Free Republic

Federal judge blocks lawsuits against Detroit’s bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes stopped three lawsuits threatening to undo the city’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing. Detroit retirees had argued that the bankruptcy could dimish their pensions. DETROIT — A federal judge agreed with Detroit on Wednesday and stopped any lawsuits challenging the city's bankruptcy, declaring his courtroom the exclusive venue for legal action in the largest filing by a local government in U.S. history. The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes was a major victory for Detroit, especially after an Ingham County judge last week said that Gov. Rick Snyder ignored the...

Council Goes Into Closed Session To Discuss Early Retirement Of City Workers September 15, 2009 After nearly two hours of public comment, the Los Angeles City Council retreated behind closed doors this afternoon to discuss whether to salvage a plan for giving early retirement for 2,400 workers. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who went on record Monday opposing the early retirement plan that he helped negotiate, took the rare step of attending the council’s closed-session meeting shortly before noon. Negotiators worked late into the night on Monday, with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions saying they had identified $60 million in budget...

Questionable City Spending San Francisco has a $5 Billon budget! That is $6,500 for every Man, Woman, and Child that lives in the City, and if you’re not paying your share in taxes then someone else is. This is a bigger budget than 20 states in the USA. Oklahoma has a $5 Billon budget and they have 5 million people to help pay for it, which works out to about $1,000 per person, which is the average across the Country to support a state government. San Francisco is just a city. During a 40 hour work week, the City would...

Eight workers at the city's Department of Water and Power have been arrested because they were unauthorized to work in the United States, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The agency arrested five people Tuesday and had previously arrested three others as part of a yearlong review of the utility's employment records by the agency and the utility itself. The workers held both blue collar and management jobs, according to an ICE statement. All had been with the company for at least three years and one made more than $100,000 a year. The joint investigation was part of a...

The city of Houston's main pension program has a billion-dollar funding shortfall because benefits have been boosted so high that many employees will earn more in retirement than they received while working, according to a report obtained by the Chronicle. A few will retire as millionaires. To properly reduce the shortfall, taxpayers would have to put nearly $100 million extra into the fund next year, according to an analysis prepared for the pension's board. Further, the city cannot reduce the benefits for any employee who already has worked five years, thanks to a Texas constitutional amendment passed by voters last...

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a transit doomsday plan yesterday that relies on drastic car-pooling rules and New Yorkers' toughness to keep the city moving during a subway and bus strike. "We have to prepare for the worst," Bloomberg said. But he vowed the city will continue to function even if transit workers walk out next week. "New Yorkers are going to band together," Bloomberg said. "If there is a strike, New York City is not shutting down." He said he would urge people to walk and ride bicycles to work. The mayor, who takes the subway from his upper East Side...