I have been complaining for years about the way the City of Santa Ana overpays its police and fire employees, primarily because our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, and his council cabal, receive thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the unions representing those workers. We are the county seat, so we could look to outsource to the O.C. Sheriff’s department and the O.C. Fire Authority. But instead we keep giving raises and expanding retirement benefits.
Now we know where this road could one day lead our city. The City of Vallejo, in northern California, “is on the brink of a dubious distinction – becoming the first city in California to declare bankruptcy. The fiscal crisis, which comes more than three years after the state took over the city’s debt-ridden public schools, is a result of snowballing police and firefighter salaries and overtime expenses coupled with plummeting tax revenue from the weak housing market, officials say.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“Vallejo is hardly alone in its struggles with spiraling public safety costs. Most cities in California spend about half their general fund on public safety, including salaries, fire engines, police cars, weapons and other supplies, said James Keene of the International City and County Management Association, based in Washington, D.C.” Boy does that sound a lot like Santa Ana!
The City of Vallejo is now trying to rescind a fifteen percent pay raise to its cops and firemen. Santa Ana just gave its increasingly inept city manager, Dave Ream, a fifteen percent pay raise! And the Santa Ana police and fire unions both got pay raises last year, and sure enough they both gave thousands to the fraudulent Measure D, which extend the term limits of our corrupt Council Members, without applying any term limits to our Clowncil ringleader, Pulido.
My favorite quote from the Chronicle is this one, “Of course we value our police and firefighters and the risks they take, but their salaries are simply too high,” Gomes said. “They can afford to live in Marin and Napa, and it’s the very hard-working, blue-collar residents of Vallejo who are bearing the repercussions. It’s unfair.”
It is simply eerie how similar Vallejo’s problems are to the conditions in Santa Ana. Could Orange County’s “Downtown” end up bankrupt too?
Wow, Art, what a financial whiz you are! If a city is in trouble, the base cause just has to be cop and firefighter salaries! Why don’t you bust out the books showing the $$$ spent on social programs by the city, county, and state? And I know I will automatically be labeled racist by your brown brother syncophants for this insight, but I think a lot of money may be getting eaten up by, dare I say…ILLEGAL ALIENS! Ouch…the truth hurts, verdad?
Poster 1,
If you read the Chronicle article, which I do recommend, you will find that Vallejo spends 80% of its budget on its overpaid cops and firemen. Santa Ana spends, from what I recall, just over half of its budget in this fashion.
The killer is the increased pension benefits, and the early retirement that has been offered by many cities to their union workers. Eventually cities find out they cannot fund all the union goodies.
Immigrants have nothing to do with any of this. In fact Vallejo has a white majority council.
And if you want to talk about social spending, the truth is that most of that happens at the county, state and federal level. Not at the local level.
Instead of calling yourself “la verdad,” you ought to try “la pendejada.”
Former Santa Ana Councilman Ted Moreno tried to warn us about overpaid City employees but his warnings fell on dead ears. I wish you would ask Ted to write for O.J. Blog. He has a wealth of local political knowledge that is going to waste. He knows where most of the bodies are buried politically speaking.
Art, you are incorrect, Santa Ana spends around 75% of it’s general fund budget on police and fire, the last time I looked at the city’s budget. In fact, the city council made a deal with the police union many years ago that would guarantee that our cops are the highest paid in the county. With overtime, your average veteran patrol officer can earn up to $100k a year, before pension and benefits.
Our fire department is a Class 1 fire department. In order to become a Class 1 fire department, you have to budget a certain amount of money each year. Do you know what a Class 1 fire department gets us? Supposedly lower home owner’s insurance. Is that benefit worthy of the tens of millions we spend on the fire department?
I think the city would be better off if we contracted out for fire services. Good luck getting that passed through with a council who lives and dies on fire union support!
Looks like someone already posted my comments above.
3/5 of Santa Ana
It is clear that taking out the unions would be more prudent effort then taking out Pulido or the Council.
So, please take note of it Pedroza.
You are barking on the wrong tree because Pulido and the Council are same victims of the unions as you are.
Cook,
Thanks for the numbers. Your assesment presents a severe financilal problem for the city. Poster #1 needs to take his/her head out of the sand.
Do you know what the 3/5 budget is pre-spent on?
#6,
Unions are the white elephant in the financial ( budget) room. They are a major funding source for the Mayor and many other electeds. The Mayor and other electeds are not victims of unions. The unions are taken care of after the successful elections.
It is a circle of money exchanges, between electeds and unions.The money used is taken from the pockets of the taxpayers. The victims are the residents of the municipalities
where this takes place, not the electeds .
art lomeli
“The Mayor and other electeds are not victims of unions.”
Dr. Lomeli,
I guess, if your political survival is dependent on the union’s money then you are the victim of the unions.
Please take note of it.
#8,
If you self inflict a wound you can’t claim victimization.
There is no deception in this relationship.
No one has been sacrificed in this relationship.
In this scenario any injury or loss is the result of a voluntary undertaking.
“YOU ARE A VICTIM OF YOUR OWN SCHEMING”.
#8 please take a note of it.
art lomeli.
“If you self inflict a wound you can’t claim victimization.”
Mr. Lomeli,
A person who self inflict mortal wound is referred to as “suicide victim”.
Google “suicide victim” narrowed by the quotes and you will get about 69,100 results for the “suicide victim”.
It is important to notice that you are too a victim of the AFFIRMATIVE education so you are always coming up with the foregoing crapola.
# 10-Stan Fiala,
A suicide victim is a person causing a self inflicted fatal injury.
Your original argument implied unions causing injury to electeds.
The relationship between electeds and unions is a symbiotic relationship.
There is no injury to either party.The relationship is in fact specificaly to assist each other’s best interests. This relationship therefore has no victims since the reason of the relationship is to enhance not to injure.
Stan it seems you are the victim of affirmitive action, not me. I received an excellent education from Harvard,UCLA, Cal State Fullerton and UCSF.
You on the other hand are a victim of affirmitive action. People like me cause you pain and injury by exposing your stupid bigoted agenda. Hispanics are not dependant on affirmitive action.
You keep showing the world how ignorant you are.
art lomeli.