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oh zee TV: Judge Jeanine Pirro Exposes Anti-Gun Hypocrisy dur...

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How stockton Went Belly-up, and how to get out of financial woes.

Overbuilding
By Eric Schulzke

Stockton pushed for an arena complex, including a 10,000-seat hockey arena, a 5,000-seat baseball diamond and an attached hotel complex. When cost overruns drove up the cost, the city got creative. Johnston recalls the scene in when she was on the city council.

"The mayor was talking about wanting a ballpark on the waterfront. The city manager said, 'There is no money. We can't do this.' And the mayor said, 'Can't we take money from municipal utilities, can't we take it from community development?' 'No, it's not legal to do that,' the manager said," Johnston recalled.

"And so he was stymied," she said, "but he kept trying to figure out how he could do some of these projects."

Eventually, a new city council was elected and a new city manager hired. "The city manager got an opinion from some attorney over in Oakdale, who said, "Oh yeah, you can borrow from municipal utilities," Johnston said.

So to help build the arena, the city raided dedicated sewer and water funds, which were legally segregated and not available for building projects.

But the Oakdale lawyer was wrong. Several years, $145 million and one lawsuit later, the city agreed to pay back to the stolen funds. With interest, it will cost the city $1 million a year over 30 years to pay back the $10.9 million it raided for the arena complex.

Altogether, the new complex cost more than $135 million in bonds. Unlike the parking garages and the office building, both now repossessed, the city has held onto the arena complex and the theater — subsidizing annual operating losses as it struggles with the construction debt.

Did you notice Ann Johnston stating that "they" the city council was responsible for these expenditures, and she she was one of them! And she admits to using funds for other departments for the cost of construction!

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Olympic Victory: Parents of Olympian's reaction is Golden, Daughter...

Olympic Victory: Parents of Olympian's reaction is Golden, Daughter...: The parents of U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman are no different. And like Debbie Phelps, the mother of Michael Phelps, and other parents before ...

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

Tonight Stockton Will Decide To Go Forward With Bankruptcy or Not

What would your solution be, if you were one of the council members during all the bankruptcy negotiations with the City's creditors?

One has to begin contemplating, whether our city leaders have even tried to figure this whole problem out, or if they are just sweeping it under the rug? The real question that needs to asked, is when are "we" as a community going to elect accountable people to run this city?

There are plenty of faults that could be dished out, but I'd rather look at possible solutions, rather than focusing on the things in the past that put Stockton in this dreadful financial situation. Staying positive is Stockton's #1 priority, if any do in fact exist.

Let me break down the gist of "staying positive." It may seem hard to do in a city that was ranked the most miserable place to live by FORBES magazine, in 2010 and 2012. But there is always two ways to look at everything, some bad occurrences may show some type of positive results.

Murder is always bad, and some times it is just outright evil. However there is a positive spin to everything, in this case, maybe the person who was shot jumped in the line of fire to protect a woman or child. If this dead man's life can be summed up in one word, it would undoubtedly be "heroic."

Heroes are always looked at in a positive light, even if the hero was a high-school drop-out, who got addicted to multiple drugs, as well as alcohol, and spent six years in the corrections system. His last living moment he was a hero, not only to the girl whose life he saved, but to her entire family, as well as an inspiration to many others in the community.

This is just one example, but to every event in life, there are two ways to look at it!

"The past is the only thing that cannot be changed, so instead, try to apply just as much energy towards benefiting for the future, as you waste dwelling on the past. " Oh Zee (GP)