Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/24/2012 11:12:13 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council gave itself a little breathing room Tuesday, agreeing to defer about $12 million of payments over the next three months so it can meet its other obligations while it prepares a more comprehensive set of cuts.

The unanimous vote delays some payments, keeps some positions vacant and continues concessions made by several unions, but officials emphasized that Tuesday’s vote was only a stopgap measure to resolve a cash-flow problem that would otherwise prevent the city from paying its employees on Aug. 15.

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Brinker

Point of View

Tobin Brinker
Posted: 07/24/2012 03:23:34 PM PDT

Three cities San Bernardino could learn from are San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego. All three are older, larger charter cities. All three have dealt with the employee pension issue proactively as an effort to avoid bankruptcy.

The main idea is simple – employees must pay the employee share of pension costs.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/24/2012 12:28:10 PM PDT

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a ballot measure for the November general election that, if approved, would keep their salaries and benefits in line with counties of similar size and population.

That measure is in direct response to a competing ballot measure by the county’s two largest labor unions, the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association and the San Bernardino Public Employees Association, which proposes to reduce supervisors’ pay and benefits to $60,000.

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Joe Nelson and Neil Nisperos, Staff Writers
Created: 07/24/2012 08:00:34 PM PDT

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Tuesday a bill that will allow the state Fair Political Practices Commission to enforce new campaign finance rules in San Bernardino County.

It is the first time the state’s political watchdog will contract with a county to enforce its campaign contribution limits.

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Wyatt Buchanan
Updated 11:01 p.m., Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Sacramento –California cities are in a high-stakes fight with officials in Sacramento over money that the state says the cities owe as part of the winding down of redevelopment agencies.

County officials, under the state’s direction, have sent letters of demand to cities throughout the state in recent weeks, many for millions of dollars. Several cities, including El Cerrito, refused to pay and sued the state, which is threatening to penalize cities by withholding sales tax revenue that cities rely on to pay for police, parks and other general operating expenses.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 25, 2012

As it slowly recovers from its worst recession since the Great Depression, where does California’s economy fit into the global marketplace?

A massive new economic forecast from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. confirms that were California a nation, it would place No. 9 among the globe’s economies, just behind No. 8 Italy and just ahead of Russia.

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