and ferry are going downhill. What would we be paying higher sales tax for?

Also, did anyone else receive a ballot in the mail asking if you support increased property taxes? My family received one Monday.
On Fire   |June.11.2008

And real reform of city hall has to include the removal of binding arbitration from the charter ozzy! Going into bankruptcy doesn't mean you were being responsible since it was the only choice you had. Otherwise we are right back to taking up the entire budget year fighting over salaries and contracts. Change the structure of how city hall does business before thinking you can get buy in from the public about giving you more money. Promises mean nothing. Put it to paper and seal the deal.
On Fire   |June.11.2008
John you are right about that! Ozzy has too high of an opinion about his action record.
Once again, Schivley and Gomes have to point out that change is in order.

To date, we have seen no real reform, no real restructuring of employee contracts and salaries, or any budget constraints. I understand the the city has hired an consultant that is reviewing city hall to see how it can be run more effectively. I'd like to see at least the report that comes from this consultant and what action the council takes based on the recommendations before being comfortable with a new tax. If they
can't reign in the PSUs then not a red cent from me. It's either Vallejo Extreme Makeover or nothing. Viva Vallejo
Gabriele   |June.11.2008
Unfortunately i was not able to see the regular Council Meeting, but only a small part before @ about 60 pm +.

I do aggree with Ms. Schivley that the effort to clean house first to show a true willingness for change is the way to go. How many times were promises made in the past that quickly were then swept under the table and forgotten?

Before I would consider an increase in any tax I want to be assured that it is benefitting the actual item that will be dangled in front of my nose and not go to some pork hidden under the blanket. Oh look, pigs in a blanket! Sorry the heat is
getting to me.
John K   |June.11.2008
Not so fast, Ozzie...

Mayor Davis was chomping at the bit last night to put a sales tax initiative on the November ballot. He said Vallejo has the lowest sales tax in the whole Bay Area and he wants to correct that heinous deficiency at the earliest opportunity. He suggested that City Hall has recently demonstrated fiscal responsibility, and since there are lots of volunteers out there, willing to help their community, they'll surely welcome a new sales tax initiative.

I might be willing to CONSIDER a new sales tax. But it has to be specific for a worthy purpose and it would have to be
temporary, with a beginning and end date. It would have to be for something I don't already pay taxes for and it would be nice to see the plan for restructuring employee compensation before talking about new sales tax initiatives.
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.11.2008
Well its about time! Last night at the City Council Meeting,representatives from Cal Trans were present to let the public what their plans are for Hwy 80. Several of us have had a letter writing campaign complaning how Vallejo's portion of Hwy 80 looks blighted compared to 80 futher East. We wanted to know why our stretch of Hwy 80 had to look so terrible. Letters were even sent to Rep. Noreen Evans office asking if the blighted conditions of both Hwy 80 and Hwy 29 were to encourage folks not to stop in Vallejo, but continue on to Fairfield, and onto other cites such as Napa. Both Council
members Shivley and Gomes brought up the dirty and unkept condtions of Hwy 29 (they complained of trash, weeds and large re-appearing pot holes.) It was determined by City Staff that it is indeed the responsibility of Cal Trans to keep Hwy 29 maintained.
So keep those letters going to Cal Trans, our City Council members, County supervisors and our State representatives. Shame works amazingly well!
On Fire   |June.10.2008
Overpaid, I totally agree with you that we should not paint all employees with the same brush. I know for a fact that there are many great employees that do a wonderful job under the circumstances and care about their work and care about this city. You have had to suffer from poor decisions on both ends. From the public who elects council that has made bad policy decisions and the management that made bad decisions. I truly feel for these employees and hope that this fiscal crisis doesn't drive those valuable employees away. You have been battered unjustly and deserve to be recognized as
assets. As the city moves through the restructuring of city hall, I can only hope that they include you and the other employees, in those conversations. Not as a side line but as stake holders.
overpaid   |June.10.2008
Little Old Lady. I agree with you that city hall can and should do a better job of encouraging and interacting with the public. I would even venture to say that most of my coworkers are in this depressive bunker mentality, avoiding the public as much as possible. That being said, I know for a fact that some of us are just trying to get some work done. It is discouraging to hear the attitude and comment that 'we' are whiners, who should have done it right in the first place. You say that you are not the enemy, and I don't believe you are, but staff bashing has reached epidemic proportions. We
are not 'your' enemy either, and it is inaccurate to place all city hall staff in the same camp. Many of us work there, and don't set policy. The policy is set by council, through the city manager. Let me now get off this 'who is to blame' thread (because it really doesn't matter to those of us who want to get out of where we are) and focus on what can be done. I think we should start thinking about Redevelopment for Mare Island, with its own redevelopment authority. Absolutely NO Council doubling as redevelopment agency. That's been the downfall of south vallejo, which has seen all its
redevelopment dollars reinvested into god knows what, and it's still the same decrepit ghetto it was before.The council is too vulnerable to PSU pressure, and rerouting the redevelopment money into salaries and other 'operational' expenses. Redevelopment will even help in the cleanup because the city, or the new developer, after we get finished with lmi, will be eligible for Polanco Act relief. A co-worker told me that she feels Vallejo is like Cinderella, waiting to be rescued by her prince charming Master Developer. I thought that was appropriate. Just like that 70s book "The Cinderella
Complex" which empowered women to find their own life/ choices/ destiny... Prince Charming aint coming. Vallejo has to figure it out the hard way, and do all the work, anything else is buying the dream without doing the work, and you know what they say, if it's too good to be true...it probably is.
Truth be Told   |June.10.2008
Old Lady, in this last post you are spot on!
Little Old Lady   |June.10.2008
Overpaid. Obviously you are one of the good guys. I agree that Vallejo has long operated with a group Enron mentality of entitlement and greed that laughs at all of us "Gramma Millies". I understand that you folks in City Hall are bleeding. My long-time concern is that you (City staff) make excuses for horrible, illegal projects and faked compliance documents that the community then rightfully challenges. The excuse I have heard is that you don't have the time or staff to do it right. Then you and your friends all whine that holding up development is the fault of the community
activists that care about the good of the entire community. If you all did it right the first time or hired competent people, think of all the time and money you would save? We are not the enemy. Maybe you should consider collaborating with us and using the incredible knowledge and talent in the community to help you rather than locking us out. I would much prefer to us my education, skills and knowledge to do something productive. You folks should learn a bit about negotiating. There is no win-lose. Only win-win or lose-lose. You guys chose the right course this time and I, for one, am
with you.
Anonymous   |June.09.2008
Lennar Mare Island petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Vallejo officials express 'concern ' over shipyard developer's action
By JESSICA A. YORK/Times-Herald staff writer
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_9534225

Lennar Mare Island, part of a 21-company real estate partnership, filed for bankruptcy Sunday, leaving the future of the former naval shipyard's development uncertain.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by parent company LandSource Communities Development, LLC, does not particularly reflect conditions on the Mare Island reuse project, according to company press releases.


Vallejo Assistant City Manager Craig Whittom said the filing, which included Lennar Mare Island and a number of its subsidiaries, was "absolutely a concern" to Vallejo.

"Much of what is happening on the development will continue," Whittom said. "Obviously there's a concern regarding future funding for obligations and our agreements with Lennar... Lennar owns property that they have not disposed of, so we will be working with them during that process."

Vallejo bankruptcy attorney Marc Levinson said it's too early to tell if the bankruptcy filing will impact
the city and its efforts to rebuild its budget.
Overpaid   |June.09.2008
LOL, believe me if I knew how to fix it, I would have posted the solution already. As fond as I am of conspiracies, I can't say there's one or two or three bad, corrupt guys within city gov't that,if fired or otherwise forced out, would make everything ok. There's a lot of hard work to be done. In my opinion, the number one culprit is Greed, along with Not Giving a [expletive] About Doing a good job. The cuts have been disastrous in that there's no one left to negotiate good contracts, raise revenue, or ensure that we're even collect what we are due. We are bleeding on the floor and can't
afford the bandaids. How to fix it? better management, better choices about what to fund, put the money behind the functions that you want to see grow. That may be politically painful because it's not what the State Politicians want (i.e., they want public safety fully funded, and happy) but it's our choice, and we need to put our money where we need it. that's accountable government.
Little Old Lady   |June.09.2008
Overpaid. We know bankrupcy is not a panacea. But it does allow this mess to be drug out of dark back rooms into the light of public scrutiny. Could you please give us some clues about what you know from the inside. We are all trying our hardest to kick out the legs of the incredibly sophisticated and balanced extraction system. We all know it extends regionally and all the way to Washington. But, since the system operates below the radar, we can't really identify all the players. You can help.
Anonymous   |June.09.2008
Lennar Corporation is in the news again. This time in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy situation in Sothern California.


Giant Calif. land partnership files for Chapter 11
Jun 9, 7:16 AM (ET)
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20080609/D916H3M04

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 15,000-acre California real estate partnership that has the nation's largest public employees pension fund as its main investor has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

LandSource Communities Development LLC issued a news release late Sunday to announce the bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The
partnership's assets include 15,000 acres of undeveloped land north of Los Angeles in the Santa Clarita Valley, making it one of the largest land deals to falter amid the national housing glut.

LandSource operates in California, Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, Nevada and Texas. The partnership announced it has received a $135 million line of credit from a group of lenders led by Barclays Bank, allowing it to fund operations during the Chapter 11 period.

CalPERS, with $254.8 billion in assets, is involved in LandSource through its participation in MW Housing Partners, an investment fund
managed by MacFarlane Partners LLC.

MW Housing Partners acquired 68 percent of the Santa Clarita property from home builder Lennar Corp. (LEN) and LNR Property Corp., a unit of Cerberus Capital Management LP.

Lennar and LNR each maintained a 16 percent interest in LandSource.
overpaid   |June.08.2008
Let's not view bankruptcy as the cure, and the bankruptcy judge as our champion. Nothing could be further from the truth. This step only gets us into the fighting ring.If there are persons who have been unduly exploiting Vallejo's resources that need to be exposed, the work is still there waiting to get done, I don't think think they're taking a holiday...
Little Old Lady   |June.08.2008
Vallejo's many positive attributes include a long history of welcoming and encorporating newcomers into our diverse culture. That would include the new people who see Vallejo with fresh, unjaded eyes and ask "why not" then put their energy, skills, and knowledge into realizing a vision of livable community for all of us. Someday when we look back on these dark days, we will realize that bankrupcy, although harsh medicine, ended the long reign of the vampires. They need darkness and secrecy to thrive and will skulk away now that a Federal judge will let the light in.
On Fire   |June.08.2008
These "wonders" of Vallejo is what has led many of us to love Vallejo. The positives still remain and will be a part of what helps this city rebuild. For years, the people in control of this city have purposely put up barriers to stop the city from thriving. It put more money (and control) in their pockets. These same people now resent any different view on how Vallejo should move forward as it may bring some of their closed door deals and corrupt actions to the sunshine. Little by little they are being exposed and in no small part by VIB. They resent new ideas as they are comfortable
with the control they hold by keeping Vallejo in the dark ages of cutting deals with developers and letting them dictate to us what we want and need. The neysayers in town blame the newbies and people who voice their opinions, and opposition to the status quo. Gone are those days and we will soon experience Vallejo's Extreme Makeover! Viva Vallejo!
John K   |June.07.2008
Thank you MISSMARVELOUS! You are one of our lovely attributes here. Viva Vallejo!
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.07.2008
When I think of the physical attributes of Vallejo, here is what I see: fabulous weather, much nicer than Napa County and our Eastern Solano sisters of Fairfiled and Vacaville, we can grow just about anything, everything thrives here. Our location to undeveloped water front very rare. Our topography is highly desirable with hills, rocky areas, lakes and fertile low lying areas. Our views are of the bay, river Mt. Tam and in some areas San Francisco. We are located close to San Francisco, Napa, Marin, The rest of the East Bay and Sacramento. We are rich in history on both Mare Island and
Vallejo proper. We were once recognized by Look magazine as the "all American city." Most cities can not boast of all the aforemention attributes, only dream of a small combination. We can turn this city around, and are already doing many things to make sure it happens, such as this blog site that informs everyone what is going on. There are many forces that will try to distract us, such as lobbying from the Safety Unions, and actions taken by our own County and State representatives. We must keep our "eyes wide open" and "our ears to the ground." Viva Vallejo!!!
Anonymous   |June.07.2008
CNN VIDEO - California town bankrupt 2:53
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/06/07/simon.vallejo.bankrupt.cnn

Vallejo, California files for bankruptcy, citing high police and firefighters pay. CNN's Dan Simon reports.
Sonic Toad   |June.07.2008
avatar Don't feed the troll!
Truth be Told   |June.07.2008
Hey Anonny, here's a reply to Sam-the-disappointed:

And the 'real' Sam, your whining and vitriolic sniping at Jim Libien and others who have turned their backs on your irrational and 'loose cannon' personality is nothing short of annoying. Have you ever thought there are good reasons behind the many who have distanced themselves from you?
Doug   |June.07.2008
The water rights are certainly one of most valuable assets that Vallejo owns. I have a feeling we are going to be forced to sell off a portion of them as part of this bankruptcy deal. That would be sad to see but Vallejo also sits on top of a lot of fresh water. Many, many people in this town have wells that produce good clean water. If you draw a line from Highland school down through Millerville to Rite Aid, for example, that is the approximate path of an old stream. The Millerville area was an orchard and considered prime agricultural land. The water table close to the old stream path is
just 6 feet below the surface in winter and 20 feet in summer. The soil in this area is also excellent. When people say negative things about Vallejo I understand but there are assets here that might become very valuable in the future.
Gabriele   |June.06.2008
Joe Bates is not with GVRD, but under the Public Works umbrella. Positions have changed so much I do not know his present title. He is a very knowledgable man that was helpful with a tree situation I had in the past.
You may get your question answered through the Maintenance Division e-mail
covtroublecalls@ci.vallejo.ca.us
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.06.2008
Remember the blog that Little Old Lady had with us VIB bloggers, asking us to pay attention the fact that Vallejo may not be rich in dollars, but has a wealth of assets tied up in Water Rights, historic Mare Island (especially St. Peters Chapel worth 10+ million dollars) and desirable land such as the water front? Well, it looks as though American Canyon is going to have to start buying water from Vallejo, as they will not be able to receive what they need from their sources (water from the delta) and this was reported in the Napa Register. Remember Vallejo has incredible water rights,
including the Green Valley Falls, which is protected by the City of Vallejo, and you can only visit on a guided tour. It has been discussed by our State representatives to turn Green Valley Falls into a park. What does this mean? Not quite sure myself, but if that were to happen I am sure the State would have control over Green Valley Falls, a valuable source of water, that is owned by Vallejo! We need to watch this process very carefully least it sneak past us like the taking of our Ferry. There are a lot of counties and cities that will start to lobby hard to get their hands on water, as
it is now being rationed in many areas. If any one knows more about this situation, please blog on our VIB site, I am sure Joe Bates of the GVRD know quite a lot on the matter and could be a wealth of information.
Anonymous   |June.06.2008
I agree completely with the PR B-S.

Anti-graffiti has been happening for months and months, mostly due to the organizing efforts of Tony Pearsall (along with Code Enforcement and Public Works). He's never received any gigantic thank yous like the realtors are all slapping on each others backs. I hope the Realtors continue to participate because the graffiti people do. The only way to stop Graffiti is with tenacity. Any many hands make light work.

And who is there from the city almost everytime time: Stephanie Gomes. And Osby Davis is there a lot as well. And they don't have their
friends writing letters-they are truly pitching in.

Sunga did the same thing when he ran for council, he joined everything and then attended once. Guess he's getting ready to run again.

Who wants to take attendance?
On Fire   |June.06.2008
Thanks to R. McConnell and Marc for the update on the bankruptcy proceedings. Good job!

John your right in one aspect of the ordinance needing more work, but as for Mr. Wilson's lengthy cherry picking I'd feel a little better about his indepth review of the ordinance if his true concern was for the everyday citizens and not the Chamber's marching orders. Parts make sense and parts are far reaching since we have cut Code Enforcement to the bone and there would really be no one to enforce the ordinance if it were in place anyway they word it. I don't think that any of the Council members
planned to vote on it last Tuesday as there were many concerns. It's just that mikey jumped to turn his light on first so that he could show everyone that he had something to say. As the CFO of an architecture firm, one would think he understood the concept of trees in a parking lot! Sounds as if ozzy could care less if the entire parking lot were to be entirely paved over with not a shade tree in sight. Bet he parks his luxury auto under one when he goes shopping. I think the intent was good, but there needs to be a lot more thought and work put into it before it comes back to council. This
shoddy work was left by Brian Dolan and so I have to consider the source.
J.M   |June.06.2008
Wow! VIB is an outstanding site for Vallejo Ca. & the entire Bay area. I feel this site should be recognized for bringing to light many imporant issues & keeping us in the loop.

Everyone, thanks for keeping this site productive. It really commands respect!! :o)
J.M   |June.06.2008
Wow! VIB is an outstanding site for Vallejo Ca. & the entire Bay area. I feel this site should be recognized for bringing to light many imporant issues & keeping us in the loop.

Everyone, thanks for keeping this site productive. It really commands respect!! :o)
Firebug   |June.06.2008
avatar Overpaid and John K. Joanne Shively has brought something like this up during her fall campaign. She has asked that in addition to "sunshining" employee contracts that we ammend the City charter to let the public vote on these contracts. Now aside from "sunshining" letting us vote on the matter is something that potentially has some real "teeth". I would like to see this ammendment for the 2009 election process a long with the BA ammendment.
TruthOut   |June.06.2008
In the letters to the editor in the Times Horrid today, a writer is blowing sunshine up the Board of Realtors' collective derrieres. Can the Board of Realtors be more self-serving? Can Hermie Sunga be more desperate in trying to get credit for something, anything? He made a similar, almost idential speech about the BOR's (hmmmm...BOR's...bores...fitting) and his efforts at Tuesday's Council meeting.

The Millerville clean up last Saturday had over 100 volunteers cleaning up alleys, abandoned houses, painting out graffiti and filling up many dumpsters with trash. The BOR's first promised
200 volunteers to the Millerville effort. Then it went to 100. Then it went to 20. It turned out to be ZERO.

And if Hermie "I'm already campaigning for re-election Sunga" wants to get credit for working to clean up Vallejo, I hope to see him at our next monthly graffiti paint-out day, because he hasn't showed up ONCE in the first six months that it's been happening.

Kind of reminds me of the PR stunt that PeeWee Wilson and Hammigan pulled in "cleaning up" a parking lot in the downtown a couple of months ago -- Times Horrid reporter in tow of course.

If our electeds
are doing clean-ups for the right reasons, they wouldn't try to turn them into PR stunts. But then, why would I think any of the Fundeds would do anything for the right reasons when all they know is self- and special-interests?
John K   |June.06.2008
Overpaid, I'll second your ordinances. Let's begin with:

Labor Contracts 20 Day Public Review Period

The secret closed door contract approval stuff has got to stop. Vallejo needs sunshine on public employee compensation negotiations. Taxpayers need transparency and public access to the meetings where elected officials make decisions regarding employee compensation. As Councilmember Schivley said Tuesday, we need study sessions with public scrutiny of employee contracts. If it is prohibited, then we need to get rid of the prohibition. Let the sun shine...
Anonymous   |June.06.2008
Oil soars on $150 per barrel July 4 prediction
Jun 6, 9:30 AM (ET)
By PABLO GORONDI (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20080606/D914JPEG7

Oil is trading above $134 per barrel on an analyst prediction that prices could hit $150 by July 4.

Prices jumped $6.43 Friday shortly after Ole Slorer of Morgan Stanley (MS) released a report saying he expected a "short-term spike in oil prices," on the back of rising demand in Asia, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

By the afternoon in Europe, light, sweet crude for July delivery was up $6.43 to $134.22 in electronic trading on the
New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Thursday, the contract rose $5.49 - its biggest single-day price increase in Nymex history - to settle at $127.79 a barrel. Larger one-day percentage jumps have taken place in the past.
John K   |June.06.2008
Three more California cities are in the news, working on budget cuts in a fashion similar to cuts made in Vallejo during the past couple of years. Alameda, San Bernardino, and Redondo Beach are cutting city services in response to budget shortfalls.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/16519903/detail

http://www2.sbsun.com/news/ci_9496546

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9485890
Anonymous   |June.06.2008
Bay Area cities issue fewer housing permits
Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, June 6, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/BU3M1143B5.DTL&tsp=1

Amid the worst housing downturn since the Depression, fewer units are being built, exacerbating the Bay Area's critical need for places to live, a government group said Thursday.

Cities in the nine Bay Area counties issued 22,843 permits in 2007, down 24 percent from an annual average of 29,978 issued from 1999 through 2006, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments. Particularly striking was
that most of the permits were for housing designed for affluent populations.

Only 2,700 permits were for very low income households (defined as earning less than half of an area's median income), 1,462 were for moderate-income households (earning less than 80 percent of the median), and 1,888 were for moderate-income households (earning up to 120 percent of the median).

The vast majority, 16,793 permits, were for above-moderate-income households. "Are we contributing to the increase of working homeless?" said Dixie Baus, director of affordable housing at San Jose's Core Cos.,
addressing an audience of about 80 planners and officials from cities who attended ABAG's Thursday conference in Berkeley on Bay Area housing.

Baus said the housing downturn and mortgage crunch has made developing affordable housing more difficult, because "banks are scared" to lend money.
overpaid   |June.05.2008
There's a saying that there are two things you never want to see: the way sausage is made and the way legislation is made. The landscaping ordinance was and is a well intended horrible mess. The sad part is that this City does not have a good cooperative process to think up good, effective legislation, and no staff person dedicated to shepherd the legislation through. So, a planning commission member thinks his view on aesthetics are superior to everyone elses, and works hard and endlessly to enact that into law, and staff devotes hundreds of hours into the effort before anyone says, hey,
maybe you should be doing something else. I have some other ideas for good ordinances, maybe someone will take them up: all labor contracts should have a 20 day public review period. Or how about, the downtown specific plan is hereby temporarily suspended due to economic emergency, an urgency ordinance is enacted to provide a temporary amnesty period to allow ANY restaurant, bookstore, cafe or grocery store in without any fees, subject to proper conditions of approval? all sidewalk cafe administrative permits are FREE. We gotta face it, retail won't come if there's no food and browsing
downtown, and no one is holding their breath for Triad.
Logic   |June.05.2008
Thanks for getting the bugs out VIB. Here's my post:

John K -
Mike Wilson
This is only a test   |June.05.2008
What? What? What? What? What? What
Truth Be Told   |June.05.2008
I would dare say that "Chippy" (love that title) Wilson had his notes handed to him by the Chamber. Though I agree the zoning ordinance is prohibitive and not appropriate to be instituted as written at this time, there was still some good work done by staff and a need in the future to create a penalty for using chain link in visable areas of homes. Ug-ly!

Gomes actually had the grace to praise staff for their hard work, challenge Hazen to his about face and propose that some of the work done could be of use in the future.

I can't/won't give Chippy credit for anything as yet.
He's still in subzero land with his mute performance re: BK and his well deserved title, The Recusinator. Less than a zero but in company with HaHa and Hermie-the-Brownnoser.
Logic   |June.05.2008
Mike Wilson
Logic   |June.05.2008
Mike Wilson
Firebug   |June.05.2008
avatar John K,
Having Council members astute at such things isn't necessarily a new thing, the majority get an "F" in math and budget related items. I haven't seen a fence ordinance bankrupt a city yet...
John K   |June.05.2008
Anatomy Of An Ordinance, Complete With Autopsy

Councilmember Wilson is new at this job, and he's on a steep learning curve. I had not read the prospective zoning ordinance, and now it won't be necessary. From what I saw and heard at the meeting Tuesday evening, the new kid on the block did us a service by picking the thing apart and revealing its deficiencies. Unreasonable costs to homeowners, potential costs to businesses by dictating tree placement in parking lots, "tree swapping", a lack of public input, and City properties already in violation of the intent... the extra time he
took did not bore me.

Councilmember Wilson may be a newbie, and he may wear the union label, but I think he did a good job for Vallejo on this one. I think his critique of this ordinance qualifies him for the next level of difficulty. Made me wonder about how it was assembled and why it was recommended for approval. What were they thinking? Why was this defective item on the agenda?

I'm new at this too, so let me know if I'm missing something. Do Council Members take turns with these things? Or do they all receive the same homework assignments?
Sonic Toad   |June.04.2008
avatar From the link posted earler..

"For all its problems, however, bankruptcy proceedings at least will be conducted in public, all legal and factual documents in the case will be open to the public, and the people of Vallejo will have their first real opportunity to understand the true costs of city employees' pay and benefits, as well as the options for bringing costs in line with revenues.

For unions, bankruptcy court is a potentially costly defeat. The judge has the power not only to protect the city from its creditors, but also to void the union contract and, in that way, force city
employees to accept a pay package in keeping with the city's capacity to pay.

The union has none of the leverage with the judge that it had with Vallejo's elected officials. It can't lobby the judge or give him campaign contributions, obviously. Having overplayed its hand, the union now finds itself in the uncomfortable position of having to justify, in a public forum, its claims to the city's limited, and declining, resources."

Great Article Little Old Lady
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/05/vallejos_bankru
Gabriele   |June.04.2008
Yes, it was absolutely amazing how far one can stretch the chain link fence issue and parking lot tree spacing.

Sure, new developments should not allow them as front yard fence choice, but why should it not be allowed as a rear fence, which is not visible from a street? Many homes in Vallejo have a nice view, why obstruct it with a solid fence?
I am not for paving or rocking over a back yard by any means, however if the property owner is not able to maintain a garden or grassy area, for what ever reason, it certainly would beat a weeded over back yard that would provide fuel for a
fire.

No development done in the last 20+ years, to my knowledge, has street facing chain link fencing as a choice.

In my community, CC&R's, not a homeowners association, prohibit certain types of fences and no impervious materials as front yard landscaping already, however we have no one to enforce this issue, even in a mid-size development. The bite of CC&R enforcability, that was promised to the homeowners when they signed them, continues to be non-existing, unless the property is a pig pen.
Also, I am all for finding a shady spot while shopping, however said trees and/or
landscaping would need to be maintained to remain attractive. If it is an affordability issue with a business, why demand placement of trees into limited space?

In light of our more pressing problems, for Chippy to spend all this time on this issue before telling the world he will not support this, is laughable.
Little Old Lady   |June.04.2008
Good work all!!! There is nothing that stops true democracy...no matter how the Good Old Boys try to candycoat their nefarious plans.

Take a peek at this. Nails it. Who is at fault? All those people we elected for years to the City Council who cared not one whit about the people they were supposed to serve (us) only their "donors" (the Unions).
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/05/vallejos_bankru
On Fire   |June.04.2008
Osby's Neighbor, appears that Wilson had his marching orders from the chamber with his list of "pick the ordinance apart" questions. What was just as interesting is the fact that Don Hazen was back peddling from the staff's position and report when it appeared that some council members may not approve it. Was he pandering to Wilson and ozzy? We now see that both Wilson and Hannigan only open their mouths when someone has sent them to the meeting with marching orders. ha ha hannigan seemed terse in her demands to Tanner regarding making reports on how the bankruptcy is going. Ahhhh it's
in litgation so how much is he able to report? Her contempt for Tanner is so evident that her entire body seems to of went ridged when she finally got a chance to make her speech. She is so busy running the IAFF agenda that we haven't seen anything else towards what her campaign promises stated. When is she going to get to the other business at hand? As a matter of fact, when are the entire funded four going to start bringing in new businesses? Remember that's what they used to try and set themselves apart from the other candidates? Yeah right!
momster   |June.04.2008
Wow, Since the last six months, Vallejo has been rocking and rolling; i.e., battle between the mayors, Fights between the PSU, bankruptcy, and even earthquakes. This town has been the focus of a lot of issues--people are talking. Surrounding counties are keeping a close eye on Vallejo--b/4 no one could care less about this town.

I haven't seen this much action in Vallejo in 30 years.

kudos to seifer for defeating one of the good ole' boys.

Signs of a new beginning for Vallejo.
Anonymous   |June.04.2008
Miss M you are so right. Do our state reps really represent us? The IAFF welds a lot of power and it behooves everyone except Vallejo citizens to keep the status quo. Our Democratic reps love the IAFF money and campaign assistance and to keep the IAFF in power, little Vallejo is so crucial. We are ground zero in driving up wages and with all those campaign dollars coming out of the unions, seems Noreen and Pat just look the other way... And did their objections to the bankruptcy reflect support of their IAFF pals?

Their objections to bankruptcy shows just how out of touch they are
with Vallejo.

I refused to vote for Evans yesterday...and its very unlikely I'll ever vote for her again.

And I'll never vote for Wiggins again.
OSBYS NEIGHBOR   |June.04.2008
I find it interesting that at City Council Pee Wee Wilson would spend an hour discussing chain link fences and whether it hurts businesses to be forced to plant trees in their parking lot. However,during the entire BK debacle he never opened his mouth.
Firebug   |June.04.2008
avatar It will work the same way it works in Fairfield.
how's this work?   |June.04.2008
Mr Libien says "If they (city and unions) can't do that then mediation is still available and required under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act."

We just did mediation (at some undisclosed cost) for about 8 weeks and nothing was agreed upon between the two parties. We don't even kow what the mediators suggestions were. The city then voted to move to bankruptcy. If the mediator cannot impose a solution (ie: arbitrator) then is the cities fall back plan to always file bankruptcy when the city and unions cannot agree even through a mediator?

If the PS employees cannot strike because of state
law, as other employee groups are allowed to do, what is there option? If they strike are they 'breaking the law' and subject to incarceration?
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.04.2008
We do really need to pay attention to what is going on in our city and county as well as our neighboring cities and counties. Due to the fact that our state legislators represent Vallejo and our up-vally neighbors of Napa and Sonoma we can see what their issues are and figure out if their intentions will affect Vallejo. I am sure the wine industry lobbbies hard for what they want (what they want is no growth, no affordable housing and no consequences.) Likewise, we also need to keep an eye on our up 80 East sister cites and find out what is on their wish list, as it will directly affect
Vallejo. There is no doubt in my mind as to the reasons Vallejo has become the dumping ground for all social woes. Unfortunately, due to a financial gain of county and state/fed funds Vallejo was welcoming to fullfilling "others" social programs. The welcome wagon has two flat tires and is stuck in the mire, time for a "tune-up." Look out Solano County and neighboring Counties, its time to take responsibility for your own social situations!
On Fire   |June.04.2008

Kondylis, Seifert and Thompson! Does this send a message or what! Of course with Thompson there will be a run off in Nov. but we should all throw our support to help him knock off Reagan for good! People are tired of the good ol' boys net work who identifies with developers and big corporations trying to develop every piece of land in Solano County. Tired of the condescending attitudes about the shoddy performance by the Registrar of Voters. (Bet they counted each ballot correctly tonight!) Silas, there may be more changes coming in the County Administration. But
Thompson is still going to have to run good campaign to make sure he kicks Regan out of his seat. Now is the time to start talking and working with Seifert so that she is connected to Vallejo and works for our city too. People may take issue with Barbara's activism, but one thing for sure, she has fought to protect the children of Solano County. Unlike Silva whose only connection to the children of Solano County was the kids he used in his commercial. Way to go.
LFM   |June.03.2008
With tonight being a true piece of history, I feel compelled to put my thoughts on paper. To witness in my lifetime, a woman and an African-American man run as top contenders for the highest seat in this country, and now to have Obama as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States is just amazing. Now on to the White House. Truly, times they are a changin'! There's hope for us yet.
silasbarnabe   |June.03.2008
Now for the elephant in the room question. With 2/3 of the precincts counted it is Skip Thomson, Linda Seifert, and Barbara Kondylis. If they win do you all think they will be giving Mike Johnson the boot?
silasbarnabe   |June.03.2008
I am not certain of all of the votes for Lewis, but I can tell you many of my old school friends and acquiantances see Barbara Kondylis as a lefty activist. Some of the 30 percent of votes that you see for Lewis are more accurately described as NO votes for Kondylis.
Voter   |June.03.2008
I voted for Ben. I figured he had some real "skin in the game" with his young children and would work to make the county a better place for them as well as the general population.
Sonic Toad   |June.03.2008
avatar Ben Lewis seems to be doing much better than I imagined. Anyone have any insight into that? He spent no money hardly and is running against a well known incumbent. I'm sure Kondylis will win of course, but it's surprising that Lewis did so well with zero name recognition and zero dollars behind him.
Firebug   |June.03.2008
avatar Election summary results Kondylis, Seifert and Thomson leading
http://www.solanocounty.com/resources/RegistrarofVoters/DirectPrim2008%20Summary%20Results.htm
Firebug   |June.03.2008
avatar Haha the PSU trolls Sam imitations are as common as a Chinese Rolex(in NYC) on the Times Herald blogs.
silasbarnabe   |June.03.2008
They way I see it is that there wasn't a whole lot on this ballot that Vallejoans could identify with. Yes voting for Linda Seifert was essential but because it is a county seat she probably couldn't send out literature that related to every municipality. Benicia has a strong voice against Seeno development, Vallejo has a strong voice against section 8 developments and their financial and social impact to our community. Folks in unincorporated Home Acres and behind the ball field in East Vallejo have a fear of LAFCO and becoming part of bankrupt incorporated Vallejo. I have lived in Vallejo
all my life and I have friends and constituents in many parts of Vallejo.

Mr Leiben is correct now that the specter of bankruptcy is a reality for us, I think many Vallejoans from all walks will sign the BA petition and vote for it's removal in 2009. That issue along with out of touch incumbants should prove to a very high turnout as we need to take the safety unions talking points and million dollar advertisements and use them to our advantage!
Erika H   |June.03.2008
I don't get it. Everyone has an opinion about the current state of Vallejo(there's a pretty colorful saying about opinions), but they can't spend two minutes to vote? It took me less than that actually. This will be my last time voting in Solano County for a bit (I'm moving to Alameda County at the end of the summer), so sadly there will be one less vote for Vallejo.
Gabriele   |June.03.2008
Despite all our problems, voter participation does not seem to have increased. What does it take to wake up the residents of Vallejo? I hope absentee voters will make up the difference.
Voter   |June.03.2008
Sorry, that is 30 people total at 1pm
Voter   |June.03.2008
Slow day at the polls in East Vallejo. My polling place on Columbus Parkway had 30 people at 1pm. Hopefully after work people will be stopping in to vote.
Anonymous   |June.03.2008
Special meeting is only to interview candidates for commission. no big deal.
Anonymous   |June.03.2008
What this about a special meeting being called today at 5:30 by Mayor Davis ?
Anonymous   |June.03.2008
Thanks Mrs. Siefert, Sam K, and other volunteers for your help with the mural painting on Sat & Sun.

Much appreciated!
Firebug   |June.03.2008
avatar Having to be an incumbent in 2009 and defending binding arbitration and having the city bankrupt will prove most difficult and cost mucho $$.
On Fire   |June.03.2008
Glad to hear the petition drive is going strong. Now that it will be placed on a later ballot, there are two definite advantages. One being the cost; it will be cheaper than a special election and easier to be absorbed by the city. The second being that it will be part of the council race and will put the incumbent's to the test. Are barthenke and "I don't have enough information" sunga willing to take a stand for the removal of binding arbitration, or are they still believing that the kiss of death (union endorsement) will carry them into another term?

Things to make you go
hmmmmmm......

Keep those signatures coming.

Vallejo's Extreme Makeover - 2008 Viva Vallejo
John K   |June.03.2008
Thanks, MissMarvelous, we need to keep an eye on proposals for housing development in and near Vallejo.

The binding arbitration petition effort... we have 180 days from April 10? Does anyone know the voting history of BA in Vallejo? We know that it started in 1970 after the previous year's Police and Fire strike. They say that it's been supported by voters since then, but does anyone have th details of those attempts to dump BA? This newest effort will be to dump BA in November of 2009.

And as for dates, don't forget that TODAY is a special day in history... if y'all remember Billy
Joe...

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

-- http://tinyurl.com/cjd8f
MISSMARVELOUS   |June.03.2008
Everyone, thank you for sending your letters of concern regarding the 2008 Solano County General Plan, and thanks Little Old Lady for bring up the issue.

We should start watching the politicing of our neigbors in Napa County, as it could directly affect us. As you know in the Solano County 2008 Gen. Plan, the County wants to allow high density housing in the unincorporated parts of Vallejo (aka section 8 housing.) Napa County on the other hand, wants no growth and has Measure N on the ballot which is a measure that would allow high density buildings/homes in the old Napa Pipe site in the
industrial park. It would help Napa County provide up to 3600 units of affordable housing,as they have been sued many times for lack of section 8/affordable housing. Most "Napkins" do not want this "project" to happen, they want no growth and to "keep Napa Napa." We in Solano County should be concerned, as we are the receipiants of their over flow of poor people who have no place to live. Napa County's dirty secret is that many of their migrant workers sleep in churches, cars, out in the open by the river and 10 + in a two bedroom house/apartment. They do have a
homeless issue as well. Many of their homeless live in the Target shopping center, bathe in the Raley's restroom, hang out in city parks and downtown shopping areas. Remember our legislator represents both Vallejo and Napa/Sonoma Counties due to how the district is divided. Do you wonder how we end up with an over abbundance of ever social program known? We are the place to send everyones social problems, parolees, parole offices, affordable and section 8 housing you name it, its been sent here. We are helping other counties and cities not help their own poor and needy, and it needs to
stop!
WATZ UP WID DAT?   |June.03.2008
Dont forget, the Marin County is sitting on 1 billion in unfunded liabilites per the Marin Independant. The City of San Bruno is in a real bad way as well. Everyone knows about the state of both Oakland and San Francisco, nothing but bad news. Vallejo is being carefully watched to see if the City can make the right decisions. I found it interesting that no one actually has made negative remarks about the filing for bankruptcy. We have had postive comments and responses via various blog sites across the Bay Area, it may have been the first postive action that Vallejo has taken in a long
time... Other cites are waiting for the out come, due to the fact many are facing similar circumstances. We have to have a win-win result. The hard working, Tax paying, mostly blue collar workers of Vallejo can expect a reduction in services. The Public Servant sector of Vallejo can expect a reduction in their pay, all things being equal... Our public safety/public servants being mostly blue collar themselves should understand the sacrifice that everyone, not just some people are going to have to make. As soon as they understand they are not exempt from sacrifice the better. Not only
have they not acknowledged that they make more than double the average of most Vallejo residents, they also dont really care. Most of VFD and VPD take home their disposible income to their own city and county they live in, so we never see their sales tax here, and for sure not their property tax. If you have no real ties to the community you work in, you have no incentive to sacrifice for it. After all, a quote here on VIB by a public safety worker was "the best thing about Vallejo is when I see it in my rearview mirror." Hey have you looked in your rearview mirror lately?
On Fire   |June.02.2008
Wow, San Francisco has to erase deficiates by laying off 450 workers, limiting overtime costs and raising some city fees. The city's projected deficit has been blamed on several factors. They include cuts in state and federal funding; labor contracts for workers such as police and nurses that will cost the city an extra $118 million next year; and a reduction in the amount of money being carried over from this fiscal year.

Wow, do you think he's copying Vallejo or maybe, just maybe, other cities are facing the same fiscal fiasco as Vallejo. What's the common thread? LABOR CONTRACTS! Hey I
thought this was unique to Vallejo only! What's going on here? First the henkettes say the city is hiding money. Then they say the city is mismanaging the budget. Then you have Nichelini bypassing the City's information officer, and writes his own piece, to say how our employees are flocking to SF and Oakland. But....both of those cities are having financial shortfalls too. Now Alun, seems like you were correct on your assertions regarding the budget problems Oakland and SF are having, Seems Nichelini doesn't read the Chronical or he would have seen:

"Newsom also defended the city's
labor costs. The city's police officers, he argued, still make less than they would in other cities such as crime-plagued Oakland, where authorities are also struggling to attract new officers. Yet he also seemed to criticize some labor unions for not negotiating pay cuts or other money-saving measures."

"Newsom bristled at accusations that the city's government is growing at an unreasonable rate. He said while the state and federal governments have grown by 6 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, the city's budget has only been growing by 5.2 percent."

Somebody call Newsom
and tell his all he needs to do is hire the Rose agency and they can find some funding for his city too!

What do you have to say now Nichelini aka Herman Munster? Bet those fingers are typing away as we speak.

There is a saying, "last hired, first fired". Wonder where transferees it into that scenerio?
Andy Mayberry   |June.02.2008
Or is it Barney Fife? Police work at it's best. Barney can you run down that troll?
DNFTT   |June.02.2008
Golly gee, can't put nothing by you Gomer!
Trolling   |June.02.2008
Or On Fire is Katy M. Or Diana L. Or Alan W. Or Kim W. No, I know. On Fire is Penny B. coming back to mess with the PSUs. Welcome back Penny!
DNFTT   |June.02.2008
Warning: This page is often frequented by trolls. Do not feed the trolls by attempting to argue with them.
More on how to spot a troll.

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the intention of baiting other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

Commonly, what is meant is a relatively gentle inside joke by veteran users, presenting questions or topics that had been so
overdone that only a new user would respond to them earnestly. For example, a veteran of the group might make a post on the common misconception that glass flows over time. Long-time readers would both recognize the poster's name and know that the topic had been done to death already, but new subscribers to the group would not realise, and would thus respond.

Sound familiar? Sorry dining room is closed, no food for the trolls.
Troll   |June.02.2008
On Fire is a Troll whose real name is Marti Brown.
From KTVU TV 10:00 News   |June.02.2008
Mayor Gavin Newsome has asked S.F. fire fighters and police today to take pay cuts and reduce over time.

The police immediately said no.
Troll   |June.02.2008
Yes, the VIB paranoia begins .
Don't answer their inquiries.We will keep our heads in the sand and comfort each other. Sam help us.
On Fire   |June.02.2008
Good evening all, time for fractured tales of trolls and ogres! First, one has to learn to recognize when they are in the company of trolls. In Vallejo tales and legends the trolls are less the people living next to humans and more frightening creatures. Particularly in these tales they come in any size and can be as huge as giants or as small as dwarfs. They are often regarded as having poor intellect (especially the males.) great strength (often times imagined), big noses, long arms, and as being hairy and not very beautiful. The more you are around them, the easier it will be to identify
them.

More often than not, though, the trolls kept themselves invisible, (living in other cities)and then they could travel on the winds or sneak into human homes. Sometimes you could only hear them speak, shout and make noise, (snorting and such)or maybe detect their scent. (They dressed like people you could trust that seemed intellegent but have been generally only found to be conniving.) The trolls were also great shapeshifters, taking shapes of objects like fallen logs, or animals like cats and dogs. (I've seen those dogs) A fairly frequent notion is that the trolls liked to appear as
rolling balls of yarn.(Knitting themselves into the fabric of the community only to unwind and strangle the life out of the city.)

Whereas the large, ogrish trolls often appear as a solitary being, and they were said to reside in underground complexes, (city hall)accessible from underneath large boulders in the forests. These boulders could be raised upon pillars of gold. (Those pillars resembled golden goose eggs.)In their living quarters, they hoard gold and treasures. (Or the general funds.) Opinion varied as to whether or not the trolls were thoroughly bad or not, but often they
treated people (tax payers) as cash cows. Trolls could cause great harm if vindictive though, and regardless of other things they were always heathen. Trolls were also great thieves, and liked to steal from the food that the farmers had stored. (In some cases they tried to steal designated funds if no one was paying attention.) They could enter the homes (or council chambers) invisibly during budget sessions and eat from the plates (budget) so that there was not enough food for the rest of the citizens, or spoil the making of new revenues so that it failed or did not end up plentiful enough.
(for anyone one else in the city.)

The trolls sometimes abducted people to live as slaves or at least prisoners among them. (Endorsed elected officials)So the moral of the story is, beware of intruders who wish to trick you into complacency. Don't get pulled into the underground and watch you wallets.
shh   |June.02.2008
Shh,

Don't talk to the trolls...we don't want them to see we are weak.
anon   |June.02.2008
So what is the deal with the petition against binding arbitration. Can anyone give us an update? I know you are out there...
Who?   |June.02.2008
Pearsall, Sampayan and Tina? That explains everything.You have to be kidding me.
Edinator   |June.02.2008
avatar Posted for Alun Whittaker:

Vallejo Times-Herald,
The Editor,
Dear Sir:

On May 29th, Vallejo Police Chief Nichelini took me to task ("Police points", suggesting that my earlier letter had been accidentally, or perhaps intentionally misleading in suggesting that cities like Oakland and San Francisco were in no better fiscal position to hire more police officers, at higher salaries than was Vallejo. Since the evidence offered in my letter were taken from the Chief's own statement before City Council, and from San Francisco Chronicle articles published around the same date, I believe
that I am safe in claiming that any misunderstanding, if any such existed, was not on my part.

But was there any misunderstanding? The very facts in the Times-Herald story that provoked both letters -- that Officer Wong was leaving the Vallejo Police Department for a lower paid position with the Napa Sheriff -- seem to confirm my conclusion. Furthermore, in support of my statements not being misleading, I can now further quote from a San Francisco Chronicle story of May 31st headlined: "As money gushes in, S.F. drowns in red ink" that: "Even though the economy has been good, our
expenditures have been growing at a faster rate than our revenues..." in large part a result of "a series of new labor deals with unions...". For how many years has financial analyst J.D. Miller been displaying his chart illustrating this very same condition before unresponsive, union-sponsored, Vallejo City Council members, past and present?

In his letter, the Chief goes on to argue that Vallejo would be a safer place if he were able to hire more and better paid police officers -- a fact that no one have ever disputed, while he conspicuously ignores the only point really at issue
which is that we cannot afford to do so! Under the current union-dictated regime of high pay for all -- both for those who do, and those who do not deserve it -- along with early retirement and long-term unsustainable pension and benefit programs, there is simply no money to pay more to individual officers, or to hire more of them. That is a simple fact of municipal arithmetic towards which every city in California has been rushing since Proposition 13, and which Vallejo has the dubious distinction of reaching first. If the Chief's fails to recognize this fact, it is a serious dereliction of
his duty as executive level city employee.

As an executive of the City of Vallejo, Chief Nichelini's task is to provide the best possible service from his department within the budgetary guidelines approved by the City Council, which is itself constrained by the revenue sources, and rates approved by the electorate. Having been given his budget, the Chief's entire scope of action is limited to finding better and more cost-effective means of providing service -- within that budget. His opinions on whether that budget is adequate to his task are welcomed but they cannot outweigh the democratic
decisions of the voters, who decide on the amount of revenue available, and the City Council, who allocate the expenditures.

I understand that the Chief is following the true-blue tradition that police officers of all ranks stand together as family. Given the regular prominence of Officer Nichelini Junior at televised union press conferences, it seems that the leaders of the public safety unions reciprocate this familial regard for the Chief and his son. Such "closeness" does raise questions of conflict of interest but, in principal I can acknowledge and support the Chief's right to
hold, and even to publicize such pro-union opinions, so long as he also continues to perform in his job, and to show appropriate respect for his employers. Those employers are not the City Council, nor the City Manager, but we the people of Vallejo, and in that, I do find cause for complaint against the Chief. If Chief Nichelini is unable to find an appropriate balance between his duty to his employers, and his loyalty to his employees' union then, like Fire Chief Parker before him, he should resign and continue his support for the union from the sidelines.

Finally, I have no choice but to
address the Chief's unfortunate postscript. Distressingly, the Chief chose to raise the memory of murdered Officer Jeff Azuar, and to use it to make a cheap slur against me. Let me say that, like many downtown Vallejoans, I knew Officer Azuar and his dogs, Rondo and AJ, well as trusted friends and protectors for many years. Jeff Azuar and other neighborhood officers served side-by-side with citizens, under the Chief's predecessor, in community policing programs that helped make our city safer and cleaner. Chief Nichelini, I do not need you to come along later, sweep aside such programs, and
then try to teach me how much respect and gratitude I owe to Jeff Azuar, Tony Pearsall, Reggie Garcia, Bob Sampayan, Tina Chechourka, and every other past and present police and code enforcement officer in this town! That, sir, is quite unnecessary.

Yours sincerely

Alun Whittaker


CC: Mayor & City Council
Editor, Vallejo Independent Bulletin
City Manager's Office (for forwarding to Chief Nichelini, who's email address is not available to the public)
Michael Tatham   |June.02.2008
Petition is right- there are a lot of vallejo voters at the american canyon walmart
CalFire now protects Half Moon   |June.02.2008
After months of acrimony, CalFire officially took control of day-to-day management of the Coastside Fire Protection District this morning.

The district held a ceremony at the Main Street, Half Moon Bay, firehouse to commemorate the event. The district's board of directors began efforts more than a year ago to contract with the state's fire agency after years of difficulties between management and labor within the Coastside district.

Those difficulties continued into the courts in recent months. Last month, the state Supreme Court refused to hear a union argument over procedural questions
concerning a failed referendum on the matter.


http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2008/06/02/news/breaking_news/doc48442addb6f8b927648778.txt
Today, CalFire now protects Ha   |June.02.2008
http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2008/06/02/news/breaking_news/doc48442addb6f8b927648778.txt
Firebug   |June.02.2008
avatar Onfire - I love it! For years I have had to do my own research on the salaries and benefits, taxes and fees, number of FTE's because my friendly safety employee union advocates never ever volunteered a shred of usefull infomation. Now it is great to see them begging for information.
On Fire   |June.02.2008
Peti, if I thought that you had any real interest in the petition drive other than to come here and argue and waste time, I might tell you that you can contact the Citizens For Vallejo and ask that question yourself. Course you already knew that. So I will follow the rules posted above and not feed the trolls. You might find more satisfaction going back to the times horrid blogs as they are filled with people like you, wasting time.
Petition   |June.02.2008
Well maybe it is...so tell us, when is the cut off date and how many confirmed signatures do you have? I have a good source who says you are not even close. Prove me wrong. Waiting...
On Fire   |June.02.2008
Firebug, I think it's more on the line of wishful thinking on Petitions part.
On Fire   |June.02.2008
Petition, I only suggested a local that is staffed every Sat. There are a number of other locations that volunteers are located through out the week such a grocery stores, the ferry terminal, various events and more. But thanks for you suggestion.
Firebug   |June.02.2008
avatar Like I said before judging by the nasty High School vitriol on the Times Horrid blogs I am certain the petition gathering is far more successful than the troll "petition" cares to admit.
Petition   |June.02.2008
On Fire,

If you are limiting your efforts to the farmer's market, it's no wonder you are not getting enough signatures. Try the Walmart in American Canyou. You should run into plenty of Vallejo voters there. Good Luck.
On Fire   |June.02.2008
You source appears to be misinformed but thanks for asking. You are more than welcome to help collect signatures and can show up at any Sat. at Farmers Market and they will sign you up or you can go the the website: www.citizensforvallejo.com and sign up. That way you can do something more productive and help move Vallejo forward.
Petition   |June.02.2008
How are things going with that petition? I hear they won't get the signatures and about half of the ones they do have are not registered voters
Firebug   |June.02.2008
avatar Michael,
Mr. Wilson, Bartee, Sunga, and Hannigan don't want to be the decision makers. BA is a great bogey man to blame compensation for safety services. Having BA has been convenient for many past Council members until Shively, Cloutier, Pearsal, and Gomes got involved. The worst possible press for BA is Vallejo's banruptcy and Henke, Riley, Gordon, and Mustard know this. Now more than anytime in the past it is likely that BA has a solid chance of being removed from the Charter. Right now a Bankruptcy judge not a a shameless arbitrator like Dangelo will decide the fate of these unaffordable
safety contracts. For the first time in 30 years the playing filed is level and fair and judging by the behavior on the Times Horrid blogs our safety employees aren't very happy.
Michael Tatham   |June.02.2008
at saturday's farmer market i asked councilman michael wilson to sign the petition to end binding arbitration. he politley refused
silasbarnabe   |June.02.2008
Looks like "Just Him" has his feelings hurt, maybe he doesn't like how he is portrayed in the Sunday funny?
Kay   |June.01.2008
Can someone tell me about damage claims that I have been recently hearing about? I am not sure that I understand what that will mean to us.
I posted this in May's page and got no answer can someone tell me what this is all about?
On fire   |June.01.2008
what is really funny is how angry the psu boys are! What could they be so angry about? Bankruptcy doesn't interupt their current salaries and until the judge decides otherwise then they can rest easy. But maybe they are reading the writing on the wall? Either way, they will still receive more than the majority or people in Vallejo so what is the problem? Hmmm.....is it power?
On fire   |June.01.2008
Sorry should have read libelous!
On fire   |June.01.2008
Just me, I suppose that you would need a sense of humor to get the funnies. It is considered political satire which pokes fun at real events. Liablous? Try suing everybody that pokes fun at the Bush Adminishtration. If you can't find the humor then stick with Charlie Brown at the times horrid.
Just Me   |June.01.2008
Oh wait, I get it. VIB attempts humor.....now that's funny.
Just Me   |June.01.2008
When do the Sunday Funnies get funny? So far they are only libelous.
Sand Shark   |June.01.2008
This weeks Sunday Funny is the best yet! Only thing missing are the other 4 who have all but their hands buried in the sand as they reach up for those Henke dollars.
admin   |June.01.2008
avatar Is it June already?

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