The Struggle for California: Where Things Stand
California has been known as the "Golden State". It is the 8th largest economy in the world. It has been at the forefront of change for over 100 years. Yet, that image has been shattered. The struggle for California's future has now reached a climax as the State struggles to fix a 24 Billion Dollar budget shortfall.
Every City in California is facing a budget shortfall. The City of Laguna Beach went through cutbacks by elminiating four vacant positions, eliminating a police officer and dipping into the reserves. The Orange County Sheriff's Department's budget by approximately 28 Million Dollars. Other cities continue to struggle with either bankrupcy or simply to go through a de-incorporation process whereby they stop having to worry about paying salaries, retirement benefits and other services.
The Feds are sending a lot of money to California. Trying to assess the flow of the stimulus, I recently decided to track down the status of a stimulus project in Southern California. I paid a visit to the local California Department of Transportation Office (Twice), followed up with phone calls and got only one phone call back. I never got a response afterwards. The Governor asked the Feds to guarantee some borrowing California needed. But, the Feds have told California to take a hike. As I read the stories on that, I remember the headlines in the New York papers in 1975, when the headlines ran "Ford to City: Drop Dead". California is still too big to fail. But, the game of chicken being played in California's State Capitol is simply hillarious. One of the hair-brain schemes has been to issue out payroll checks at 12:01 AM on July 1 to "manage the cash". Also, the Governor said that there is to be no borrowing!! He laid down the law. But, he then came out with a proposal to borrow 1.6 Billion Dollars. There is a committment to come up with something. But, these guys have only five days before the state will start sending out IOU's. How will a State Worker pay its' mortgage with IOU's? How would a State Worker buy groceries to feed their kids?
The candidates for Governor are gearing up for the fight, though. Gavin Newsom is the declared Democratic Candidate. The Mayor of LA decided not to run. I am glad he didn't. It is a good thing that he decided to stay put and put his own house in order. He is also another one of those whose personal life is not the most pristine either and would have figured prominently if he decided to run. The Republicans are also circling the wagons promising spending cuts and no taxes. There are no specifics besides what I have seen from Gavin Newsom. As I see how the present Statewide political leadership (both democrats and republicans) have driven the State off a cliff, I remember John Burton's admontion five years ago when the Present Governor kicked out the previous Governor. John Burton (who is now Chair of the California Democratic Party) said that, "..when he gets here, he would realize how screwed up it is to run this State". How right he was!!!!
Every City in California is facing a budget shortfall. The City of Laguna Beach went through cutbacks by elminiating four vacant positions, eliminating a police officer and dipping into the reserves. The Orange County Sheriff's Department's budget by approximately 28 Million Dollars. Other cities continue to struggle with either bankrupcy or simply to go through a de-incorporation process whereby they stop having to worry about paying salaries, retirement benefits and other services.
The Feds are sending a lot of money to California. Trying to assess the flow of the stimulus, I recently decided to track down the status of a stimulus project in Southern California. I paid a visit to the local California Department of Transportation Office (Twice), followed up with phone calls and got only one phone call back. I never got a response afterwards. The Governor asked the Feds to guarantee some borrowing California needed. But, the Feds have told California to take a hike. As I read the stories on that, I remember the headlines in the New York papers in 1975, when the headlines ran "Ford to City: Drop Dead". California is still too big to fail. But, the game of chicken being played in California's State Capitol is simply hillarious. One of the hair-brain schemes has been to issue out payroll checks at 12:01 AM on July 1 to "manage the cash". Also, the Governor said that there is to be no borrowing!! He laid down the law. But, he then came out with a proposal to borrow 1.6 Billion Dollars. There is a committment to come up with something. But, these guys have only five days before the state will start sending out IOU's. How will a State Worker pay its' mortgage with IOU's? How would a State Worker buy groceries to feed their kids?
The candidates for Governor are gearing up for the fight, though. Gavin Newsom is the declared Democratic Candidate. The Mayor of LA decided not to run. I am glad he didn't. It is a good thing that he decided to stay put and put his own house in order. He is also another one of those whose personal life is not the most pristine either and would have figured prominently if he decided to run. The Republicans are also circling the wagons promising spending cuts and no taxes. There are no specifics besides what I have seen from Gavin Newsom. As I see how the present Statewide political leadership (both democrats and republicans) have driven the State off a cliff, I remember John Burton's admontion five years ago when the Present Governor kicked out the previous Governor. John Burton (who is now Chair of the California Democratic Party) said that, "..when he gets here, he would realize how screwed up it is to run this State". How right he was!!!!
Mike Pouraryan
