… Because San Bernadino’s council is not unaminously resolved to make needed cuts. On the contrary, even in bankruptcy some council members are trying to protect the unions.
In fact, the council passed a fire-department-approved (and possibly drated) plan to fob the cuts onto others. The mayor vetoed it (San Berdoo’s mayor has veto power. Interesting).
Mayor Patrick “Morris called (the) proposal “slavish adoption of a union proposal without analysis,” and “loyalty to special interest groups that trumps the whole idea of a city that acts intelligently to make public policy,” the L.A. Times reports.
As a result of this conflict, San Bernadino failed to pass an emergency budget.
Stockton has done much better in this regard. The council acted unanimously to take the strong necessary mesures. They passed two declarations of fiscal emergency, fought police and the SCEA in court, cut over $90 million, axed a quarter of their workforce and they are eliminating a $560 million retiree medical liability.
Only when bankruptcy loomed did Council member Dale Fritchen break ranks. The belief inside City Hall is he did a Judas becasue he’s in a tight race against Michael Tubbs and he needed union support. But there’s an equaly strong argument that he was always against bankruptcy on principle.
Whatever the case, Stockton at least has a tolerably functioning government because a strong council majoirty is resolved to bite the bullet. San Bernadino will have twice the drama and half the function until they learn you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.
