THE CITY OF VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA, IS IN SERIOUS FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY.  Thursday evening the City Council was going to consider voting on filing for bankruptcy.

An 11th-hour agreement with the fire and police union officials have made it possible to forestall the bankruptcy, at least temporarily.

This Wednesday and Thursday the members of IAFF Local 1186 will be voting on whether to accept the measure which would slash their wages by 6½%, close two fire stations and reduce total staffing to 1985 levels.

Vallejo Station 7
(AIA architect’s drawing)

The city has had declining economic fortunes since a local Navy base closed.  That coupled with a shrinking tax base has put them in the precarious position where they will run out of cash by the end of this month.  The salary obligations of the police and fire departments consume 80% of the city’s budget.

The San Francisco Bay area city has a population of about 130,000 people.

Downtown Vallejo (Reuters)

Reuters News story by Jim Christie HERE.
San Jose Mercury News ARTICLE.
Vallejo Fire Department WEBSITE.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed