Posted on 02/06/2014 9:17:29 AM PST by Beave Meister
(Reuters) - Residents of bankrupt San Bernardino, California on Tuesday voted to complete a rout of the city's pro-union old guard, electing business-friendly pragmatists who have pledged to try to reduce pension costs and take on vested interests.
As San Bernardino enters into a fourth month of mediation with its creditors, the biggest of which is Calpers, California's giant retirement system, voters on Tuesday elected Carey Davis as the crisis-hit city's new mayor.
Davis, a businessman and political novice, ran in part on a campaign to reduce the city's pension obligations. In an interview in November, when he became one of two mayoral candidates, he said the city had to cut spending on police and fire departments, currently more than 70 percent of the budget.
"You have to roll the pensions back," Davis said in November. Davis did not return calls on Wednesday.
Davis will play a big role in how the city approaches negotiations with its creditors. He will be part of a small team of elected officials who represent the city as the debtor in the bankruptcy.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The current Mayor of Pittsburgh owes his job to about 20,000 union voters in the Democrat Primary.
Once the general public wakes up to the problem and shows up, it is possible to take these guys down.
Plus things haven't gotten bad enough here yet, thanks to the surrounding counties which have largely flipped to the GOP in the last few years.
Coming to a city near you...
Pensions for gov’t workers need to STOP ASAP!
Let gov’t workers participate in the same private sector options (401K, IRA, etc) available to the rest of us...
Good, we need more elections like this!
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