Scranton PA pays public employees minimum wage

[Polarice]

Now this is kind of crazy. The city has literally ran out of money and are forced to reduce the wages of police, fire, etc. employees. The mayor was forced to do this causing their wages to be $7.25 per hour!

The unioins now have 3 lawsuits against the city. They're broke! Even if they won the lawsuits they wouldn't get paid! Talk about beating a dead horse.

I'm afraid that this is going to happen more and more. The money is just not there. I know some towns locally here are struggling big time and are having to make huge cuts. So much for security with government jobs.

 

[dcsnomo]

Stockton CA, population 290,000, just filed for bankruptcy

 

[mjkaliszak]

It seems that every state that I have lived in always had had a couple of big money sucking ( tax revenue ) cities that consume more than the Lions Share of the money.

It sure seems that we are on the edge of financial collapse in this country ?

 

[russholio]

And then you get cities like ours that claim they are broke and have to make cuts, yet still provide certain employees with city cars and city gasoline.

 

[anonomoose]

And then you get cities like ours that claim they are broke and have to make cuts, yet still provide certain employees with city cars and city gasoline.

How many times I got to tell yah?

There are CUTS to employee's and then there are PERC's for the top dogs and the two is like adding water to oil....they don't mix.

As for me....I'm grabb'n my trusty .22 semi automatic and that old dog chewed holster and head'n on out dar to get me one of dem jobs....they get to eat donuts and drive around given cute little things a hard time....got to go...pack my duffle bag find that darn pen...

 

[yamahauler]

I still honestly believe that if you look at every single line item of every single budget, there would be plenty to get rid of (Like what Russholio mentions) to make it work. Yes this would be a horrendous and tedious job to try and do but if it was done I think a lot of people would be amazed at what their tax dollar is spent on.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

A couple of years ago I had a brief fling with Civic Mindedness (sp) when I emailed the mayor as to why our city continues to collect leaves when everyone knows it's best for the environment to mulch them. We have a fleet of Monster Vacumms that travel throughout the city for weeks on end sucking up the leaves that residents rake to the curb. Then the leaves are hauled to a location where they're dumped in a pile to decompose. My thought was that we're paying alot for those machines and the people who operate them for doing mother natures job.

Wanna hear his response?

"Well, we already own the Giant Vacumms and the guys driving those machines are already on the payroll, they'd just be doing something else if they weren't picking up leaves. Besides, there are some residents that don't want to mulch their leaves and would rather we pick them up."

So there you have it. A little Status Quo mixed in with a lack of creativity. I might also add that the mayor was re elected to another term during this period....

 

[dcsnomo]

San Bernadino just went under...

Oops, Mammoth Lakes CA just filed, too

 

[russholio]

A couple of years ago I had a brief fling with Civic Mindedness (sp) when I emailed the mayor as to why our city continues to collect leaves when everyone knows it's best for the environment to mulch them. We have a fleet of Monster Vacumms that travel throughout the city for weeks on end sucking up the leaves that residents rake to the curb. Then the leaves are hauled to a location where they're dumped in a pile to decompose. My thought was that we're paying alot for those machines and the people who operate them for doing mother natures job.

Wanna hear his response?

"Well, we already own the Giant Vacumms and the guys driving those machines are already on the payroll, they'd just be doing something else if they weren't picking up leaves. Besides, there are some residents that don't want to mulch their leaves and would rather we pick them up."

So there you have it. A little Status Quo mixed in with a lack of creativity. I might also add that the mayor was re elected to another term during this period....

Your city is behind the times.....ours quit picking up leaves years ago!

 

[russholio]

I still honestly believe that if you look at every single line item of every single budget, there would be plenty to get rid of (Like what Russholio mentions) to make it work. Yes this would be a horrendous and tedious job to try and do but if it was done I think a lot of people would be amazed at what their tax dollar is spent on.

I think you're right.

 

[chords]

Your city is behind the times.....ours quit picking up leaves years ago!

Do they still send the street sweepers thru once a week and collect all $ for parked cars that day ?

 

[ezra]

been saying it for yrs and yrs now people are waking up bit late but waking up
we dont have a taxing prob in this country we have a massive spending prob gona be painfull but if all towns states and the fed dont start to make real real deep cuts now it is going to get real real bad for everyone
what is coming is going to make the great depresion look like the good old days

 

[russholio]

Do they still send the street sweepers thru once a week and collect all $ for parked cars that day ?

Funny you should mention that.....in the past couple years they just instituted the "no parking" policy (and ticketing for offenders) on street sweeper day, between 7 am and 4 pm. Oddly enough, however, it's not a sure thing that the sweeper will actually make its rounds (usually pretty regular in the summer, not so much in the winter). But they're sure happy to write tickets whether it sweeps or not.

 

[mjkaliszak]

And then you get cities like ours that claim they are broke and have to make cuts, yet still provide certain employees with city cars and city gasoline.

Our local school complex has a ( fleet ) 4 Excursions... that I see running around at the strangest times. I'm mean it sure looks like personal use..
Then the next town over ( at the sherrifs office ) when I was going to get a specific permit had an " GM Avalanch " filling it's tank up from the gas pump used to fill the police cars... I pointed at that and told my daughter... " That's just wrong " !

Wish I could fill up my personal cars on the cities budget !

 

[whitedust]

Have to live within budgets only way to solve is to cut, cut, cut & downsize all services. Otherwise goverments would need to have huge tax increases that no one can afford. This is going to be painful for everyone but writing on the wall & pubic workers about to take a big hit. Thank you Scott Walker for showing us the way!

 

[jonesin]

easy to fix, just raise the minimum wage....
or the unions could ask for the BILLIONS back that they spent supporting a political party the last few years, (not exagerating, heard it on the radio so it must be true) and they could give it back to THEIR "donors"

 

[whitedust]

easy to fix, just raise the minimum wage....
or the unions could ask for the BILLIONS back that they spent supporting a political party the last few years, (not exagerating, heard it on the radio so it must be true) and they could give it back to THEIR "donors"

Not likely minimum wage will go up as still in deflation mode. Minimum wage will only go up as inflation goes up but so will all entitlements. Scranton is a ghost town to what it once was not much industry left to support the town. Probably better to bulldoze unused buildings so they don't need as many firefifghters to protect vacant rundown buildings. To me there should be a bulldozing bill in Congress use it or take it down would also would solve housing crisis create jobs to raze buildings & jobs to rebuild as needed. Seems like a simple solution to a big problem to me. No use prodviding city services to unpopulated areas no money to do so & why they are broke.

 

[Polarice]

Not likely minimum wage will go up as still in deflation mode. Minimum wage will only go up as inflation goes up but so will all entitlements. Scranton is a ghost town to what it once was not much industry left to support the town. Probably better to bulldoze unused buildings so they don't need as many firefifghters to protect vacant rundown buildings. To me there should be a bulldozing bill in Congress use it or take it down would also would solve housing crisis create jobs to raze buildings & jobs to rebuild as needed. Seems like a simple solution to a big problem to me. No use prodviding city services to unpopulated areas no money to do so & why they are broke.

Bulldozing would create jobs but where would the money come from to do it? Now, if the city gave away property to be bulldozed, a private business could take it and do it by them paying for it. That would make sense. Keep government out of it. They just want to spend, spend, and spend.

 

[whitedust]

Depends the government may own buildings & land by tax or Fannie, Freddie default on loans. May as well bulldoze in those cases bound to create some jobs to raze all the rotting foreclosures. Going to bulldozed sooner or later so why not sooner & get back on track?

 

[jerkbait_1075]

Not to be argumentative but that GM Avalanche could have been some sort of seizure or forfieture vehicle that the sheriffs office had gotten their hands on for "free" by taking it from the "Sh*%head". In my department we have numerous seizure cars in our fleet of "duty" vehicles. Many times you are much better off to run the vehicles as duty cars rather that take the beating you get at a wholesale auction. And in Illinois at least once you sell that car there are "very specific" controls on what you can and cannot do with that money. Making the "duty" cars just makes good sense many times. Again not being arguementative just trying to offer another possible explanation