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Michael Fitzgerald
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Monthly Archives: January 2009
Petition: Let’s return to fiscal sanity
Speaking of overpaid public servants, get a load of this dream-come-true petition:
RENEGOTIATION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSION CONTRACTS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. EIiminates certain state constitutional restrictions on renegotiating pubIic employee pension contracts. Allows vested pension benefits to be reduced for existing and prospective public-sector retirees.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA MAKE THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS AND [...]
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Thanks for the shiner, Ed
What was it Councilman Dale Fritchen said the other day?
How many black eyes have we already had over the last decades? We don’t have any eyes left to blacken.
Evidently we do.
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A blogger nails schismatic Episcopal bishop
The Three-Legged Stool gives the best analysis I’ve seen yet of the San Joaquin Valley’s Episcopal schism: a vast, oversized diocese meant many parishes far removed from the center became parochial; ultra-conservative Bishop John David Schofield replaced subordinates with loyalists; and when they split off, they took the property, because to generations of worshippers deeply connected to these places [...]
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How to rip up Arena contracts
Some disagreeing with today’s column about Stockton’s possible bankruptcy say excessively generous wages and benefits to city employees are not the fiscal problem. Redevelopment is. A favorite scapegoat is the Arena. The Arena lost $2.1 million in its second year of operation, down from $2.7 million in year one. The city would not be in a financial predicament if city leaders had not [...]
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And that goes for you Blue Dogs, too
Let me get this straight: a whole lot of the $825 billion the stimulus package will come to the San Joaquin Valley – and some Valley leaders oppose it?
These guys obviously do not share the famous Fitzgerald Pork Philosophy, to wit: pork is bad, unless it comes to my district, then pork is good.
I can actually defend this [...]
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Delta Queen news
News arrives about Stockton’s most famous boat:Newport Beach, Calif., January 27, 2009 – Ambassadors International, Inc., owners of the historic Delta Queen, have chartered the vessel to Harry Phillips, owner of Chattanooga Water Taxi and Fat Cat Ferry in Chattanooga, Tenn., to act as caretaker for its 174-guest Delta Queen while Ambassadors continues searching for [...]
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Thanks for your opinion, but I’m not listening
“Sometimes they ask you for your input. Then they ignore it and go ahead with their plan …”
A good line, and true. So Restore the Delta is sponsoring a grass-roots symposium.
We will look at how changing conditions in the Delta can be managed by the people who know the Delta best because they live there. [...]
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55er of the Day
We have some good entries left over from the 55-Word Writing Contest. Here’s one.
Wish of Mine in 2009
Let there be expansion
Like a growing, fruitful tree
Up and out and down
In that receiving and giving flow,
Ever opening my leaves to the sunshine,
Dancing in the breeze
Sinking my roots deep in watered star dust
Blessing others with fruit
And myself with [...]
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The Vallejo option
So, Stockton has to chop at least $30 million more from its terribly strained budget, and neither police department administration nor police union wants to help. Well, there is a nuclear option: bankruptcy.
Why not? The city’s credit rating is already low. Big corporations do it all the time and emerge stronger. Even former Mayor Gary [...]
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Local Chinese restaurant ranked in USA’s top 10