The Federal Reserve on Thursday proposed tough new rules to require banks to hold even more in reserves as a capital buffer to better withstand future financial crises.
Wall Street has been watching the rulemaking on capital buffers closely. Requirements about capital cushions can directly impact banks' ability to lend, make financial bets and profit off those loans or bets.
Tougher capital cushions are also a key step toward making banks safer and avoiding future taxpayer bailouts.
"Pre-crisis capital requirements were too low in general," said Federal Board Reserve Board governor Daniel Tarullo at a meeting Thursday.
The rules would require banks to keep 7% of risk-weighted assets -- the loans banks make judged by the degree of risk involved -- aside. Banks would have until 2019 to meet the new rules.
For 20 banks with more than $250 billion in total assets, the rules would be a little tougher -- 3% of all assets, including "off-balance sheet exposures" such as derivatives, would have to be kept off limits as a leverage ratio.
The provision would affect all the major megabanks, including JP Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Citibank (C, Fortune 500), among others.
Derivatives are the risky bets that helped lead to the financial crisis of 2008.
The new rules are drawn from a 2010 deal negotiated with foreign nations, part of the so-called Basel III accords, requiring all banks to put more capital aside for emergencies.
Capital cushions have come under scrutiny again, in light of revelations that JPMorgan Chase lost $2 billion in bad bets made earlier this year and disclosed last month.
"This should improve the overall resiliency of the banking system," according to a memo on the new capital cushion rules released by the Fed.
Additionally, the Fed released new details on what qualifies as capital -- guidelines that are tougher than current standards -- the central bank notes.
Federal Reserve staff said that roughly 80% of banks already meet the tougher buffer of 7% of risk-weighted assets. They calculated that $3.6 billion would need to be raised to meet the new criteria.
The proposed rule will be voted on by the Federal Reserve Board and then faces 90 days of public comment.
Then the Fed and other federal regulatory agencies would officially approve it later this year. The rules would be phased in starting in January 2013.
During a Senate Banking Committee hearing Wednesday, bank regulators said that all U.S. banks were safer than they were three years ago.
JPMorgan Chase has a capital cushion of $101 billion, compared to $1.8 trillion in assets, said its regulator, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry. That's about 5.6% of all assets. But JPMorgan will likely have to set even more capital aside under the new rules.
That's because the proposed rules do not address an additional and controversial capital cushion that the largest U.S. banks may also have to meet.
That rule could raise the required buffer at some banks from the new standard of 7% to as high as 9.5% of risk-weighted assets.
The Federal Reserve is expected to tackle that issue later.
As a resident of Texas for 36 years, I keep wondering why the rest of the nation pays any attention to our political and cultural absurdities and yet still chooses Texans as presidents. Our most revered historical moment, the Alamo, was arguably a mass suicide. The slaughter in San Antonio was followed by a massacre at Goliad, the fall of the Confederacy to Union forces, and later by the Houston Astros. Texas has a legacy of losing.
None of this apparently matters, though, because America is beginning the process of electing another Texan to be president. Gigantic tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, a trumped up war and a ruined economy from the last Texan seem incapable of dissuading supporters of Rick Perry.
His Saturday speech in South Carolina will make clear that he is entering the race for the White House and will spawn the ugliest and most expensive presidential race in U.S. history, and he will win. A C and D student, who hates to govern, loves to campaign, and barely has a sixth grader's understanding of economics, will lead our nation into oblivion.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The big brains gathered east of the Hudson and Potomac Rivers believe that Mitt Romney is the candidate to beat. But they are unable to hear what Rick Perry is saying. The Christian prayer rally in Houston was a very loud proclamation to fundamentalists and Teavangelicals, which said, "I am not a Mormon." The far right and Christian fundamentalists have an inordinate amount of influence in the GOP primary process and, regardless of messages of inclusion, very few of them will vote for a Mormon.
"We think a them Mormons as bein' in kind of a cult," one of the Houston rally attendees told me. "I couldn't vote for one a them when we got a real Christian like Governor Perry runnin'."
Perry, of course, can't come right out and print bumper stickers that say, "Rick Perry -- 2012 -- Not a Mormon." But he doesn't have to. He's wearing his faith like a power tie while Romney stays quiet as a tabernacle mouse on the topic of religion.
Romney has business experience and intellect that are not on Perry's resume' but he is from "Massatoositts," (Webster's Texas Edition, see also "Massachusetts"), and Texans love to kick their political boots into New Englanders' squishy parts. Perry is about to remind the tea partiers and fundamentalists that Romney created a state health care plan, (the horror, affordable health care for everyone), believes global warming is real, and has a troubling history for conservatives on the matters of abortion and gay marriage.
So much for Mitt.
Michele Bachmann, who is from Iowa, and is Perry in Prada, has the same appeal among Teavangelicals. Her husband's reparative gay therapy sessions, the Newsweek cover and a few speeches that were not reality based will, eventually, make even the GOP primary voters realize she is bound for the desert and not the Promised Land.
Bachman will run close to Perry in Iowa but will disappear into the snows of New Hampshire where religious fervor isn't exactly considered a positive attribute. In South Carolina, Perry's money, image and support will become overwhelming.
Romney and Bachmann are the only serious impediments to the Perry nomination. Ron Paul, who makes more sense than any crazy person to ever run for public office, has never been able to expand his cult to the mainstream.
Herman Cain is too brutally honest and lacking political experience, and Tim Pawlenty, what's-his-face-from-Minnesota, suffers from the heartbreak of ineffectuality.
Fueled only by speculation that he might announce, Perry became the putative front-runner (heard that word at a fancy Washington restaurant and thought it was cool). Because presidential politics tend to be more visceral than intellectual, Perry's coyote-killer good looks, $2,000 hand-tooled cowboy boots, supernova smile and Armani suits, combined with podium skills to embellish the mythology of Texas, all will create a product Americans will want to believe and buy.
After he wins the nomination, protocol will require Perry to have discussions with Bachmann about the vice presidential slot, but he will, eventually, turn to Sarah Palin. The general election will force the Texan back toward the middle and he will stop talking about faith and abortion and gay marriage; Perry will campaign on jobs and the economy.
Palin, who is loved by the tea party as much as Perry, will keep the Teavangelicals animated while he tries to talk to the adults to win the election on a single issue: the economy, stupiderest!!! (Forget about Rudy Giuliani; the GOP cannot win New York, don't need it to take the election and Giuliani is wrong on gay marriage for this ticket).
The general election will, quite literally, decide the fate of a nation. Every time Team Obama criticizes the Texas economy for its minimum wage job boom, the president will be accused of attacking the working men and women of America. (Texas has created a large share of the new jobs in the United States in the last decade but studies indicate many of them are at places like Wal-Mart and Carl's Jr.)
President Obama will also get beaten up for presiding over the first bond rating downgrade in U.S. history as well as high unemployment. When the cold rains fall in early November next year, unemployed voters in places like Ohio will step into the booth and dream of a minimum wage job in the Texas sun selling fishing rods at big box sporting goods stores or working in call centers; they will vote against Barack Obama.
And in the process, they will write the epitaph to set upon the tombstone of history's greatest democracy: Perry-Palin, 2012.
As Rick Perry moves closer and closer to a run for the White House, a new national survey indicates that the longtime Texas governor is close to the top of the pack in the hunt for the Republican presidential nomination.
According to a CNN/ORC International poll, 15 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP pick Perry as their first choice for their party's nomination, just two points behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who's making his second bid for the White House. Romney's two point margin over Perry is within the survey's sampling error.
The poll's Thursday release comes two days before Perry gives a speech at a major conservative gathering in South Carolina where his staff has indicated he will make his intentions for a presidential run clear. Later in the day Perry travels to New Hampshire to meet with GOP lawmakers, activists, and voters. Perry's travels Saturday come as the rest of the political spotlight will be shining on Iowa, for a crucial presidential straw poll in Ames. Perry heads to Iowa Sunday to speak at a Republican party gathering, which means he will visit three of the crucial early voting primary and caucus states this weekend.
The survey indicates that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who is making his third bid for the White House, are at 12 percent apiece. While both Giuliani, who ran for the presidency four years ago, and Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008, have flirted with bids, neither has taken concrete steps towards launching a campaign.
According to the poll, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has the support of seven percent, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at five percent, both former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain and former Utah Gov. and former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman at four percent, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at two percent. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan both register at less than one half of one percent.
If the choices are pared down to exclude Giuliani and Palin, Romney remains at the top of the list, with 23 percent, followed by Perry at 18 percent and Paul at 14 percent. The survey indicates Bachmann at nine percent, Gingrich one point back, Cain and Huntsman at five percent, Pawlenty and Santorum at three percent and Johnson and McCotter both registering at less than one half of one percent.
According to the poll, the GOP candidates and potential candidates match up differently against President Barack Obama in hypothetical 2012 general election showdowns. Giuliani has a 51-45 percent advantage over Obama among registered voters, while Romney matches up evenly against the President - 49 percent for Obama and 48 percent for Romney. But the survey indicates Obama appears to have a slight edge over Bachmann (51-45 percent) and Perry (51-46 percent) and Obama has a lead over Palin (55-41 percent).
The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International on August 5-7, with 1,008 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
RENOVATED NORTH DAVIDSON BUS FACILITY REOPENS ITS DOORS Charlotte, N.C., July 26, 2011 — Construction is almost complete and you are invited to come take a look inside the Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) North DavidsonBus Facility Renovation and Expansion Project on Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m. at 901 North Davidson Street.
Join Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, CATS CEO Carolyn Flowers, District 1 City Council Member Patsy Kinsey and Director of the Governor’s Piedmont Regional Office Bud Berro to see the refurbished facility that will improve the efficiency of bus operations and maintenance for up to 200 buses. Attendees can park in CATS Bus Lots 5 and 6 on McGill Garden Way. Signs will be posted.
The renovation and expansion project is the recipient of $20.7 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds through the Transit Capital Assistance Urbanized Program.
“CATS ridership has increased 100 percent within the past decade; this facility will be key in sustaining operations now and well into the future,” Mayor Anthony Foxx said. “This project was a bright spot during a time when we needed it most, it has helped put Charlotte businesses and citizens to work. Approximately 150 jobs were created throughout the last two years at this facility.
There are currently 21 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) contracts in the amount of over $1.4 million awarded as part of this project, which is extremely important for the sustainability of small businesses in our city,” said Foxx.
The renovations allow operational and maintenance improvements for up to 200 transit buses. Updated facility conditions include mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems as well as bus maintenance equipment. CATS Special Transportation Service, which operates 83 vehicles, will move its administration and operations to the North Davidson campus to provide more consolidated operations. A new, multi-level parking garage will provide ample space for employees working out of this facility.
“We are very excited to provide transit employees a more efficient building with added environmental benefits such as passive lighting and dual bus usage,” said Carolyn Flowers, CATS CEO. “The exterior changes also allow the buildings to better blend into the fabric of the nearby communities. None of this would have been possible at this time without the support and assistance received by this stimulus grant through the Federal Transit Administration.”
Exterior panels on the buildings, designed by North Carolina artist Jimmy O’Neal, depict the visual translations of actual sounds recorded at the facility. The maintenance building includes images from the sound of a bus operator’s announcement to passengers, a worker’s tool, the message heard by CATS bus operators when they start up a bus and the sound of bus brakes. The administration building images are from the sounds of a bus horn and wheel.
The CATS North Davidson Bus Facility is expected to resume full operations in late summer 2011. The facility was originally constructed in 1981 and includes a two-story administration/operations building, a three-level maintenance building and a fuel and wash facility.
To learn more about CATS and its services, please call 704-336-7433 or visit us on the web at www.ridetransit.org.
Because Pres. Obama Catered To GOP Leaders For 2 1/2 Years In The Spirit Of "Bi-Partisanship", A Lot Of Things His Administration Could've Done To Help ALL Americans (Black Middle Class Voters Too!) Went Lacking.
He Also Devoted Too Much Of His Time Propping Up Wall Street. i.e., Tax Cuts In The Stimulus Bill & Extending Bush Tax Cuts Last December.
Even Worse Is While Listening To His Chicago Advisers & Friends, Despite Millions Of Black & Hispanic Citizens Experiencing Obvious, Serious Racial Economic Backlash AFTER He Was Elected (By Those SAME Black & Hispanic Voters), Pres. Obama Chose To Stand Firmly On The False Premise Of "No Black Agenda Or No Urban Agenda" Being Necessary!
In His Quest To Prove To GOP Leaders He Wasn't Demonstrating Nepotism Towards Black Voters, NOTHING Or NOTHING MUCH Was Done To Help Blacks & Hispanics (Especially The Black Middle Class)!
And NOTHING Was Done To Stop Large Corporations That Received Huge Tax Cuts & Tax Breaks From The Federal Gov't, From Practicing Blatant Racial Discrimination Against Black & Hispanic Workers Or Job Applicants.
Instead Pres. Obama Just Continued Kissing Up To WHITE GOP Leaders Who Due To Him Having A BLACK Father, Will NEVER Respect Him Regardless Of His White Lineage Or Educational Achievements.
Let's Fast Foward To 2011.
How Have Those White GOP Leaders Repaid Him For All Of That Kissing Up?
Now They're Mocking Him & Intentionally Trying To Sink The U.S. Economy For 2012 Political Gain!
Fortunately For Pres. Obama The Black Community Is Very Forgiving Of Our Black Leaders.
We Will STILL Support Pres. Obama Thereby Providing Him With Another Chance To Prove Himself To Us.
We Can Only Hope That He Doesn't Betray Us Or Throw Us Under The Bus Again In Exchange For Approval From White GOP Leaders.
Millions of Americans endured financial calamities in the recession. But for many in the black community, job loss has knocked them out of the middle class and back into poverty. And some experts warn of a historic reversal of hard-won economic gains that took black people decades to achieve.
“History is going to say the black middle class was decimated” over the past few years, said Maya Wiley, director of the Center for Social Inclusion. “But we’re not done writing history.”
Adds Algernon Austin, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy: “The recession is not over for black folks.”
In 2004, the median net worth of white households was $134,280, compared with $13,450 for black households, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by the Economic Policy Institute. By 2009, the median net worth for white households had fallen 24 percent to $97,860; the median net worth for black households had fallen 83 percent to $2,170, according to the institute.
Austin described the wealth gap this way: “In 2009, for every dollar of wealth the average white household had, black households only had two cents.”
Austin thinks more black people than ever before could fall out of the middle class because the unemployment rate for college-educated blacks recently peaked and blacks are overrepresented in state and local government jobs. Those are jobs that are being eliminated because of massive budget shortfalls.
Since the end of the recession, which lasted from 2007 to 2009, the overall unemployment rate has fallen from 9.4 to 9.1 percent, while the black unemployment rate has risen from 14.7 to 16.2 percent, according to the Department of Labor. Last April, black male unemployment hit the highest rate since the government began keeping track in 1972. Only 56.9 percent of black men over 20 were working, compared with 68.1 percent of white men.
Even college-educated blacks fared worse than their white counterparts in the recession. In 2007, unemployment for college-educated whites was 1.8 percent; for college-educated blacks it was 2.7 percent. Now, the college-educated unemployment rate is 3.9 percent for whites and 7 percent for blacks.
Nearly 8 percent of African Americans who bought homes from 2005 to 2008 have lost them to foreclosure, compared with 4.5 percent of whites, according to an estimate by the Center for Responsible Lending.
Some see a bitter irony in soaring black unemployment and the decline of the black middle class on the watch of the first black president.
“I thought Barack Obama could have provided some way out. But he lacks backbone,” Princeton Professor Cornel West told truthdig.com recently.
West said Obama sold out the poor to become “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. . . . I don’t think in good conscience I could tell anybody to vote for Obama.”
Wiley said Obama should be applauded for several initiatives that have helped the black middle class, such as programs to modify certain mortgages and prevent foreclosure because of job loss. But she would like Obama to aggressively counter the suggestion that first black president would be showing favoritism if he specifically helped black people.
“It’s the right thing to do for the nation,” she said. “Black people are a huge segment of the population, they’re especially hard-hit, and the country cannot recover if the black community — as well as the white community and others — does not recover.”
The City of Charlotte's spending on police officers and firefighters is "financially unsustainable without large budget cuts or increased taxes," according to a task force appointed by Mayor Anthony Foxx that presented its yearlong study into the city's finances Monday night.
The warning is cold water to the city, which has so far survived the economic downturn mostly unscathed, at least compared with other governments, including Mecklenburg County.
The task force, chaired by Cyndee Patterson of The Lee Institute, said that the city's biggest problem is that it gives public safety employees raises annually that exceed the growth rate for other city employees.
An additional problem is that the city will lose federal stimulus dollars that have helped pay for 125 new police officers, leaving a $5.6 million hole in the budget by 2014.
The report said that by fiscal year 2013, police and fire expenses would outstrip property tax revenue that primarily pays for them. Public-safety represents 65 percent of the city's general fund.
"You don't have a lot of time to fix this," Patterson said.
The report projected escalating deficits, from roughly $4 million in fiscal 2013 to $23 million in fiscal 2015. A small property tax increase would likely only delay the problem, Patterson said.
City budget director Ruffin Hall said after Monday's workshop that outside factors could alter the expense and revenue lines, which project a shortfall in three years.
It's possible the economy could bounce back, spurring development and generating more property tax revenues.
On the expense side, the City Council could choose not to give public safety employees a typical pay plan, which is a 3 percent annual cost-of-living increase and occasional 5 percent step increases. There are 10 possible pay steps over a career for police officers, and eight steps for firefighters.
For fiscal 2010, as the economy soured, the city gave no raises to any employees. (The City Council did vote to give bonuses to City Manager Curt Walton and City Attorney Mac McCarley.)
For the current fiscal year, the City Council approved a 2.5 percent step increase for public safety employees and a 2 percent cost-of-living increase. Other city employees received 2 percent raises.
The city made roughly $10 million in budget cuts to fund that controversial pay increase, which cost the city roughly $6 million. Most Democrats supported the pay hike, while Republicans argued against the pay raises, saying the money should be saved.
The debate this summer came as the national and local economy was struggling, and city staff said upcoming budgets would be uncertain. But the council members hadn't seen the gloomy projection that Patterson's group presented Monday night.
Council member Edwin Peacock, a Republican, asked task force members whether they thought police and fire staffing was at the right level.
"You are stating we have something unsustainable," Peacock said. "Are we operating efficiently?"
The task force didn't comment on the staffing levels for police and fire, and whether they are appropriate. It did, however, suggest that the city could reduce pay increases and still be within pay levels of peer cities.
It noted that recent public-safety voluntary turnover rate is 1.2 percent, and that applicants had submitted over 1,500 applications for 100 police and fire vacancies. It also said that other cities have smaller step increases, or no step increases at all.
There were no representatives from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police or the Charlotte Fire Department at Monday's meeting.
Peacock asked: "In what job can you get an 8 percent raise (referring to a 5 percent step increase and a 3 percent cost-of-living increase)?"
Sam Bowles, vice president of Carousel Capital and a task force member, said, "We got into pretty strong debates about raises, but we concluded it wasn't in our purview to make that value judgment. We did conclude, regardless of what you feel, the current structure is unsustainable."
Foxx appointed the task force a year ago in hopes that it would scour the budget, looking for savings.
Patterson said that overall the city's finances are in good shape. With departments being run efficiently, it made it difficult to search for savings to cover the projected police and fire shortfall.
Only a year ago, Zack Vonlagen was hailed as a hero by Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Today, he was filing for unemployment.
Vonlagen, 25, was among 167 Newark police officers who were ordered to turn in their guns at several precincts throughout the city today as part of the biggest layoff of city police since 1978 — at a time of year when crime is at its peak, and in a year where violence is trending upward.
A member of the last graduating police academy in March, Vonlagen said he doesn’t regret his time with the Newark police. "This is what I’ve always wanted to do. I’d definitely do it again even if I knew what the outcome would be. It was almost like a dream come true."
Richard Velez, a two-year veteran, turned in his gun this afternoon at the city’s South Precinct.
"Right now we’re going to sit down and balance out a budget," he said of his wife and two young daughters. "Unfortunately, Christmas time is here. It’s going to be a short Christmas list."
After a sleepless night, Robert Andrews, 23, rose at 7 a.m. today and started looking for work.
"I’m on the computer right now," he said from his home. Andrews graduated from the police academy in July 2008, having left a job that paid him $60,000.
When he was laid off today, he was making $47,000.
"It’s not about money with me with this job. I’m concerned with the citizens," he said. "If it took 167 of us to bring Newark back, how can they go on without us?" The potential threat to public safety prompted a group of 50 Guardian Angels, the well-known vigilante group based in New York City, to patrol Newark’s West and South Wards tonight — their first foray into the city in almost 30 years.
"We’ll make citizens’ arrests, we’ll make physical interventions, we’ll chase drug dealers," said the group’s founder and president, Curtis Sliwa.
He said he had been inundated with calls from residents to patrol Newark’s streets.
Although Police Director Garry McCarthy and the mayor both insist the police reorganization will provide for the same number of officers on the streets, finger-pointing continued today between the administration and the union.
Booker and union president Derrick Hatcher blamed each other for the layoffs.
Booker assailed Hatcher for not putting the city’s proposal of $6.8 million in department cuts to a vote of the union membership.
"This is a guy who was sitting in a bubble," Booker said, telling Hatcher to "be a man of your word."
Hatcher accused the mayor of hiding the city’s budget crisis until after the May election and then blaming the union for the layoffs.
"We didn’t hire these individuals. He did, " Hatcher said. "He should put on his big-boy pants and say, ‘I’m going to take this on the chin.’"
Laid-off cops blamed both Booker and Hatcher for not putting aside their differences in the interest of saving jobs.
"We supported this city for a long time and committed to turning it around for a long time," Vonlagen said. "Our good effort and spirit were stomped on. A lot of hearts were broken. I lost faith in the city today. "
Respondents to a survey organized by a Charlotte community organization disagree with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police statistics showing a dropping crime rate in the city.
About 80 percent of the approximately 500 people who participated in the survey said the crime problem in Charlotte is either unchanged or has gotten worse over the past two years.
The study was conducted in recent weeks by Neighbors For A Safer Charlotte, a grassroots organization founded in April 2008.
Their study results contrast with a steady stream of monthly crime statistics from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, showing -- for the most part -- that the crime rate has been dropping over the past 12 to 18 months. Earlier this week, CMPD statistics through March showed the overall crime rate is down 15 percent since the same time a year ago.
The survey results show that if CMPD statistics are correct, the perception among residents is that crime remains a big problem.
Respondents did not fall into the "lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key" category, as most of them said they support more mental health and substance abuse programs -- and said they believe only violent offenders should be put in jail.
Here are results from some of the organization's questions:
How much of a problem do you feel crime is in the Charlotte area?
75% rated it "serious" or "very serious"
In the past two years, has crime in Charlotte increased, stayed the same, or decreased?
42% said it is worse. Another 38% said it has remained the same.
Do you own a gun for protection?
31% said they owned a gun. Another 18 percent said they are considering buying one.
Which factors tend to increase the crime problem locally?
91% said gang and drug activity.
83% said the absence of a responsible parent or role model tends to increase crime activity among juveniles.
75% said lenient sentencing equals more crime.
50% said racial tensions were not likely to contribute to crime.
Not rated as significant factors were unemployment and poverty, and the lack of a police presence.
Have the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County done enough to deal with the crime problem?
79% said more needs to be done.
Are the courts too lenient or too tough?
78% said they are too lenient.
Do you plan to vote in the District Attorney race in November?
91% said they plan to vote in that contest.
What would help solve the crime problem?
96% said tougher sentencing.
88% said more programs for juveniles outside regular school hours.
85% said more mental health and substance abuse programs.
70% said only violent offenders should be incarcerated.
Charlotte city officials are trying to pretend Crime is decreasing, however area residents can't be fooled.
We know that Crime within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region is actually getting worse!
Now here's some positive news from Urban America:
Thanks to Bold, Outstanding Leadership and a United Community effort (all ethnic & socio-economic groups working together) Newark, NJ's Murder rate is down.
In fact Newark was completely Murder-Free (March 2010) for the first time in 44 years!
Kudos to Mayor Corey Booker!
On the other hand Charlotte, NC’s Crime and Murder rates continues to rise.
Let’s see Newark is located in the heavily Diverse yet densely populated Northeastern United States, while Charlotte rests in the South with a population of less than 1 million people and is much less Diverse.
Could it be Mayor Booker actually knows what he's doing and actually cares about ALL his Constituents not just Wealthy, Caucasian citizens?
Could it be Mayor Booker, his Chief of Police and the County D.A.'s Office all realize it takes more than just locking up all Blacks & Hispanics to help resolve a citywide Crime crisis?
Or....
Could it be due to Mayor Booker investing useful, Academic type resources into the lives of his city's Minority Youth?
For example: After School programs, College Prep programs, Mentors, Summer Camps, Summer Jobs, etc.,
Perhaps all three efforts have contributed to Newark's recent dramatic drop in Crime.
Take a hint Charlotte!
Obviously our local "Leaders" don't know what the heck they are doing or they may need to just dump their Pride and communicate more with Mayors like Corey Booker for advice on how to fix Charlotte-Mecklenburg's growing Crime problem.
Hey I’m just saying, please don't hate the messenger.
Instead of becoming offended (Charlotte's local "leaders") over the contents of this revealing post, why not channel those energies into lowering the Crime rate in a Constructive, Unified manner?
To determine our list, we used violent crime statistics from the FBI's latest uniform crime report, issued in 2008.
The violent crime category is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
We evaluated U.S. Metropolitan statistical areas--geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by Federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics--with more than 500,000 residents.
The City of Charlotte's spending on police officers and firefighters is "financially unsustainable without large budget cuts or increased taxes," according to a task force appointed by Mayor Anthony Foxx that presented its yearlong study into the city's finances Monday night.
The warning is cold water to the city, which has so far survived the economic downturn mostly unscathed, at least compared with other governments, including Mecklenburg County.
The task force, chaired by Cyndee Patterson of The Lee Institute, said that the city's biggest problem is that it gives public safety employees raises annually that exceed the growth rate for other city employees.
An additional problem is that the city will lose Federal Stimulus Dollars that have helped pay for 125 new police officers, leaving a $5.6 million hole in the budget by 2014.
The report said that by fiscal year 2013, police and fire expenses would outstrip property tax revenue that primarily pays for them. Public-safety represents 65 percent of the city's general fund.
"You don't have a lot of time to fix this," Patterson said.
The report projected escalating deficits, from roughly $4 million in fiscal 2013 to $23 million in fiscal 2015. A small property tax increase would likely only delay the problem, Patterson said.
City budget director Ruffin Hall said after Monday's workshop that outside factors could alter the expense and revenue lines, which project a shortfall in three years.
It's possible the economy could bounce back, spurring development and generating more property tax revenues.
On the expense side, the City Council could choose not to give public safety employees a typical pay plan, which is a 3 percent annual cost-of-living increase and occasional 5 percent step increases. There are 10 possible pay steps over a career for police officers, and eight steps for firefighters.
For fiscal 2010, as the economy soured, the city gave no raises to any employees.
(The City Council did vote to give bonuses to City Manager Curt Walton and City Attorney Mac McCarley.)
For the current fiscal year, the City Council approved a 2.5 percent step increase for public safety employees and a 2 percent cost-of-living increase. Other city employees received 2 percent raises.
The city made roughly $10 million in budget cuts to fund that controversial pay increase, which cost the city roughly $6 million. Most Democrats supported the pay hike, while Republicans argued against the pay raises, saying the money should be saved.
The debate this summer came as the national and local economy was struggling, and city staff said upcoming budgets would be uncertain. But the council members hadn't seen the gloomy projection that Patterson's group presented Monday night.
Council member Edwin Peacock, a Republican, asked task force members whether they thought police and fire staffing was at the right level.
"You are stating we have something unsustainable," Peacock said. "Are we operating efficiently?"
The task force didn't comment on the staffing levels for police and fire, and whether they are appropriate. It did, however, suggest that the city could reduce pay increases and still be within pay levels of peer cities.
It noted that recent public-safety voluntary turnover rate is 1.2 percent, and that applicants had submitted over 1,500 applications for 100 police and fire vacancies. It also said that other cities have smaller step increases, or no step increases at all.
There were no representatives from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police or the Charlotte Fire Department at Monday's meeting.
Peacock asked: "In what job can you get an 8 percent raise (referring to a 5 percent step increase and a 3 percent cost-of-living increase)?"
Sam Bowles, vice president of Carousel Capital and a task force member, said, "We got into pretty strong debates about raises, but we concluded it wasn't in our purview to make that value judgment. We did conclude, regardless of what you feel, the current structure is unsustainable."
Foxx appointed the task force a year ago in hopes that it would scour the budget, looking for savings.
Patterson said that overall the city's finances are in good shape. With departments being run efficiently, it made it difficult to search for savings to cover the projected police and fire shortfall.
Only a year ago, Zack Vonlagen was hailed as a hero by Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Today, he was filing for unemployment.
Vonlagen, 25, was among 167 Newark police officers who were ordered to turn in their guns at several precincts throughout the city today as part of the biggest layoff of city police since 1978 — at a time of year when crime is at its peak, and in a year where violence is trending upward.
A member of the last graduating police academy in March, Vonlagen said he doesn’t regret his time with the Newark police. "This is what I’ve always wanted to do. I’d definitely do it again even if I knew what the outcome would be. It was almost like a dream come true."
Richard Velez, a two-year veteran, turned in his gun this afternoon at the city’s South Precinct.
"Right now we’re going to sit down and balance out a budget," he said of his wife and two young daughters. "Unfortunately, Christmas time is here. It’s going to be a short Christmas list."
After a sleepless night, Robert Andrews, 23, rose at 7 a.m. today and started looking for work.
"I’m on the computer right now," he said from his home. Andrews graduated from the police academy in July 2008, having left a job that paid him $60,000.
When he was laid off today, he was making $47,000.
"It’s not about money with me with this job. I’m concerned with the citizens," he said. "If it took 167 of us to bring Newark back, how can they go on without us?" The potential threat to public safety prompted a group of 50 Guardian Angels, the well-known vigilante group based in New York City, to patrol Newark’s West and South Wards tonight — their first foray into the city in almost 30 years.
"We’ll make citizens’ arrests, we’ll make physical interventions, we’ll chase drug dealers," said the group’s founder and president, Curtis Sliwa.
He said he had been inundated with calls from residents to patrol Newark’s streets.
Although Police Director Garry McCarthy and the mayor both insist the police reorganization will provide for the same number of officers on the streets, finger-pointing continued today between the administration and the union.
Booker and union president Derrick Hatcher blamed each other for the layoffs.
Booker assailed Hatcher for not putting the city’s proposal of $6.8 million in department cuts to a vote of the union membership.
"This is a guy who was sitting in a bubble," Booker said, telling Hatcher to "be a man of your word."
Hatcher accused the mayor of hiding the city’s budget crisis until after the May election and then blaming the union for the layoffs.
"We didn’t hire these individuals. He did, " Hatcher said. "He should put on his big-boy pants and say, ‘I’m going to take this on the chin.’"
Laid-off cops blamed both Booker and Hatcher for not putting aside their differences in the interest of saving jobs.
"We supported this city for a long time and committed to turning it around for a long time," Vonlagen said. "Our good effort and spirit were stomped on. A lot of hearts were broken. I lost faith in the city today. "
Respondents to a survey organized by a Charlotte community organization disagree with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police statistics showing a dropping crime rate in the city.
About 80 percent of the approximately 500 people who participated in the survey said the crime problem in Charlotte is either unchanged or has gotten worse over the past two years.
The study was conducted in recent weeks by Neighbors For A Safer Charlotte, a grassroots organization founded in April 2008.
Their study results contrast with a steady stream of monthly crime statistics from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, showing -- for the most part -- that the crime rate has been dropping over the past 12 to 18 months. Earlier this week, CMPD statistics through March showed the overall crime rate is down 15 percent since the same time a year ago.
The survey results show that if CMPD statistics are correct, the perception among residents is that crime remains a big problem.
Respondents did not fall into the "lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key" category, as most of them said they support more mental health and substance abuse programs -- and said they believe only violent offenders should be put in jail.
Here are results from some of the organization's questions:
How much of a problem do you feel crime is in the Charlotte area?
75% rated it "serious" or "very serious"
In the past two years, has crime in Charlotte increased, stayed the same, or decreased?
42% said it is worse. Another 38% said it has remained the same.
Do you own a gun for protection?
31% said they owned a gun. Another 18 percent said they are considering buying one.
Which factors tend to increase the crime problem locally?
91% said gang and drug activity.
83% said the absence of a responsible parent or role model tends to increase crime activity among juveniles.
75% said lenient sentencing equals more crime.
50% said racial tensions were not likely to contribute to crime.
Not rated as significant factors were unemployment and poverty, and the lack of a police presence.
Have the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County done enough to deal with the crime problem?
79% said more needs to be done.
Are the courts too lenient or too tough?
78% said they are too lenient.
Do you plan to vote in the District Attorney race in November?
91% said they plan to vote in that contest.
What would help solve the crime problem?
96% said tougher sentencing.
88% said more programs for juveniles outside regular school hours.
85% said more mental health and substance abuse programs.
70% said only violent offenders should be incarcerated.
Charlotte city officials are trying to pretend Crime is decreasing, however area residents can't be fooled.
We know that Crime within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region is actually getting worse!
Now here's some positive news from Urban America:
Thanks to Bold, Outstanding Leadership and a United Community effort (all ethnic & socio-economic groups working together) Newark, NJ's Murder rate is down.
In fact Newark was completely Murder-Free (March 2010) for the first time in 44 years!
Kudos to Mayor Corey Booker!
On the other hand Charlotte, NC’s Crime and Murder rates continues to rise.
Let’s see Newark is located in the heavily Diverse yet densely populated Northeastern United States, while Charlotte rests in the South with a population of less than 1 million people and is much less Diverse.
Could it be Mayor Booker actually knows what he's doing and actually cares about ALL his Constituents not just Wealthy, Caucasian citizens?
Could it be Mayor Booker, his Chief of Police and the County D.A.'s Office all realize it takes more than just locking up all Blacks & Hispanics to help resolve a citywide Crime crisis?
Or....
Could it be due to Mayor Booker investing useful, Academic type resources into the lives of his city's Minority Youth?
For example: After School programs, College Prep programs, Mentors, Summer Camps, Summer Jobs, etc.,
Perhaps all three efforts have contributed to Newark's recent dramatic drop in Crime.
Take a hint Charlotte!
Obviously our local "Leaders" don't know what the heck they are doing or they may need to just dump their Pride and communicate more with Mayors like Corey Booker for advice on how to fix Charlotte-Mecklenburg's growing Crime problem.
Hey I’m just saying, please don't hate the messenger.
Instead of becoming offended (Charlotte's local "leaders") over the contents of this revealing post, why not channel those energies into lowering the Crime rate in a Constructive, Unified manner?
To determine our list, we used violent crime statistics from the FBI's latest uniform crime report, issued in 2008.
The violent crime category is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
We evaluated U.S. Metropolitan statistical areas--geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by Federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics--with more than 500,000 residents.
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