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The title is right; bankruptcy would be a good thing for San Diego--also LA, San Fran and dozens of other towns.
Did you know that San Diego was created due to bankruptcy? The lesson--government has always been incompetent and corrupt.
"But equally important, doesn’t the “stigma” crowd know San Diego’s history? The City was almost born in bankruptcy. Only state seizure of a young town permitted San Diego to get back on its feet, although it took time. And in subsequent years, multiple private-sector bankruptcies provided refinancing that led to the City’s growth. Shunning court-monitored financial reorganization because of fear of “stigma” is like rejecting lifesaving surgery for fear of having a scar that will be exposed when you’re wearing your bathing suit.
San Diego was incorporated as the state’s third city in 1850. A mere two years later, it was declared bankrupt. It had tried to erect a $5000 jail out of mud, brick, and straw, according to a November 2010 article in the publication Police Chief. The building “melted in the first heavy rain,” says the publication. The City sank another $2000 into the structure. The first and only inmate — a brother of the mayor — dug his way out with a pocketknife.
As a result of this financial disaster, the state repealed the city charter and installed a three-member, state-controlled board of trustees. As mayhem reigned, some trustees resigned. “A grand jury report of April 1852 reported the streets filled with garbage and human waste. Dead animals were lying in the streets, and a foul stench filled the air,” says the magazine.
The New York Times took its first crack at San Diego, calling it “a flea infested cesspool and the most godforsaken rathole on Earth.”
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Did you know that San Diego was created due to bankruptcy? The lesson--government has always been incompetent and corrupt.
"But equally important, doesn’t the “stigma” crowd know San Diego’s history? The City was almost born in bankruptcy. Only state seizure of a young town permitted San Diego to get back on its feet, although it took time. And in subsequent years, multiple private-sector bankruptcies provided refinancing that led to the City’s growth. Shunning court-monitored financial reorganization because of fear of “stigma” is like rejecting lifesaving surgery for fear of having a scar that will be exposed when you’re wearing your bathing suit.
San Diego was incorporated as the state’s third city in 1850. A mere two years later, it was declared bankrupt. It had tried to erect a $5000 jail out of mud, brick, and straw, according to a November 2010 article in the publication Police Chief. The building “melted in the first heavy rain,” says the publication. The City sank another $2000 into the structure. The first and only inmate — a brother of the mayor — dug his way out with a pocketknife.
As a result of this financial disaster, the state repealed the city charter and installed a three-member, state-controlled board of trustees. As mayhem reigned, some trustees resigned. “A grand jury report of April 1852 reported the streets filled with garbage and human waste. Dead animals were lying in the streets, and a foul stench filled the air,” says the magazine.
The New York Times took its first crack at San Diego, calling it “a flea infested cesspool and the most godforsaken rathole on Earth.”
More...