Huffington Post, William Alden
First Posted: 01/31/11 08:14 AM Updated: 01/31/11 12:36 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/31/vallejo-bankruptcy_n_816060.htmlThe American real estate boom turned Vallejo, California -- previously known for little more than the freeway that runs through it -- into a hot property market in the San Francisco Bay Area. But when the home-building stopped, so did the flow of money into municipal coffers, sending the city into bankruptcy nearly three years ago.
That was merely the beginning of sustained pain for Vallejo's municipal employees. As the community adjusts to a wrenching new budgetary reality, one no longer propelled by exploding property revenues, the burden has fallen on ordinary city workers.
David de Alba, a 45-year-old mechanic who has worked for the city for eight years, typifies this process. Vallejo has slashed its budget to get its books in order, reducing its general fund payroll by more than 100 workers, or about 30 percent, since 2007. De Alba has seen his monthly pay drop by about $1,000.
Last summer, after missing mortgage payments, he went into default. In November, he filed for personal bankruptcy. Financial troubles strained his marriage, and his wife left him, taking their teenage children with her. This month, the bank foreclosed on his house. He moved out last Friday, relinquishing his home of nearly two decades. He now plans to move to a trailer park.
De Alba puts the blame for this descent squarely on the city.
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