Continuing Wipeout of Cities' Services; Only Glass-Steagall Will Save Them

The collapse of America's states, counties and cities is plunging the country into a Dark Age. As the cause is national and international, the only solutions begin on a national level, with Glass-Steagall. Looking for local causes is insane, but it is happening nevertheless. The latest example of this is New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who announced, Friday, that all city workers, including firefighters and police officers, will be required to take 11 furlough days each by the end of the year in order to make a small dent in the city's $67 million budget shortfall. Even worse, he blamed the city's fiscal crisis on the previous administration of Mayor Ray Nagin, as if New Orleans were the only city in crisis. "We are living in tough times ... because other folks made bad decisions and we have to correct all of those things," he said.

The pattern of life-threatening shutdowns is intensifying across the country:

Palatka, Fla. - A cut of $280,000 from the police department budget means the cutting of crime prevention programs and no overtime at a time when the department is already stretched by a rising crime rate and earlier rounds of budget cuts. The police chief warned that response times are already delayed and will be more delayed because of the latest round of cuts. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the county jail has released 200 inmates since last October because of overcrowding and state budget cuts.

Long Beach, Calif. - The city manager proposed a budget with $7.2 million in cuts, Friday, that, among other things, eliminates 130 positions, including the privatization of 51 crossing guard jobs. The budget plan depends on the city unions' forgoing planned pay raises, which if they don't agree to, will entail even more draconian measures, including rotating brownouts (rotating shutdowns) of fire stations and laying off 49 police officers.

Vallejo, Calif. - The mayor of the town of American Canyon is inviting officials from neighboring communities to meet to discuss coordinating better on public safety. His main worry is the reduction of public safety in Vallejo, which has cut its police department from 150 to 95 officers in the last four years and closed 4 of 8 fire stations in the last two.

San Diego, Calif. - Some are talking about reducing fire truck crews from 4 men to 3 in the aftermath of the choking death of a 2-year-old child, this week, the idea being to keep more fire stations open, but with reduced crews. The fire chief, however, says this doesn't make sense when the city already doesn't meet national standards and needs to build 22 more fire stations.

Galveston, Tex. - The city manager is expected to present a budget on Aug. 12 that reduces police and fire department staffing. He has been arguing that both departments are overstaffed because the city has lost population since Hurricane Ike in 2008 and calls to both departments have declined by 20% since then. The police have no say in their staffing, but the fire union has three clauses mandating the amount of staffing per truck and per shift.

Tyler, Tex. - Even volunteer fire departments are being asked to look at reducing their budgets. The emergency service board met with 4 volunteer departments this week to look at where they can cut their budgets. One chief said that if they have a good year and don't break any trucks, his department will get by, but if not, they might be in trouble.

Minneapolis, Minn. - On Friday the city council voted to authorize $25,000 early retirement incentives to try to entice senior firefighters and police to retire early in order to avoid laying off younger officers. The mayor responded by saying that his budget proposal will still include layoffs despite the incentives. The fire department is already running 3-man truck crews and the police department laid off 10 officers earlier this year, and the head of the police union said laying off 10 more will mean longer response times.

Lincoln, Neb. - One city councilman suggested that the city supplement ambulances with Suburban SUVs loaded up with fire extinguishers to fight fires (!). He claimed this would save money on firefighter salaries, and stop sending firetrucks on medical emergencies.