Vallejo rejects union bankruptcy offer

In the countdown to Vallejo's bankruptcy, another unsuccessful mediation session was held Wednesday between Vallejo public employee union representatives and city officials, negotiators said.

[City of Apathy]

This city is going down and no one cares. They closed two fire houses and police staffing is at a critical level. When the City files, police staffing levels will be a disaster...and no one seems to care. Citizens will say "what happened to our community?" Tanner will be enjoying his 300K retirement in the East Bay and say "see, I broke those unions" at the same time "breaking the City".

Many will say it's the fault of the unions and binding arbitration. Only a few will recognize that although the FD was paid a little too much, the PD was paid the market rate for the services they provided. In any case, only the bright ones will recognize the City absolutley failed to develop this city in a proper fashion. Just drive up I80 and ask yourself "why couldn't Vallejo develop like Fairfield or Vacaville. They had all of the commercial infrastructure in place and more...with Mare Island".

It's a sad day in Vallejo, City of Apathy.

[ASHAMED]

What a sad sad day for Vallejo. You could have been "the gem of the bay area" but instead you make history for negative reasons. I feel sorry for the citizens of this city who have been brain washed that bankruptcy is a good idea. I wish the police and fire guys who leave good luck and I feel sorry for those that have to stay here because you have to fight negativity from every where. The citizens of this city have forgotten that you are all "HERO'S" and choose to do a job most run from. Thank you again for all that you do. I'm embarrassed to be a citizen of Vallejo and as for these blogs these are the most hateful and vile things I have ever read. I can't believe some of you people. ashamed

[URALL CRAZY]

Police and fire thank you thank you for all that you do. Thank you for trying to save this city from Bankruptcy, the city council was set on going that route and now they get to ride this runaway train. They have no idea what they do. "CITY OF APATHY" said it best "why couldn't vallejo develop like fairfield or Vacaville." Its because our city council allows smoke shops and barber shops to set up business rather then legitimate business like grocery stores and other retail shops. Again I too I'm "ashamed" to even tell people where I'm from. Joe Tanner you a putz.

[Golden Retirement]

Mayor Davis said, "The city is seeking a long-term solution, one that will not only balance this year's budget, but provide a formula that will create a reserve in coming years, Davis said. The mayor implied that current union offers were not solving the problem of revenue lagging behind expenditures."

People do care. Vallejo is going to get a long-term solution with or without help from existing collective bargaining units. Negotiations will continue, and eventually a long-term solution will be adopted. Fasten your seatbelts, folks, it's going to be a rough ride. With official bankruptcy, the City will have more options and will be somewhat protected from the nasty things some of the employees are going to try to do to the City.

[WhatEver]

The unions have made an offer that will keep millions in the reserves for years. The city turned it down.

So now the city will file for bankruptcy and spend more than 2 million dollars on attorneys fees and there is no guarantee that they will get it.

Did anyone see the news this morning? Vallejo School district just had a private company withdraw $400,000 donation's that was going to assist in construction of new buildings. They did this because the city is filing for bankruptcy. Who said there would be no percussions to bankruptcy? The city bonds will also go from 3% to 8%.

[aint it a shame]

bankruptcy? Sounds more like union busting!!!

[Vallejo Visitor]

While filing for bankruptcy protection is perhaps embarrassing for Vallejo, the beginning of the road to recovery is telling the truth about the problems that led to this moment. Vallejo has been living in denial, ignoring the realities of its circumstances. Contrary to the person posting above, I see this as a beginning of a better future for Vallejo. Yes, it will take hard work to turn this ship around but the citizens of Vallejo are resilient, fully capable of dealing with the truth and moving forward.

For all the blustering by the union, their proposal was little more than another band-aid that would have permitted Vallejo a few months of breathing space. While it offered some savings, it also dictated how the savings must be spent. Many of the revenue improvements suggested are little more than pie in the sky, unrelated to the world in which Vallejo finds itself. So, Vallejo moves closer to bankruptcy and its future.

Hang in there folks. There is no reason to play the blame game any longer for the simple reason it does no good. What Vallejo needs now more than ever are people willing to roll up their shirt sleeves and invest their time and energy to making Vallejo the kind of community you wish it to be. Complaining about the problems won't solve them. Hard work might.

Good luck Vallejo!

[Abalonious Monkfish]

"The other thing, from an employee position all around ... we gave them everything they needed to not do this...." Oh Please... we all know that what was submitted was a complete PR job to impress the judge. It did nothing to help this city and your proposed cuts were simply reapplied elsewhere so you 'd eventually get it back. This is about money and greed and the PSU have NEVER stepped up to the plate and done anything substantial to help this city without helping themselves at the same time. What a complete joke. The tide has turned...

[Vallejo Visitor]

Police and fire employees and their supporters would best "get over it," and go about their business. Wailing and gnashing of teeth don't appear to be working, whether on this board or in the media. There really is no there, there in terms of what the unions are proposing, just same old, same old. A band-aid won't stop the bleeding any more today than it has in the past when Vallejo stripped the cupboard bare and burned up all its reserves.

Vallejo will survive. It will have a police department and a fire department. Public safety employees who hang in with the City will be fairly compensated and greatly appreciated. The union leaders will be unhappy and unappreciated, but that is hardly the end of the world.

Life goes on. Ultimately this isn't about the police and fire employees who at the moment are feeling unappreciated. It is about the survival of Vallejo. Finally, the City Council has its priorities straight!

[bustacap]

Vallejo was once know as the "HUB of the North Bay" you know what the hub is don't you? That is the part that gets the shaft..........

[Vallejoan]

Let's see. Many of these comments are coming from Firefighters who are just getting off shift right about now.

What the Union Press Conference failed to mention was they wanted an extension of the contract until 2014.

Another six years. Again they are out for themselves.

Some of you bloggers really know how to tug at my heartstrings.

Frankly breaking these two unions that have tried their best to kill the goose that laid the golden egg is not such a bad idea. It's my town and yours and not theirs.

Henke and Riley have told business people in this town that they better tow the union line or they will lose business. I know that for a fact. That's being a union thug and the quicker we break them the better. Sue me Curtis.

[Vallejo Heights]

The "generous offer" made by the fire union was a complete joke. The 6.5 percent pay cut that they trumpeted so proudly in the media was scheduled to be rescinded next year! Even if that pay cut would have been enough to balance the budget (it wasn't), we would be back in this same situation a year from now!

Bankruptcy is an opportunity for Vallejo to take a long look at long-term financial sustainability. The unions have had the opportunity to bargain in good faith, but that opportunity has been squandered. I appreciate the work of individual firefighters and police officers, but the greed of their leaders has been their undoing.

[wang]

As time passes I expect these union social terriorists to become more heavy-handed in their threats; this is they way unions have operated for over a hundred years. Either pay us or we wont be able to protect you or your property; you choose. This is nothing short of extortion. Strangle the unions into a foot note in the history books; they brought in upon themselves.

[Smartie]

As much a I dislike the PD, I would prefer our funds be spent on trained dispatchers rather than a Public Information Officer for the City.

[Ben Davis]

Vallejo Visitor wrote:

While filing for bankruptcy protection is perhaps embarrassing for Vallejo, the beginning of the road to recovery is telling the truth about the problems that led to this moment. Vallejo has been living in denial, ignoring the realities of its circumstances. Contrary to the person posting above, I see this as a beginning of a better future for Vallejo. Yes, it will take hard work to turn this ship around but the citizens of Vallejo are resilient, fully capable of dealing with the truth and moving forward.
For all the blustering by the union, their proposal was little more than another band-aid that would have permitted Vallejo a few months of breathing space. While it offered some savings, it also dictated how the savings must be spent. Many of the revenue improvements suggested are little more than pie in the sky, unrelated to the world in which Vallejo finds itself. So, Vallejo moves closer to bankruptcy and its future.
Hang in there folks. There is no reason to play the blame game any longer for the simple reason it does no good. What Vallejo needs now more than ever are people willing to roll up their shirt sleeves and invest their time and energy to making Vallejo the kind of community you wish it to be. Complaining about the problems won't solve them. Hard work might.
Good luck Vallejo!

As I see it, there are only 7 people in Vallejo that are empowered to set policy for change. We can line up by the hundreds in the name of helping. Many already do. It is not that there is a lack of will in the population, but we are increasingly frustrated. We can see the absence of business growth, high salaries in many different areas of city government and employee units.
We have posted here for months and seem to agree that some employees are overcompensated and the city's assets, for instance on Mare Island, are grandly underutilized for the benefit of ALL of us, rather than the appeasement of a few. We are faced with more taxation rather than putting our strongest and historically successful industrial assets to work. Posters advocating waterfront industrial growth on MI have been described as pot-bellied old men that need to keep the Ben-Gay handy, so I suppose we should roll our shirt sleeves back down. A self annointed "unofficial mayor" on MI lives half a mile from buried toxic waste yet protests the reuse of the dredge ponds to impound mud and send revenue by the millions to Vallejo. The CVB in a companion article touts MI's historic attributes, but Vallejo could have a real tourist destination if Vallejo would dedicate one unused pond to the Iowa organizers.
IMO, if Mare Island were put to work for all it's potential, Vallejo would not need a Wal-Mart, and the stage would be set for real downtown business expansion through tourism. There would be your bookstores, etc. Tourists don't come to Vallejo to see the State Farm building or the dormant shipyard across the river. Hang in there for what? More of the same?

[MIke]

Ya, a day late and a dollar short!

Smart move! All this mess was due to senseless spending.

The time has come to reset the fiscal clock and become responsible protecters of the tax dollars.

Salaries must be reasonable. Programs must have real merit. No more spending, based upon emotions. Stop buying votes with tax payer money.

Above all else... stop spending like Democrats!

[MIke]

ASHAMED wrote:

What a sad sad day for Vallejo. You could have been "the gem of the bay area" but instead you make history for negative reasons. I feel sorry for the citizens of this city who have been brain washed that bankruptcy is a good idea. I wish the police and fire guys who leave good luck and I feel sorry for those that have to stay here because you have to fight negativity from every where. The citizens of this city have forgotten that you are all "HERO'S" and choose to do a job most run from. Thank you again for all that you do. I'm embarrassed to be a citizen of Vallejo and as for these blogs these are the most hateful and vile things I have ever read. I can't believe some of you people. ashamed

"the gem of the bay area" oh, you mean like Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco?

[MIke]

bustacap wrote:

Vallejo was once know as the "HUB of the North Bay" you know what the hub is don't you? That is the part that gets the shaft..........

AMEN!

[Hello]

City of Apathy wrote:

This city is going down and no one cares. They closed two fire houses and police staffing is at a critical level. When the City files, police staffing levels will be a disaster...and no one seems to care. Citizens will say "what happened to our community?" Tanner will be enjoying his 300K retirement in the East Bay and say "see, I broke those unions" at the same time "breaking the City".
Many will say it's the fault of the unions and binding arbitration. Only a few will recognize that although the FD was paid a little too much, the PD was paid the market rate for the services they provided. In any case, only the bright ones will recognize the City absolutley failed to develop this city in a proper fashion. Just drive up I80 and ask yourself "why couldn't Vallejo develop like Fairfield or Vacaville. They had all of the commercial infrastructure in place and more...with Mare Island".
It's a sad day in Vallejo, City of Apathy.

You are so correct. It is a sad day for the city of Vallejo. I can't believe that they (city council) allowed an outsider (Tanner) to come in and destroy this town. All of you who wanted this to happen, have you're fun with it now, but I will bet that Vallejo will have a hard time recovering from this. Also, many of you have said BK will be the road to recovery for Vallejo. I want to know One thing, how do any of you know this for a fact since no other city has done this before? You can't honestly say that BK is going to help Vallejo. I think it's more like it will help destroy Vallejo. Sad. Very sad.

[Not a bit surprised]

Smartie wrote:

As much a I dislike the PD, I would prefer our funds be spent on trained dispatchers rather than a Public Information Officer for the City.

I completely agree..