Vallejo Headed for Another Bankruptcy?

By Mike Shedlock
03/21/2014
On May 6, 2008, the Vallejo City Council voted 7-0 to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. At the time it was the largest city in California to do so. In March of 2009 I noted Judge Rules Vallejo Can Void Union Contracts. Vallejo foolishly refused to do so, and I predicted it would soon be back...

TAGS: Vallejo bankruptcy

Vallejo’s post-bankruptcy plight gets little notice in California’s state capitol

By Steven Greenhut
03/14/2014
When Vallejo, California was facing bankruptcy, pension reformers warned officials there that unless the city takes the opportunity to trim back pensions for current employees that it would soon be back in the fiscal tank. One official there said the city didn’t want to take on the politically powerful California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS),...

TAGS: California Attorney General Kamala Harris, pension reform, Vallejo bankruptcy

Pension Battle Shifts to San Jose, San Bernardino, Stockton

By Mike Shedlock
12/05/2013
Now that a federal judge in Michigan has properly ruled pension obligations are not sacrosanct (see Lesson for Union Dinosaurs) the spotlight is once again on union dinosaurs in California. Bankrupt San Bernardino foolishly did not attempt to shed pension obligations in bankruptcy, but perhaps it can now reconsider. What about Stockton and Vallejo? On April...

TAGS: defined benefit pensions, Public sector pensions, San Bernardino bankruptcy, San Jose pension reform, Stockton bankruptcy, Vallejo bankruptcy

Vallejo Faces 2nd Bankruptcy Because They Didn’t Restructure Pensions

By Mike Shedlock
10/02/2013
Editor’s Note:  An article published today in the Stockton Record’s reports “Deis: City won’t tackle pension reform.” Bob Deis is Stockton’s city manager. Apparently he doesn’t want Stockton to be the first to fall. As soon as one city restructures their pensions, every city and county in California will follow, because the alternative is a...

TAGS: Stockton bankruptcy, Vallejo bankruptcy

California’s Public Employment Relations Board Thwarts Pension Reform

By Jon Coupal
04/05/2013
When it comes to state government, most people think of the governor and the members of the Legislature, those who are elected by the voters and do their business under the Capitol dome. However, there is an entire class of faceless, unelected appointees to the state’s hundreds of boards and commission who determine whether or...

TAGS: pension reform, San Bernardino bankruptcy, Stockton bankruptcy, Vallejo bankruptcy

The Bankruptcy Tsunami

By Steven Greenhut
07/14/2012
First Vallejo, then Stockton, then Mammoth Lakes and now San Bernardino.  As Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach told Bloomberg News, the bankruptcy dominoes are starting to fall. One California city after another — following a decade-long spree of ramping up public-employee pay and pension benefits, as well as redevelopment debt — are becoming insolvent. Not...

TAGS: San Bernardino bankruptcy, Stockton bankruptcy, Vallejo bankruptcy