Desert Dog Blog

Victorville lays off 20 workers – a story that is being repeated across California

Photo from http://ci.victorville.ca.us

Victorville’s Concrete Repair Team.  (No one knows who’s being laid off, I just found this photo on Google)

Victorville lays off 20 workers, a story that is being repeated across California- As the new fiscal year 2010-2011 approaches in July, many cities are facing massive budget cuts and layoffs in order to be fiscally responsible in the face of the bad economy and the State’s own raids on city governments.

According to the Victor Valley Daily Press, 12 of the positions are going to be full-timers, and the rest part-timers.  There is currently no information available on what positions are being laid off,  so please don’t take the photo I chose as meaning anything.  Last year, 50 employees were laid off because of the budget crisis.

A fiscal crisis is a problem being faced in just about every city in California.  On the one hand, economic problems mean sales tax isn’t being generated to help cities conduct business, and on the other hand the State of California is raping the cities for their funds – often Redevelopment, with no regard for how large the city is or their financial situation.  And so, California cities are often found in a precarious situation.

Of all the levels of government – city, county, state, federal – cities are the ones that are the most fiscally responsible and able to balance budgets.  This is especially the case for smaller cities.  Of course, there’s exceptions but as general rule, this is true.  Think about how large the deficit is for the United States as a whole, then think about the deficit of California, and on down to the county and city levels.

Too bad that the higher levels of government don’t operate with the same level of fiscal responsibility as local governments.  Sometimes, when I’m wandering the desert and I’m not dodging rattlesnake strikes or being skewered by a Joshua tree, I wonder what would happen in a world where the local government had more power than the feds?   What if people paid more taxes to their local government, and created their own little regional socialist/libertarian utopias with their own municipalities?   What if the federal government was responsible, as it was originally intended, for the nation’s defense and keeping a national currency, etc.?

I know.  It sounds a little too Thomas Jeffersonish, doesn’t it?  I admit that I am an admirer of Jefferson’s agrarian philosophy.

Walmart May Open Store on Paiute Land

From www.peopleof walmart.com

Walmart May Open Store on Paiute Land -  So, it seems that Paiute Reservation up in Bishop have negotiated some sort of deal to open up a Walmart on the reservation, according to a report in the Inyo Register.

The new Walmart is heralded by the Bishop Paiute Development Corporation as an excellent opportunity to provide a sustainable tax base to the community.

And hey, Walmart is usually a successful business, although there are serious questions about its business practices.  The store draws an interesting crowd, too.

So, you folks out there taking photos for the website called People of Walmart, there will soon be another place for you to take some excellent photos!

New cross erected, then removed by park officials

New cross erected, then removed by park officials – A month ago, a cross in the Mojave National Preserve made national headlines when the Supreme Court ruled that it can be displayed because “the constitution does not oblige government to avoid any public acknowledgment of a religion’s role in society.”  That, and the government has decided to transfer the land where the cross is displayed (Sunrise Rock) into private hands.

Shortly after that on May 8 or 9, and much to the dismay of the nation, the cross was stolen by some greedy fools looking to bag an icon.  Then, on May 20 someone replaced it in the early morning, and park officials removed it, in concordance with a Supreme Court injunction that it not be displayed until the federal land has been transferred.

Is it really necessary, since the land is supposedly being transferred to private owners, to remove the new cross? I also wonder if this begins a trend of people placing a cross, and then someone removing it.

The cross was originally erected in the 1930s as a war memorial for the soldiers and sailors of World War 1.  It has been vandalized a few times in the past, even stolen.