Stockton mayor: 'I don't trust them'

I'm with the Mayor on this one. We are busy trying to fight the Uniting of the peoples.

Stockton promotes official to CFO

By Scott Smith
Record Staff Writer
September 14, 2012 12:00 AM
STOCKTON - City officials announced Thursday that they hired a new chief financial officer from within the ranks, making her the third person to fill that position within a year.

Vanessa Burke, Stockton's assistant director of the Administrative Services Department, will step into her new role overseeing the city's finances effective Sunday.

Burke is a certified public accountant with more than 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors, began working for Stockton on Dec. 1, 2011. Her annual salary as CFO will be $145,704.

Burke served as a key figure in preparing Stockton for its Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing, which was made at the end of June.

"The past eight months have been among the most rewarding of my professional career," Burke said in a news release. "Getting the city's fiscal house in order will help the city to achieve the sustainability necessary for the future and for its citizens."

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White to take case against mayor to federal judge

By Scott Smith

Record Staff Writer

August 31, 2012 12:00 AM

STOCKTON - Former mayoral candidate Ralph Lee White this month will ask a federal judge overseeing Stockton's bankruptcy to let him pursue his case against Mayor Ann Johnston over term limits.

White said he believes the city inappropriately lumped the suit he initiated among 54 cases the City Attorney's Office froze under a provision of the U.S. bankruptcy code, which gives the debtor temporary relief while it reorganizes finances.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein on Sept. 18 will hear White in person making his plea to lift the stay against on his suit.

"I will have an opportunity to speak," White said Thursday. "And I will quite naturally speak my mind."

White and the Stockton Black Leadership Council in May took Johnston and the city to court, arguing that the mayor had exceeded the number of terms allowed under the city charter.

The case hinged on Section 606 of the city charter, which says:

          "No person elected as either Mayor or Councilmember shall be eligible to serve, or serve, as either Mayor or Councilmember for more than two (2) terms..."

He will ask Judge Klein to allow him to have Superior Court Judge Holland reconsider his ruling and possibly petition the state's Third District Court of Appeal for a review.

Johnston declined to comment for this story. City officials, who have defended her right to run for a second term as mayor, also had no comment.

Contact Reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or    ssmith@recordnet.com.       Visit his blog 

Hunger In California: Study Shows Nearly Four Million Residents Can't Afford Food

By Joanna Lin

For Larry Sly, executive director of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, the good news is that the number of people the food bank serves has leveled off over the past couple of years. The bad news: The food bank still feeds 132,000 people every month.

The food bank today serves 46 percent more people in Contra Costa and Solano counties than it did in 2006, before the recession began. Those in need include people with financial emergencies, others who need sporadic help and still more who come in month after month; many never imagined they'd someday stand in line at a food pantry, Sly said.

"The recession I know is technically over … but we're not seeing it here at all," he said. "We see nothing to indicate that things are getting better for the people we serve."

Nearly 58 percent of low-income residents in Contra Costa County could not afford enough to eat in 2009, according to a recent report by California Food Policy Advocates and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The county's rate of "food insecurity," as it's called, was higher than anywhere else in the state and jumped from 16 percent two years earlier.

The analysis [PDF], based on data from the California Health Interview Survey, found that more than 40 percent of low-income California adults in 2009 – 3.8 million in all – could not afford enough food at least once in the previous year.

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Stockton bankruptcy: Retirees sue to stop cuts to health benefits

A group of Stockton retirees is seeking a restraining order against the bankrupt city's efforts to cut their health benefits, part of the city's "pendency plan" aimed at keeping it solvent while it seeks protections from creditors.

The city informed retirees by letter they must pay their premiums by July 30 or "medical coverage will be canceled retroactive to July 1."

Promises of lifelong health benefits have been blamed in part for Stockton's failure, which was also brought on by the housing bust, unemployment and borrowing for downtown development that did not bring expected results.

PHOTOS: California cities in bankruptcy

Dwane Milnes, who was Stockton's city manager from 1991 to 2001, has been widely criticized for giving retirees full retirement healthcare in return for agreements from unions not to seek raises. The unfunded liability for those benefits is $417 million.

Milnes now represents the retirees in bankruptcy-related negotiations.

"It is not unfair to make changes in the retirement plan," Milnes said. "The world changes and when the world changes you have to adapt. But the question is, how do you change it in a way that is respectful of those most in need?"

Plaintiff Alfred Seibel, 58, a retired parks worker, said he can't afford the premiums and can't afford to lose coverage.
With the city's cuts, Seibel's health insurance costs would be $1,126.66 per month, or about 51% of his net income.

"I am already taking generic meds for cholesterol and triglycerides against my doctor's advice, I can't afford the $70 co-pay. My wife cries all the time. She don't understand how when they promise you all this stuff, then they [can] just take it away," he said in court documents.

A retired parks caretaker who worked for the city for 31 years, Seibel also suffers from a work-related herniated disc and enlarged lymph nodes that doctors say are from chemicals he used on the job.

The suit seeks class-action status covering all retirees, but Milnes said he and other managers with higher incomes would be willing to give up their benefits.

"The ones we're talking about are the ones who worked for us for years. For crying out loud, we know them, we know their families. We know about their breast cancer, their husband's diabetes," he said.

The budget the Stockton City Council adopted slashed contributions to current employee and retiree health benefits and eliminated benefits for employees with fewer than 10 years of city service. It eliminates city-funded medical benefits for retirees by July 2013.

There are about 2,400 city retirees, about 1,000 of whom receive health benefits. Two-thirds of the city retirees do not meet poverty requirements for California's low-income healthcare program but cannot afford private insurance, Milnes said. Those who are over 65 can get Medicare, but they must pay for medications and doctor's office visits.

Stockton Vice Mayor Kathy Miller said the lawsuit was not unexpected.

"All I can say is that there is a group of retirees who think it's more important for the taxpayers to pay 100% of their retirement than to keep police officers on the street," she said. "They know the situation. They know 80% of our discretionary income is for public safety. There is no way we can close the budget gap without these cuts. But they think they should come first."

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— Diana Marcum

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Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: SEN. RAND PAUL DID NOT ENDORSE MITT ROMNEY!: FOR SOME ODD REASON, WHILE READING THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING... THIS IS THE BIGGEST HOAX SO FAR IN THIS ELECTION CYCLE... It is just as bad as Craig Romney being one of Ron Paul's CA delegates.





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More info on Stockton Mayoral Candidates

California's Smart Voter Guide, for the June 5th Primary election.

Pitsch Responds Late, but it's better now than never

By MICHAEL FITZGERALD | Published: MAY 21, 2012 | Leave a comment
Stockton mayoral candidate Gregory Pitsch, responding to a March blog post critical of his inexperience, writes:

“Just to fill you in on a few things. I have governing experience, from joining a young men’s fraternity, DeMolay. I was also A City of Manteca employee for 4 years, mostly in the parks and recreation department as a supervisor, and as a coach at Walter Woodward Elementary. After which I worked a 3 year stretch at Raisch Grade-Way (RGW) Construction as a Junior Estimator, and Take-off engineer. Working at RGW gave me a fresh look at what the General Contractor is looking for, and how they bid Public Work.

”I wouldn’t necessarily say I have no experience, because I am the President of an up and coming Record Label here in Stockton, and an urban Clothing Line. I am doing the best that I can, with the limited resources I have. Please understand, I am not just another young guy in Stockton, I have the drive of a Leader who WILL make a difference in this city.”

“Thank You,

”Future Mayor of Stockton Gregory Pitsch.”

I was hard on Pitsch because I have lost all tolerance for the incompetence that brought Stockton to the brink of bankruptcy, the breakdown of municipal services and international shame. Stockton needs seasoned leaders, not dilettantes. But Pitsch has every right makes the case he is a leader.

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US Marshals take down more Criminals

STOCKTON, CA-Stockton police officials declared a familiar undertaking to diminish lethal violence has advanced to the capture of 32 individuals on the burb's most obviously needed record.

Numerous U.S. Marshals have been making police track the urban area's most unsafe crooks for the past a few weeks. Federal assist reached Stockton as a major aspect of Chairman Ann Johnston's Marshall Arrange.

Right around the 32 folks captured, 11 were, at one time, on the "Top 10 of Most obviously Needed" record. Several men captured Wednesday were part of that record.

Javier Crown was captured in reciprocity to a killing that happened in the parking garage of a south Stockton shoe store.

U.S. Marshals in addition captured Steven Fernandez Domingo on Wednesday.

Officer Pete Smith expressed the progress of the venture is not an astonishment.

"They're not noting service calls for the 1,100 calls we get each day," Smith expressed. "They're centered on the post, running down advances, and centered on the discernment as it goes in. When you would be able to do that in law authorization, you'll be successful."

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READER SERVICES Students sought for art competition

STOCKTON - Congressman Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater, is inviting high school students in the 18th Congressional District to enter the annual Congressional Art Competition. Winners' work will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol.

Each member of Congress chooses one grand prize winner from his or her district.

The winning artist and one guest will be invited to a summer Capitol Hill awards ceremony.

All entries must be submitted by 5 p.m. April 20 to one of Cardoza's district offices. His Stockton office is at 401 N. San Joaquin St., Suite 109.

All submissions will be on public display at the San Joaquin County Law Library, 20 N. Sutter St., Stockton. The winning artwork will be announced during a public reception hosted by Cardoza from 2 to 4 p.m. May 6 at the Law Library. The winner will be selected by a panel of judges convened by Cardoza that includes professional artists and gallery curators.

Artwork must be a two-dimensional piece such as a painting, drawing, print, photograph, mixed media or collage. Dimensions must be no larger than 28 inches by 28 inches including frame, although no frame is required. The artwork must reflect life in the Central Valley.

Entry forms and more details are available at area high schools or at Cardoza's district office. Information: (209) 946-0361.

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