Report warning major city is plunging into bankruptcy is mysteriously DELETED on the same day its released
Oakland city officials mysteriously published and deleted an alarming public report warning that the California city is in danger of going bankrupt.
On November 8, Oakland Chief Financial Officer Erin Roseman wrote the city’s fiscal year 2024/25 reportwarning officials that their reckless spending was leading to a “Chapter 9 trial,” which follows a bankruptcy declaration.
The report noted that Oakland had an operating deficit of 12.3 percent, and that “failure to take dramatic and immediate steps to reduce spending will almost certainly lead to insolvency.”
But just hours after the document sent shockwaves across the city’s political scene, the report disappeared from the online agenda of the upcoming Oakland City Council meeting.
Officials subsequently published a revised version, which removed all references to bankruptcy, including any mention of ‘Chapter 9’ or the requirement of ‘insolvency’.
After the review raised eyebrows, the city issued a statement Monday explaining that the report was an “unapproved draft” that was “accidentally and briefly published.”
Oakland downplayed the alarming findings, saying that “internal analysis concluded that the level of decision-making at the Chapter 9 level at this time was and remains premature.”
“However, that analysis in no way detracts from the urgency of the financial discussion that must be had in the municipal council,” a spokesperson added. Mercury news.
The city of Oakland, California has been grappling with a financial crisis for years, and this month an alarming public report was mysteriously published and then deleted warning that the city is in danger of going bankrupt.
Although Oakland officials were quick to downplay the report in question, it comes at a time when city insiders are warning that the camp is facing a serious and urgent financial crisis.
Living standards in Oakland have fallen significantly in recent years due to a spike in crime, homelessness and vagrancy, with Mayor Sheng Thao hit by a recall election in this year’s election.
According to the Mercury News, the budget problems are expected to result in a deficit of nearly $115 million when the current budget year ends in June.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has been struggling with the city’s financial crisis for years and has already taken steps, including freezing firefighter hiring
Roseman warned in both her original report and the revised document that significant cuts will be needed, including to the Oakland police and fire departments.
The decisions were made after a financial analysis found that the city’s fire and police departments are fueling the city’s deficit, which is expected to exceed $34 million and $51 million, respectively.
Both departments have already been hit by a citywide hiring freeze, and police leaders have reportedly halted trainee academy operations.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has already taken some steps to curb the financial crisis, including freezing hiring for five fire crews, which could employ 60 full-time firefighters.
Living standards in Oakland have declined significantly in recent years due to a spike in crime, homelessness and vagrancy
She also cut $1.1 million in IT cybersecurity funding and ended a popular “five after five” program that allowed restaurant workers to save money by parking in a city garage after 5 p.m. for a fixed fee. rate of $5.
But the withdrawal of Roseman’s report seemingly undermined the city’s cost-cutting measures, as Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland police union, said this week that his department “will not accept any cuts until we know the extent of the city’s debt .’
Roseman’s remarkable report does not call for renegotiation of union staffing levels or contracts.
“All city policymakers, employees, residents and other stakeholders must seriously grapple with the current financial conditions,” Roseman wrote in both reports.
In a sentence she subsequently deleted from the second report, Roseman added: “Despondency and the inability to take dramatic and immediate steps to reduce spending will almost certainly lead to insolvency.”