City News
An effort to block the “Comprehensive Pension Reform” initiative from San Diego’s June ballot has failed, as a judge ruled this week that there was no reason the measure could be disqualified. The challenge came about when the state’s Public Employee Relations Board sided with local unions by trying to get a judge to deem the initiative an unfair labor practice. Since Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilman Carl DeMaio are two of the measure’s leading advocates, PERB and union officials argued that the city was practically sponsoring the initiative and that union bargaining and a meet-and-...
A new report from Stanford University has examined the 24 largest independent pension systems in California and has found that local public pensions (outside of CalPERS) are facing $135.7 billion in long-term obligations. These numbers are based on an assumed rate of investment return of 5 percent. The following counties were covered in the research: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Ventura.
For non-CalPERS pension systems, it was found that the average...
A desert community located at the top of the Cajon Pass, Hesperia has become known not only for affordable housing but also for the pleasant desert climate, beautiful scenery, stunning sunsets and clean air. Just minutes from the Cajon Pass, Hesperia provides hometown essence with a minimal commute time to the nearby Ontario, San Bernardino and Riverside areas. Emerging as a leading business-friendly community in California, Hesperia continues to take steps to provide an attractive experience to both commercial and industrial companies. The City of Hesperia has recently completed a review...
Citing state money grabs and huge financial challenges, the city of La Mirada was recently forced to declare a fiscal emergency. On a unanimous vote, the council decided to make the declaration in light of the fact that lagging revenues and cost-cutting measures will simply be insufficient to avoid deep cuts to city services. During the last four years alone, La Mirada has lost $8.3 million in sales tax and about 25 positions have been eliminated.
With the declaration of a fiscal emergency, the council will be able to place a tax measure on the November ballot instead of having to...
Birds of a feather flock together, so if you’re a city official in the Twitterverse (or interested in local government) then here at CityNews we thought it might be useful to put together a list of tweeters that you should be following. There is no shortage of resources out there, so we’ve arranged a list of 20 standout twitter accounts that are worth your time (listed in no particular order)
CityNews: We don’t want to play favorites, but we figured we’d start our list by pointing out that...
We relayed recently that unions in the city of San Jose filed an ethics complaint against Mayor Chuck Reed after an investigative report argued top city officials intentionally overstated the extent of the city’s pension crisis by suggesting retirement costs could go as high as $650 million by 2015 when in reality the more accurate figure is $400 million. San Jose city employee unions have announced that they are pleased that the San Jose Elections Commission voted 4-0 to refer the ethics complaint to the City Council. The commission stated the issue was beyond its jurisdiction. With labor...
The complicated process of unwinding redevelopment is covered in a new report released by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Due to scope of redevelopment agencies’ funds, assets, and financial obligations, the LAO concludes that dissolution will “take time” and that the Legislature should “amend the redevelopment dissolution legislation to address timing issues, clarify the treatment of pass–through payments, and address key concerns of redevelopment bond investors.” Here are the report’s major findings, none of which are all that supportive of the work and economic benefits that...
The city of Norco in Southern California is known as Horsetown USA and the city even has a mascot: a mustang named “Hail Yeah.” With over 17,000 horses within city limits, these animals have gotten a free ride for too long, so it’s about time they pitch in…even if it gets a bit smelly. City officials are weighing a proposal to build a $36 million manure-to-power conversion plant as a way to put to good use 65 tons of horse manure that is produced daily (yikes). Currently the waste is hauled out of the city, but the city council recently decided to conduct an environmental impact report for...
Will 2012 be the year that the U.S. economy solidly improves its footing or do healthy government budgets still look dicey for the year ahead? The 2012 Keating Report has now been released, and it includes analysis of federal, state, and local government budgets and spending, as well as an in-depth look at public private partnerships and government construction. Forecasts indicate that government purchases of goods and services will reach $2.99 trillion, which falls a little below levels in 2011. Of those purchases, state and local government purchases will reach $1.77 trillion and in 2013...
The City of Sacramento is the oldest incorporated city in California and the capital of the 8th largest economy in the world. Location, weather and quality of life are just a few of the things that make Sacramento a great place to live, work, do business and visit. The City of Sacramento, serving a market area of more than two million people, is much more than the center of California government – it’s the hub for medical technology, education, green and sustainable business, thriving neighborhoods, and home of one of the Nation’s largest infill projects, the Railyards. Sacramento is the...
