In the News...

Deputy Public Works Director Jim Stone passed on an op-ed piece in the New York Times very pertinent to our business. It does a good job of describing the need to consolidate services as revenues slide:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/opinion/20brokaw.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

On the budget front, the latest city struggling with labor costs is Los Angeles. The first article discussses the Mayor's proposal to cut salaries across the board by ten percent:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-labudget20-2009apr20,0,1004865.story

The second article discusses the issues Los Angeles is facing with Fire department overtime:

http://www.firefightingnews.com/articleBasicSearchResult.cfm?articleID=64937&search=los%20angeles

On the pension front, the City of Pacific Grove is seriously considering bankruptcy as an option in dealing with its debt to Calpers:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/04/pacific-grove-california-explores.html