Did we learn anything from the Orange County Bankruptcy?
November 16, 2008
In 1994 Orange County’s mismanagement became the largest bankruptcy of a municipality. When the city treasurer bet the county’s money on highly risky investments and the county lost billions of dollars. Reading back through the information I believe we may soon face similar issues across many cities in America. When Government Fails: The Orange County Bankruptcy is a summary of what happened. Although the natural disasters i.e. Katrina, Ike etc. have added another factor besides the economic downturn and bad investments a new and ever growing list of failing American Cities and States are emerging . I really think that there are many who did not learn any lessons from this and are faced with exactly the same troubles with the current market crash.
With these entities collecting less taxes and the rapidly falling real estate price, limited credit available, growing unemployment and deficits like we have never seen before we are in a multifaceted deterioration of what we once knew and relied on from our public resources provided by our cities, states and government.
It will take miracles and hard work to turn this around. If anything can bring us together I believe this reversal of fortune is the time. We should start by coming together with our friends and neighbors and just start getting to know each other better. We should watch out for each other’s homes and families and neighborhoods. Don’t wait for a tragedy to happen before you get to know the names of the people that live around you take time today to reach out and exchange names and numbers.
Remember as cities cut employees the Police, Fire and Rescue services may be compromised, hospital waits may be extended and more families can reduce incidents by building a network of people that can help from within their area. Set up a coffee or just knock on a door make an effort to meet someone new on your block or at your kids school. That little neighborhood watch program is making a comeback so be part of the “in” group and do your part to make sure you and your neighbors are working together to successfully keep your community from random neighborhood crimes and tragedies.
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