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I can't find the earlier posts from a few years ago where I casually asked where Eureka and the county might stand in regards the public pension crisis that's caused some cities in the state to declare bankruptcy. With Eureka's city council working on purchasing bonds to fund their public employee pension fund, maybe we'll be able to find out soon?
Santa Rosa has a growing pension problem, according to the Santa Rosa Press- Democrat. There was also a commentary in the Press- Democrat yesterday suggesting Sonoma County is facing some serious problems with funding its pension plans as well.
It might be interesting to juxtapose City of Eureka's (and Humboldt County's) pension numbers with those of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County. I wouldn't be surprised if we're worse off. I won't be disappointed if I"m wrong, either.
31 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi
Speaking of Education...
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Some interesting numbers from this CalWatchdog article on education back-in-the-day compared to a few years ago:
"According to the Friedman Foundation, “[B]etween fiscal year 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 percent while the number of full-time equivalent school employees grew 386 percent.'
“Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers’ numbers increased 252 percent while administrators and other staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students.”
"According to the Friedman Foundation, “[B]etween fiscal year 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 percent while the number of full-time equivalent school employees grew 386 percent.'
“Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers’ numbers increased 252 percent while administrators and other staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students.”
Tax Eureka's Empty Storefronts?
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Yet another one of those Craigslist political movements. In this one, local blogger highboldtage seems to think owners of empty commercial buildings in Eureka have an agenda and are ripping off... somebody because their buildings remain empty.
It's their fault those buildings aren't filled with thriving businesses so we should tax them further. He goes on to suggest that those additional tax revenues to the city will "stimulate the local economy", among other things.
Never mind the owners of those empty buildings probably pay fairly hefty property taxes already. They don't have any revenue coming in from those empty buildings to help pay those taxes, either. We should be glad they're able to pay the taxes they can.
I suspect with so many empty buildings in town rent prices for commercial property must be relatively low compared to many areas of the state.
I hardly think those property owners are responsible for the lack of businesses coming to Eureka. You certainly won't find me supporting this idea.
It's their fault those buildings aren't filled with thriving businesses so we should tax them further. He goes on to suggest that those additional tax revenues to the city will "stimulate the local economy", among other things.
Never mind the owners of those empty buildings probably pay fairly hefty property taxes already. They don't have any revenue coming in from those empty buildings to help pay those taxes, either. We should be glad they're able to pay the taxes they can.
I suspect with so many empty buildings in town rent prices for commercial property must be relatively low compared to many areas of the state.
I hardly think those property owners are responsible for the lack of businesses coming to Eureka. You certainly won't find me supporting this idea.
Eureka Garbage Bills Climbing
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Just received my bill from Eureka City Garbage (Recology) and was surprised to see the total for 3 months was $72.39. Wasn't it around $68.00 last time? Actually, taking a look at my last bill it was $69.59. It has gone up but not as much as I'd thought.
Looking back further, though, it was $68.19 back in 2009 when we first signed up for the green waste bin. That broke down to $3.00 a month for the green waste and $17.33 for weekly trash pick up (20 gallon container). Now, it's $3.60 for green waste and $20.53 a week for trash pick up.
On the bright side, maybe, is I could have sworn they were also charging $3.00 a month for recyclables pick up. I don't see that anywhere on the bill. I must have misunderstood how that worked. Maybe what they were saying is that you're paying for garbage service whether you wanted it or not, not recycling?
That's still at least a one dollar increase each year. Garbage bills will be sky high before we know it at that rate. That's why we dumped Cox Cable a few years ago. Their charges went up about a dollar year, too. The problem is, due to the infinite wisdom of the Eureka City Council, we have no alternative with garbage service since they mandate it.
Looking back further, though, it was $68.19 back in 2009 when we first signed up for the green waste bin. That broke down to $3.00 a month for the green waste and $17.33 for weekly trash pick up (20 gallon container). Now, it's $3.60 for green waste and $20.53 a week for trash pick up.
On the bright side, maybe, is I could have sworn they were also charging $3.00 a month for recyclables pick up. I don't see that anywhere on the bill. I must have misunderstood how that worked. Maybe what they were saying is that you're paying for garbage service whether you wanted it or not, not recycling?
That's still at least a one dollar increase each year. Garbage bills will be sky high before we know it at that rate. That's why we dumped Cox Cable a few years ago. Their charges went up about a dollar year, too. The problem is, due to the infinite wisdom of the Eureka City Council, we have no alternative with garbage service since they mandate it.
Oliver Stone: U.S. An Orwellian State
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A rather strange interview with film maker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznik about the United States becoming an "Orwellian state". I thought it rather odd that someone like Stone, one of Hollywood's glitterati, would do an interview critical of Obama. After all, I was sure he voted for him.
Or did he? Perhaps Stone is one of Hollywood's rare libertarian types?
Checking Wikipedia, I had to read all the way to the bottom, but was surprised to find this:
"In 2012 Stone endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for President, but ultimately voted for Barack Obama in the general election."
Hmmm???
Oh, more on the Orwellian police state here and here.
Or did he? Perhaps Stone is one of Hollywood's rare libertarian types?
Checking Wikipedia, I had to read all the way to the bottom, but was surprised to find this:
"In 2012 Stone endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for President, but ultimately voted for Barack Obama in the general election."
Hmmm???
Oh, more on the Orwellian police state here and here.
27 Aralık 2012 Perşembe
Tax Eureka's Empty Storefronts?
To contact us Click HERE
Yet another one of those Craigslist political movements. In this one, local blogger highboldtage seems to think owners of empty commercial buildings in Eureka have an agenda and are ripping off... somebody because their buildings remain empty.
It's their fault those buildings aren't filled with thriving businesses so we should tax them further. He goes on to suggest that those additional tax revenues to the city will "stimulate the local economy", among other things.
Never mind the owners of those empty buildings probably pay fairly hefty property taxes already. They don't have any revenue coming in from those empty buildings to help pay those taxes, either. We should be glad they're able to pay the taxes they can.
I suspect with so many empty buildings in town rent prices for commercial property must be relatively low compared to many areas of the state.
I hardly think those property owners are responsible for the lack of businesses coming to Eureka. You certainly won't find me supporting this idea.
It's their fault those buildings aren't filled with thriving businesses so we should tax them further. He goes on to suggest that those additional tax revenues to the city will "stimulate the local economy", among other things.
Never mind the owners of those empty buildings probably pay fairly hefty property taxes already. They don't have any revenue coming in from those empty buildings to help pay those taxes, either. We should be glad they're able to pay the taxes they can.
I suspect with so many empty buildings in town rent prices for commercial property must be relatively low compared to many areas of the state.
I hardly think those property owners are responsible for the lack of businesses coming to Eureka. You certainly won't find me supporting this idea.
Legislative Inflation?
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Democracy lovers might like this new idea to reform state government. Former Republican presidential candidate, John Cox, is working to get the Neighborhood Legislature Reform Act on the ballot in 2014.
How it works is we'd still have the same number of legislators, but they'd be elected differently. He wants the current senate and assembly districts broken into a bunch of smaller neighborhood districts. Those neighborhood districts, as part of a larger district, would elect each senator and assemblyguy.
There would be something like 12,000 paid neighborhood representatives. Passage of any legislation would need to be approved by the neighborhood reps before it could be passed into legislation by the senate or assembly.
This would supposedly make government more representative of the people and lessen the power of individual elected legislators by diluting their influence- inflating the legislature he calls it, just like inflation of money.
I suppose it's fun to consider but it seems like more California born political masturbation to me. Another idea along the lines of ....if we just elect the right people the right way...and the state will finally be run efficiently. I doubt it.
No matter how you try to mix it up you'd still have the same people running things as we have now- the same people that have run this state into the ground. Democrats would still vote for Democrats and they'd be the majority. Republicans would still vote for Republicans and we'd still have government meddling in more and more places it shouldn't. Probably even more so with so many more people in the mix and empowered politically.
On the bright side, one thing I could see coming from such an arrangement would be, with so many people involved, it could clutter things up enough that government might not get as much done. That would be a good thing, but I wouldn't count on it.
Let's see if this makes it to the ballot.
How it works is we'd still have the same number of legislators, but they'd be elected differently. He wants the current senate and assembly districts broken into a bunch of smaller neighborhood districts. Those neighborhood districts, as part of a larger district, would elect each senator and assemblyguy.
There would be something like 12,000 paid neighborhood representatives. Passage of any legislation would need to be approved by the neighborhood reps before it could be passed into legislation by the senate or assembly.
This would supposedly make government more representative of the people and lessen the power of individual elected legislators by diluting their influence- inflating the legislature he calls it, just like inflation of money.
I suppose it's fun to consider but it seems like more California born political masturbation to me. Another idea along the lines of ....if we just elect the right people the right way...and the state will finally be run efficiently. I doubt it.
No matter how you try to mix it up you'd still have the same people running things as we have now- the same people that have run this state into the ground. Democrats would still vote for Democrats and they'd be the majority. Republicans would still vote for Republicans and we'd still have government meddling in more and more places it shouldn't. Probably even more so with so many more people in the mix and empowered politically.
On the bright side, one thing I could see coming from such an arrangement would be, with so many people involved, it could clutter things up enough that government might not get as much done. That would be a good thing, but I wouldn't count on it.
Let's see if this makes it to the ballot.
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