What is S&P rating for city of M.V. GO bonds?

"A vacant position dedicated to weed abatement in city parks and medians ($105,000)"
6 figure salary for cleaning up weeds, where to I sign up!

Duggan negotiated the most generous retirement packages in the state (2.7% at 55) and is now asking the union to kick in more as he supposedly retires on April 2nd with no one to replace him. He'l be back double dipping. He's already the highest city manager around. In short the cuts he is proposing are necessary due to all the high salaries he negotiated during his tenure. He walks out secure, people of Mountain lose services as we pay him nearly $300,000 a year in retirement! Wake up Mountain View, you've been had.

Duggan is like the Captain of a sinking ship telling the crew and passenger just how fast the ship will sink before he steps into the only life boat.

Here's a thought. He has no problem recommending that the unions take a cut. How about he volunteer to reduce his retirement and benefits payout? Lead by example. Yeah, I thought so.

Threatening to garnish Mr. Duggan's wages may be emotionally satisfying, but really doesn't solve the problem.

As noted in the article, there was an INCREASE in employee compensation costs of $3.2 million. Assuming a worst case where Mr. Duggan's wages and benefits were taken away completely, that would barely help with this deficit. Remember too, that we should expect the RATE of employee compensations costs to increase, year over year, for the forseeable future, due to rising health care costs.

It will take a battery of strategies: reducing pay, reducing benefits, reducing service, and increasing contribution limits to address this problem permanently.

And it require shared sacrifice, from city employees AND their unions, as well as residents and companies who live and work in the City.

ISTR that Duggan voluntarily declined a raise in 2009 and convinced the city attornet to do the same.

I wish you negative Nellys would stay up-to-date and informed of these issues. Kevin isn't the final say for union negotiations, Council is. Over 20 years Kevin has brought this City into greatness. Increases in salary and benefits has been happening for a long time, why didn't you speak up sooner? Leave Kevin out of this, let him retire in peace, this issue is bigger than him and isn't because of him. Let's read up on this issues and tackle the problem strategically not emotionally. Jeez.

Some math: $3,200,000 increased compensation costs divided by 75,000 MV residents = $42.66 per MV resident per year.

Now let's pretend that this was a national (rather than municipal) problem. $42.66 x 310,000,000 US residents = $13,226,000,000 (13 billion, 226 million dollars)

That is 3 times greater than the Democrats say they can live with in dealing with the federal deficit. Do you think that we have a problem here in MV?

I think so.