Finance Director Jason Simpson Quits Again - Leaves Bankrupt City of San Bernardino

Desert Vortex News ^ | 1/31/2013 | Dean M Gray

[Desert_Vortex]

After less than a year on the job, the finance director of San Bernadino has called it quits.

Abandoning his high profile job in the city of San Bernardino, Jason Simpson, the soft-spoken former finance director for the city of Desert Hot Springs gave his two-week resignation notice to San Bernardino city officials.

The city is seeking bankruptcy protection and has shed 200 employees from the city payroll since July this year.

[aynrandfreak]

Those govt jobs aren’t near as fun when you have to keep spending under control!

[pepsionice]

Every major city in California has a Simpson-character running their finances. The usual trend...say you will help save the town money...find various ways to reward old friends....continue to let the town spend at most of it’s old habits....always look for ways to say you saved, but really you spent....and then depart with as much cash as possible.

There’s not much hope for these towns. I think by 2020....most will have lost a third of their population as people just give up and leave. The small and medium-sized companies aren’t going to be able to sustain themselves with coming tax episodes.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Doh!

[TWohlford]

Why should the rest of the world pay for California taxes and do-good legislation through higher prices in goods and services made/provided by California companies?

The truth is that the world won’t pay for it.

[Blue Ink]

The city manager can’t do anything about the pension and benefits packages that city officials voted for themselves and every other government employee.

He probably just got a real good close look at the books. He can slash personnel to the bone, but it’s a drop in the bucket. San Bernadino is on the hook for the next thirty years for full-salary pay-outs to fifty-year-old retired cops and firemen.

Union strong-arming to loot the treasury is the story of bankrupt cities up and down the state of California.

In case it isn’t clear, I loathe public employee unions and how they’ve brought my state to its knees. My hope is after it collapses, California will ban public employee unions.

[shotgun]

Every Finance Director that I have worked with in the cities that I have worked for always had one thing in common and that was to spend the least amount as possible including telling staff and city council we were broke.

The only thing worse than their hate for spending was their hate for writing the checks to pay for it. Each of them warned their respected elected officials of unsustainable spending on pet projects or programs. Each one was eventually fired or resigned over this.