CA has always been about boom and busts. Governor Brown knew this and kept a tight fist on the purse strings... to the chagrin and annoyance of the “we’re rich, let’s spend” crowd. If it were not for his fiscal conservatism it’s be even worse. Of course SF is the poster child for spending copious amounts of money on pet projects while ignoring the big issues.
Every major city seems to have its own flavor of this. See also:<p>New York budget crisis [0], Chicago [1], Dallas [2], etc<p>[0] <a href="https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/05/31/new-york-budget-crisis-bill-de-blasio-290108" rel="nofollow">https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/05/31/new-york-budget...</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.wbez.org/amp/stories/how-covid-19-could-hit-chicagos-budget/0b9b4290-d19f-479e-afe5-56691bc7cc54" rel="nofollow">https://www.wbez.org/amp/stories/how-covid-19-could-hit-chic...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-budget-crisis-presents-problem-current-officials-have-never-seen/2364765/?amp" rel="nofollow">https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-budget-crisis-prese...</a>
This article appears to be mostly cribbed from SF Chronicle's coverage, which has additional context and some discussion of pension obligations [0]<p>[0] <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/SF-s-top-money-man-grapples-with-dire-forecasts-15304610.php" rel="nofollow">https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/SF...</a>
Curious how local and state governments can face “fiscal chaos” while debt issues by the federal govt. is highly desirable. People say governments run deficits during economic downturns (which is true) but in the US local and state spending is more pro-cyclical.
San Fran is a bizarre place.
I'm an Aussie, an Americanophile, and I was in the States for months last year. San Fran was simply unpleasant - the people were rude (young and old) and everything cost too much. The taxes were insane too.<p>I couldn't bear to live there - Salt Lake City seemed to have the most similar upsides with next to none of the downsides.
I think a more accurate description would be that San Francisco chooses chaos. I've never lived anywhere more unreasonably governed. It's like the government is actively sabotaging quality of life and squandering its budget. One example--the city spent $15.5m to tear down a McDonalds in the Haight and turn it into a homeless tent camp.
This article is totally lives in SF. Author should know that this story is same in every city in the world. Not just SF.
He might hate SF or whatever but what happens in SF is happening in every city in the world.
Good Morning