Postal Service lays out survival plan...... Detroit might be dissolved and Oakland impotently flailing away

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49992517

( If the Postal Service is self - sufficient , why did it lose 15.9 Billion this year ? )

USPS Chief Lays Out Plan for the Agency’s Survival

Published: Wednesday, 28 Nov 2012 | 9:20 AM ET

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By: AP

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Oliver Quillia for CNBC.com United States Postal Service truck.

The head of the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service said the agency must be allowed to ease the terms of prepayments into a retiree health-care fund and eliminate general mail delivery on Saturday.

Patrick Donahoe told "CBS This Morning" the agency isn't asking Congress for money.

He said, "I think most people don't realize, we're 100 percent self-sufficient. We pay our own way." But the postal chief notes the agency is losing $15.9 billion this year.

Donahoe says the post office needs to refinance retirement health fund payments to $1 billion a year instead of $5 billion.

He said the Postal Service would continue package delivery on Saturday and keep post offices open. In this scenario, he says the agency could be $8 billion in the black each year.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/11/28/state-senator-proposes-dissolving-city-of-detroit/

LANSING (CBS Detroit) - It would no doubt be controversial, but the idea of dissolving the fiscally struggling city of Detroit and absorbing it into Wayne County is being tossed around in Lansing.

WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick reports some state Republicans are talking aboutgiving the city the option to vote itself into bankruptcy. And mid-Michigan Senator Rick Jones said all options should be considered — including dissolving the city.

“If we have to, that is one idea we have to look at. We really have to look at everything that is on the table,” Jones said. “Again, if this goes to federal bankruptcy, every employee down there will suffer, the city will suffer and the vultures will come in and take the jewels of Detroit and they will be gone.”

Local consultant Tom Watkins has proposed this in the past, but the idea has never played well among Detroiters.

In a live interview on WWJ Newsradio 950 Wednesday morning, Gov. Rick Snyder said he wouldn’t count anything out.

“Detroit needs to solve their problems, but they need support and we’ve been very supportive partners, I believe, in terms of offering different ideas and thoughts. And I just encourage them to work harder about working better together,” Snyder said.

Talking to Talk Radio 1270 host Charlie Langton, Detroit’s ex-communications chief Karen Dumas said she would not support such a plan.

“No, I don’t think that dissolution is the solution for the city of Detroit; I don’t,” said Dumas. “I think people … with every step we get more and more fearful … and maybe at some point that’s going to make everybody wake up and realize that we need to stop playing politics and come up with a solution for progress.   “I don’t know at what point that’s going to happen. “

Detroit Political Consultant Skip Mongo said the answer to Detroit’s fiscal crisis will come with fresh faces in City Council chambers and the Mayor’s office.

“We move forward and we start looking for new leadership, and we don’t make the mistake that we made before — we certainty don’t look around and outsource the mayor’s office,” Mongo said.

Mongo, who believes Detroit Mayor Dave Bing was a poor choice to begin, said Bing doesn’t a chance if he opts to run for re-election.

“Anything short of a tidal wave and Mayor Bing getting out with his boots on, or doin’ a [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie, no — he can’t win,” Mongo said. ”I don’t think Mayor Bing could beat me and I’ve never run for anything in my life. Honestly, no. He should leave.”

Meantime, the Bing administration continues to battle with council members over a deal to handle the city’s reform plan.

Bing said the council’s rejection last week of a contract with law firm Miller Canfield means the city missed a deadline to draw down $10 million Detroit needs to stay afloat and endangers a $20 million release in December.  Bing called it a huge setback for thefinancial recovery of Detroit, adding that unpaid furlough days are on the way for city workers if this isn’t worked out.

and......

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/11/28/phil-matier-oakland-crime-rate-worries-city-officials/

OAKLAND (KCBS) – Burglaries are up a startling 43 percent in Oakland this year compared to last, part of an ever-growing crime problem in the city.

According to the latest numbers from the Oakland Police Department, more than 11,000 homes, cars or businesses have been broken into so far this year – translating to about 33 burglaries a day. The most popular targets have been cars with more than 5,700 burglarized so far this year.

One of the most likely reasons for the sharp uptick in crime – city officials said they believe it’s the gradual loss of police officers from the force.

The city could be down to a little more than 600 officers by February, which would be 200 fewer than in 2008. Even with another 40 expected to graduate from Police Academy, they will be rookies and there is already talk of trying to contract with outside agencies for support.

Police Chief Howard Jordan said his department is trying to reassess its crime prevention efforts in light of the staff shortages.

“The fact that we haven’t been able to address some of the proactive things that we should be doing as an agency is really hampering our efforts to address some of the crime problems,” he said. “But with that being said, what I’ve been tasked to do and asked my commanders to do is look at some of the ways for us to free up officers in order to give them time to be proactive. I’m also reducing some of the positions in certain administrative functions in the department so that we can add more staff to our street level enforcement teams.”

“There’s just people that are taking matters into their own hands and resolving their issues through violence. I think the proliferation and easy availability of firearms in this city is something that is a real problem for us,” Jordan said. “Coupled with the fact that there is all-out greed and disrespect for each other and each other’s personal safety between young people.”