“As you know we have a problem this year and it’s not going to get better in 2010-11 and onward. The picture is not very bright.” — Interim City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna, May 5, 2009.
“This is just the beginning, next year is worse.” — Assistant City Administrative Officer Tom Coultas, Dec. 12, 2009
Don’t blame the bureaucrats for this City Hall financial crisis that will force drastic action to avoid bankruptcy. Blame your elected officials who failed to heed the warnings and follow their advice, and hold them accountable
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Here’s a retrospective on what was reported and recorded here, starting with this video and article on May 5 of last year, showing how the mayor and City Council failed in their duties to deal with the financial crisis despite being told over and over that hard decisions were needed.
MAY 5, 2009:
City Council to Unions: Your Jobs or Your Money
MAY 13, 2009:
10,000 LAPD Cops or Thousands of Layoffs? Buyouts or Layoffs? City Council’s Fictitious Budget
MAY 18, 2009
Scandal, Failure, Anger, Bankruptcy: Will the Public, Unions and City Hall Partner for a New LA
MAY 19, 2009
Back Slaps, High Fives, Heroes — and Catastrophe for LA
MAY 21, 2009
Wendy Watch: Is the New City Controller Right in Calling the Budget “Fiscally Responsible”?
JUNE 3, 2009
Shared Sacrifice: You Pay More and Get Less
JUNE 18, 2009
City Budget Mysteries: Dire Consequences of City Hall’s Nasty Money Games
JUNE 24, 2009
Is This What They Mean By Shared Sacrifice?
JUNE 26, 2009
An Offer They Can’t Refuse: Council Gives City Unions What They Want
JULY 3, 2009
The Sweetheart Deal: City Hall Will Beg, Borrow and Steal to Protect Unions
JULY 19, 2009
All They Want Is Your Money…
AUGUST 3, 2009
Play Now, Pay Later — The Road To Ruin
AUGUST 4, 2009
The People’s Hero, Sally Choi: City’s Sweetheart Early Retirement Deal Blowing Up
AUGUST 6, 2009
Days of Reckoning: Don’t Forgive Them, They Know What They Are Doing
SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
The Deceit of Power: City Hall’s Early Retirement Fiasco and the Ugly Truth
SEPTEMBER 5, 2009
Parks’ Warning: LA Is Going Broke Fast, Faces Layoffs, Cash Flow Crisis, Bankruptcy Threat
SEPTEMBER 13, 2009
Day of Reckoning: Begging, Borrowing and Now Stealing — City Hall’s Exercise in Futility
SEPTEMBER 16, 2009
LA in Crisis: Do They Have a Clue? Do You?
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SEPTEMBER 18, 2009
All in the Family LA-style: City Hall and Unions Cut Back Room Deal but It’s None of Your Business
SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
Terms of Endearment Deal: ERIP or Ripoff?
OCTOBER 9, 2009
100 Days, $100 Million Deeper in Debt: Paralysis and Cowardice at City Hall
OCTOBER 13, 2009
When the Going Gets Tough, the Weak Stall for Time and Pray for Miracles
OCTOBER 30, 2009
Pray for LA: Only Fools Would Gamble It All on an Economic Miracle
DECEMBER 12, 2009
ERIP and the Budget: Honor Among Bureaucrats in the Face of Official Deceit
JANUARY 21, 2009