I’m not saying that Stockton fits the overall CA profile of neglectful excess, but I can tell you what I think befell California as a whole with respect to overinflated salaries, retirements, bailouts, etc.
These ‘officials’ spent their time pandering to the egos of the voter. Whether it be an extremely liberal approach to doing not-a-damned-thing about illegals, to imposing ridiculous conditions on building, living, or working via a myriad of insane regulations and laws, or just insulting the common good man’s morals.
Unfortunately, the illegals and the self-interested, self-satisfied, power-hungry liberal Democrats outnumbered the sane people in California. When California started pandering to illegals, queers, nutjobs, environmentalists and powermad liberals for the sake of votes, they saddled the worthy in the state with economic slavery and an IMPOSSIBLE debt - to which, the smarter ones have responded by leaving that state as Lott did with S&G.
If they can just get a high speed rail line all their problems would be solved!