Bankrupt San Bernardino Hires Twice Bankrupt Manager for Annual Salary of $222,000

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The woes of twice bankrupt Allen J. Parker, age 71 may be over.

The bankrupt city of San Bernardino Hires the Twice Bankrupt Allen Parker as City Manager based on his “experience”.

The bankrupt city of San Bernardino has hired a new city manager who, according to court filings, has twice declared personal bankruptcy and was recently ousted from the board of a small community’s water company after being sued by shareholders.

The city council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to hire Allen J. Parker, 71, as its city manager on an annual salary of almost $ 222,000. He replaces an interim city manager who resigned last month because, according to friends, she was exasperated by the city’s internal divisions.

Pat Morris, the mayor of the city in California, praised Parker’s “wealth of city management experience” and expressed “great confidence” in his ability to oversee the city’s affairs.

The California newspaper The Press-Enterprise reported on Thursday that Parker filed in 2011 for personal bankruptcy. In comments to the paper, Parker said that his bankruptcy and his ability to handle the city’s fiscal problems were “apples and oranges.”

The bankruptcy of San Bernardino, a city 65 miles east of Los Angeles, is a national test case as to whether the pensions of government workers take precedence over other payments in a municipal bankruptcy – a high stakes issue for pension plans and their beneficiaries, and for the Wall Street bondholders who lend money to governments.

Parker’s first bankruptcy was in 1991 and his second in 2011. Apparently he is the best person available for the job.

But what job is that?

I strongly suspect the “job at hand” is to protect the interests and the pensions of the city council members and perhaps the unions (at the expense of taxpayers of course).

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis

Bankrupt San Bernardino Hires Twice Bankrupt Manager for Annual Salary of $222,000

About That Surprise California Budget "Surplus": There is No Surprise and No Surplus Either

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Last month writers were all aglow on the state of finances in California. For example …

• The Christian Science Monitor reported Surprise! California has a budget surplus
• Reuters reported California Governor’s budget has surprise: a surplus

Accounting Anomaly

Today we learn the surprise $ 5-billion bump in revenue in January is likely an accounting anomaly as a result of tax changes.

The surge of revenue that showed up unexpectedly in state coffers last month may well be offset by a revenue dip in coming months, according to Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration. The surprise money has been the source of much speculation in the Capitol. Unanticipated tax receipts filled state coffers with more than $ 5 billion beyond initial projections for January — more tax dollars than are allocated to the entire state university system in a year.

The revenue bump was historic. But the question for budget experts was whether lawmakers could begin allocating the windfall toward government programs and tax breaks — or whether the money amounted to an accounting anomaly.

Brown’s budget office now advises in an official cash report that it is probably the latter. The report says the extra money was “likely the result of major tax law changes at the federal and state level having a significant impact in the timing of revenue receipts.”

That is: Taxpayers were paying a share of their bill early, getting income off their books in the hope of limiting exposure to the tax hikes that recently kicked in.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

There is no surprise. Are you surprised by the non-surprise? I am not.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis

About That Surprise California Budget "Surplus": There is No Surprise and No Surplus Either

Walmart Senior VP Asks "Where are All the Customers? And Where’s Their Money?"; "February MTD Sales a Total Disaster"

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Here’s an interesting story from Friday regarding sales at Walmart that just came my way: Wal-Mart Executives Sweat Slow February Start in E-Mails.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had the worst sales start to a month in seven years as payroll-tax increases hit shoppers already battling a slow economy, according to internal e-mails obtained by Bloomberg News.

“In case you haven’t seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster,” Jerry Murray, Wal-Mart’s vice president of finance and logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives, referring to month-to-date sales. “The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company”

Murray’s comments about February sales follow disappointing results from January, a month that Cameron Geiger, senior vice president of Wal-Mart U.S. Replenishment, said he was relieved to see end, according to a separate internal e-mail obtained by Bloomberg News.

“Have you ever had one of those weeks where your best-prepared plans weren’t good enough to accomplish everything you set out to do?” Geiger asked in a Feb. 1 e-mail to executives. “Well, we just had one of those weeks here at Walmart U.S. Where are all the customers? And where’s their money?”

Murray declined to comment and Geiger didn’t return telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment.

Both executives attributed the performance to increased payroll taxes and delayed tax returns, which Geiger called “a potent one-two punch,” according to the e-mails.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis

Walmart Senior VP Asks "Where are All the Customers? And Where’s Their Money?"; "February MTD Sales a Total Disaster"