Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: CBS in Maryland talks About Drones in USA

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: CBS in Maryland talks About Drones in USA: Of course, my campaign is still competing in several state conventions still yet to come. And we have a lot of planning to do to prepar...

Quote of the Day 6/11/12

It isn't that hard to grasp the concept, once you do accept it and realize, that this is just the beginning." - Oh Zee I on

We are building A First Class City

June 4, 2012
Dear Governor Jerry Brown:
Dear State Assembly Member Joan Buchanan:
Dear State Senator Lois Wolk:
I am writing to ask you to support AB 484 (Alejo), which was recently amended in the Senate to help protect jobs in some of California’s most economically depressed areas.

This bill will help ensure businesses within an Enterprise Zone can continue receiving uninterrupted program benefits until such time as the Department of Housing and Community Development has completed regulatory and administrative review of the program, issued a request for proposal and issued conditional designation letters to the maximum number of Enterprise Zones within the state.

Not only is the Enterprise Zone program vital to economic development, the benefits of the program help our businesses offset costs and encourage expansion or hiring of new employees. Enterprise Zones deliver numerous benefits for employees and employers. AB 484 is a bridge to help two zones with high unemployment and improve economic stability in these distressed areas.

AB 484 ensures that employees and struggling businesses do not fall victim to bureaucratic and political delays. Our state is still struggling to pull itself out of this recession. Every job counts. AB 484 is vitally important to these economically depressed regions.

For these reasons, I strongly urge you to support AB 484.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Mr. Gregory Pitsch
1704 Maude St
1704 maude st
Stockton, CA 95206-5713

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: OBAMA BORN IN KENYA 100% PROOF

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: OBAMA BORN IN KENYA 100% PROOF: Obama is a fraud!

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Once Inside I Declared My Candidacy For Mayor

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Once Inside I Declared My Candidacy For Mayor: I am embarking on a quest, sort of a self challenge to test my own will by following the faith that I have been blessed with. This is a piv...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Viewpoints: Clear Channel violates First Amendment...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Viewpoints: Clear Channel violates First Amendment...: By Sue Wilson Special to The Bee Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/25/4362382/clear-channel-violates-first-amendment.html#...

French Camp man guilty of child porn

By The Record
March 23, 2012 12:00 AM
SACRAMENTO - A French Camp man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to receiving child pornography, the Department of Justice announced.

Prosecutors said Terry Alan Snider, 65, offered files of child pornography through an Internet file-sharing service in August and September.

Law enforcement downloaded the images from him on Aug. 26. In a search of Snider's home computer, authorities found about 350 video files and 190 image files of child sexual molestations, including toddlers and prepubescent boys and girls.

Snider is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27, facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of law enforcement supervision.

The case was part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative against child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information visit project safechildhood.gov.

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Dozens arrested protesting education cuts at Calif...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Dozens arrested protesting education cuts at Calif...: By Greg Lewis SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Dozens of protesters angry over fee hikes and budget cuts at California's public universi...

Stockton's Bankruptcy Unlikely to Stop any Cuts

By John Rudolf

Stockton, Calif., took a major step toward becoming the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy with a city council vote to begin a state-mandated mediation process with creditors and municipal unions after a contentious public meeting Tuesday night.

City leaders described the vote as a last-ditch attempt to forestall further cuts in public services including policing, which have been slashed in recent years. "Our safety and the safety of our citizens depend on this process to move forward,” Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston said at the meeting.

But municipal finance experts warned Stockton's projected future deficits mean that neither bankruptcy nor a negotiated settlement with creditors and unions were likely to fully shield the city budget from further service cuts.

Tuesday's vote clears the way for a bankruptcy filing, as all municipalities must now go through mediation under a 2011 state law before filing for bankruptcy protection.

The 6-1 vote in favor of beginning mediation came after Bob Deis, Stockton's city manager, told council members that the housing bust, the mounting cost of public employee retirement health benefits and poor fiscal management by prior administrations had left the city on the brink of insolvency. The city has retained Marc Levinson, the attorney who represented nearby Vallejo, Calif., after it declared bankruptcy in 2008.

Stockton, a foreclosure-wracked city of nearly 300,000 in California's Central Valley, has slashed its city government in response to mounting deficits, including reducing the police force by nearly 25 percent, despite a sharp increase in violent crime. Without major concessions by city unions and bondholders, more service cuts were the only option, Deis said.

"We have cut to the bone," Deis said at the meeting. "There are no alternatives." Further cuts to the police and fire departments "will put our citizens at risk," he said.


But according to Matt Fabian, a municipal bond analyst at Municipal Market Advisors, even substantial concessions by creditors and unions would not save public services from more cuts, due to the size of the city's looming budget deficits.

"I think more cuts in services will happen," said Fabian. "That process will probably continue, even if they are able to restructure a portion of their debt or if they are able to get concessions from retirees."

Stockton faces a deficit of $20 million to $38 million the next fiscal year, which begins this summer, and financial projections anticipate similarly large shortfalls for the following two fiscal years. A large portion of those deficits are tied to bond payments from redevelopment projects and underfunded liabilities for retired city employee health care.

Under Chapter 9, the U.S. bankruptcy code that applies to municipalities, those liabilities can only be restructured, not abandoned entirely.

"They don't have the same power to write down or walk away from debt," afforded to individuals in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Fabian said.

Bondholders will likely fight any attempt by the city to force a write-down of the loan principal -- in part to discourage other financially-strapped communities from following suit. "Creditors will strongly resist," Fabian said. Residents hoping for a bailout from state legislators in Sacramento should temper their expectations, Fabian added. "California is not the kind of state that helps its local governments very much," he said.

Further cuts to vital services like policing are almost guaranteed to spark community outrage. At Tuesday's public meeting, many speakers described their experiences with deteriorated public safety in the city.

Damian Perez, 17, a senior at a city high school, told council members that his neighborhood had gone "from bad to absolutely unacceptable" and that his brother had been robbed twice in the past year.

"Stockton is not safe," he said. "Don't neglect the police. We need them now more than ever."

The rise in violence is most apparent in Stockton's soaring homicide rate, which set a record in 2011 with 56. The city has seen eight homicides already this year, well ahead of last year's pace. The most recent murder was a 14-year-old boy shot to death at a party on Stockton's south side.

In 2008, when the Stockton Police Department reached its highest-ever number of sworn officers, the city saw 24 homicides, a 28-year low.

In the years since, the police force has fallen by roughly 25 percent, through retirement and other attrition. Police officer salaries were also reduced by about 20 percent last year after the city declared a fiscal emergency and voided the department's labor contract.

Teen Killed At House Party

STOCKTON — Authorities said a teenager was killed when shots were fired at a south Stockton house party late Friday night. The victim, identified as Arturo Marquez Jr., 14, was shot in the upper body around 11:55 p.m. in the 1900 block of South B Street, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. Multiple shots were fired during the incident and Marquez Jr. was attempting to run from the gunfire when he was struck, officials said. Several people at the party were interviewed by detectives, but authorities said no description of the shooter or shooters is available.

Stockton, CA: Worst Place in America