CaliforniaCityNews.org

MJ's Funeral Tab for LA...

The bill for Michael Jackson's Staples Center sendoff:  $1.4 million for the cash strapped City of LA.  According to a report from the AP, "The amount included $1.1 million in overtime pay for the 4,173 officers who worked to secure Staples Center, Forest Lawn cemetery and other areas." There's also the matter of the box lunches for said police officers, reported cost of about $50,000.

Mayor Villiariagosa has been Tweeting about the event nonstop, and the donation effort to underwrite it has netted about $17,000.  According to the Mayor's office report, "the City's Information Technology Agency could not handle the high volume of traffic or adequately respond to frequent and prolonged server crashes. Consequently, the City was unable to receive contributions for several hours Tuesday afternoon."

Sigh.  Money left on the table.

Fastest Growing Cities in the U.S.?

U.S. Census Bureau data found the City of New Orleans is making a comeback, and was the fastest growing big city int he nation last year.  Ravaged by Katrina just 3 years ago, the city grew at a 8.2 percent clip last year.  The city is still about a 160,000 residents short of its pre-Katrina population, but this is good news for one of our favorite (non California) cities.

Here in California, Los Angeles and San Diego both made the list of the Top 10 in terms of absolute population growth across the U.S., while Roseville and Irvine both cracked the Top 10 in percentage growth. 

Read more here.   

What Subway Carries 3 Billion Passengers a Year?

Wondering which of the world's subway systems carry the most passengers per year?  Some boast up to 3 billion rides annually, see the stats in this clever video from Good.is, which gets extra points for its Old School Nintendo flair...

BuyMyIOU Website Crops Up

With a tagline like "Get Your Cash Immediately for your Government IOU," we couldn't help but drive a few clicks to BuyMyIOU.com.  The name pretty much says it all... yet another sign of the times.  They're also up on Twitter... not sure what they could be "Tweeting" of interest??

Is Palo Alto Leading By Example in Rejecting "Prevailing Wage?"

We point your attention to an interesting opinion piece in the Mercury News by Kevin Korenthal regarding the Palo Alto City Council's rejection of the state's "prevailing wage" laws.

In short, Palo Alto allows construction contractors to pay wages that reflect-GASP-the actual market in the rest of Santa Clara County and are not predetermined by collective bargaining agreements with labor unions in the state capitol. This practice has created significant savings for the city-an average of ten percent on the cost of construction.

Palo Alto is able to behave in this manner because it is one of 114 charter cities that have-GASP- the right to locally control their own municipal affairs without state interference.

A sign of things to come? We think so.

O.C. Property Values Decline for First Time Since '94

The collective assessed value of all real estate and personal property in Orange County dropped 1.2%; the first time since 1994 that there has been a decrease in this measurement. Other than this being yet another indicator of the declining economy, these figures will have a direct, significant impact on local and state government. Property values are used to determine tax dollars, thus less money will be coming in this fall and next spring.

As for the cities in the O.C., 25 out of 34 saw drops in taxable property value led by Santa Ana which is down 6.3%. Four other cities registered drops of more than 3%: Stanton (-5.8%), Tustin (-4.4%), Ranch Santa Margarita (-4.1%), and  La Habra (-3.5%). It wasn't bad news for everybody, Newport Beach values rose 2%; once again proving what they say about beach front property.

The O.C. Register has the full story here.

Budget Talks Stall, Assembly Leader Takes Marbles Home

Over the weekend, we actually though there was progress up in the Capitol.  The Governor had backed off cuts to a couple key health and welfare programs, while legislators worked extensively over the holiday.  Now, word is out that Assembly Leader Karen Bass is "boycotting" the Big 5 meetings, where legislative leadership meet with the Governor to hammer out deals.  Bass, backed by labor leaders, called out Schwarzenegger on focusing on issues "unrelated" to the budget.  Talk of suspending Prop 98 also has Bass and many Democratic lawmakers wary of the current direction of talks.

Meanwhile, the State's Bond Rating plummets.  Fitch Ratings downgraded the state's long-term bond rating to BBB from A- Monday.  This will cost the state billions over the life of bonds issued at that level. 

And special thanks to CCN reader J.M. for sending in the image at right, taken at a SoCal ATM Monday.  A sign of the times indeed. 

Inland Cities Let Their Flags Fly

What's in City Seal... or a flag for that matter?  The Press Enterprise has an interesting look at Inland Empire city logos and flags, and what makes for a good one.  Some cities take the matter pretty seriously, with one City Councilman noting that a good logo could be "what draws a Fortune 500 company executive to click on a Web site."

Read more in the Press Enterprise.

New List of Safest, Most Dangerous Cities Out -- We Question Results

A new list of the safest and most dangerous cities int he U.S. has been released by NeighborhoodScout, a relocation and real estate oriented website.  There's plenty of data to cull through, but in looking over the safest and most dangerous cities, we're apt to question the results. 

Firstly, the safest city in California is listed as Death Valley.  Duh.  Locales like Kyburz and Markleeville round out the Top 10, and while you're not sure to find many criminals in these places, apart from people headed to Tahoe and guys selling snow chains, you're not likely to find much of anyone in Kyburz. 

On the national scene, Berkeley clocks in as the most Dangerous of California's cities, at #43.  This means no California cities in the top 40... but Berkeley the most dangerous?  For city the site reports as having 4 murders last year, that's a little tough to swallow.  What about neighboring Oakland, you say?  They're not even in the Top 100.

See the Top and Bottom 100 lists here... but like we said, a little suspect. 

San Gabriel Valley Cities Overcharging for Solar Permits, Group Says

The Sierra Club took a look at permit fees charged by SoCal cities and found that cities in the San Gabriel Valley charge up to three times the average for solar installations, as much as $1,600.  The average across the Southland stands at closer to $470 for a system that ultimately costs consumers $27,000.  For that, most homes can get green and get off the grid. 

The cities with the highest fees, such as La Habra Heights and San Gabriel, don't process many permit applications -- not sure if that's due to lack of interest or the high fees?  Read more in the San Gabriel Valley Trib.

Meanwhile, legislation is moving to try and up the amount of electricity consumers with rooftop solar panels can sell back to the utilities -- but the utilities oppose it.  Read up on that in the LAT.