Thursday January 8 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Teen designer Kira Plastinina's U.S. store chain files for bankruptcy - (www.latimes.com) A rough economy and belt-tightening shoppers force the Moscow teen queen's chain to file for Chapter 7 seven months after its debut. The chain had plans to open 250 stores in the U.S.

School district hires developer's law firm to recover $4.5 million spent in Neal School litigation - (www.pleasantonweekly.com) The interesting note about this story is how much the overpaid administrators of this monopoly school district are getting paid. For example, note the following. And we are wondering why state and local governments are bankrupt: This is all for superintendent John Casey:
- Salary of $250K per year, 10 holidays per year (more if another state holiday occurs on a weekend), 24 days of vacation per year (5 weeks), $5,000 per year for life insurance, $10,000 per year into a tax sheltered annuity, $1,000 per month as a transportation allowance for use of his personal vehicle,
- Once retired receives taxpayer paid medical, dental and vision insurance for himself and his spouse until he reaches 65;
- $200K loan to purchase his Pleasanton house (he has more than one home), interest free until 18 months after he leaves the district.
- Items like expense accounts, travel, cell phones would not be part of a contract so the only way to find these is to look at the budget for the superintendent's department. You should also be able to get a detailed report of those types of expenses if you contacted the district. That is all public information and through the public information act the district has to give this to anybody who asks.
- The superintendent budgets $13,000 for travel, $1660 for meals, $7000 for office supplies. For superintendent communications, which includes the public information officer, travel, office supplies and such is $175,150.

Consumer confidence index at all-time low - (money.cnn.com) A key measure of consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in December amid a dismal job market and uncertain outlook for the new year. The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 38 in December from the downwardly revised 44.7 in November. Economists were expecting the index to increase to 45.5, according to a Briefing.com consensus survey of economists. "The further erosion of the Consumer Confidence Index reflects the rapid and steep deterioration of economic conditions that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2008," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a statement. Wachovia senior economist Mark Vitner said that assessment is "right on the money."

Pleasanton Hotel restaurant to close New Year's Day - (www.pleasantonweekly.com) The restaurant in the Pleasanton Hotel will close Jan 1 with an auction house coming in to sell off the furnishings Jan. 14, it was announced yesterday. The Pleasanton Hotel is located at 855 Main St. downtown. The closing follows the sudden shutdown of the Oak House, in the Cheese Factory Building across the street from Pleasanton Hotel. Its owners left without any public announcement other than posting a "Closed" sign on the front door. Pleasanton Hotel restaurant owner Bill Laube said he was unable to reach a lease-renewal agreement with the hotel building's owner Sue Martinovich of Alamo after several months of negotiations. Up until Wednesday, Laube had been meeting with Martinovich's representatives in hopes of persuading her to extend his lease. He said that would have given him time to honor a number of banquet and wedding reception commitments already made for the restaurant as well as to allow Martinovich to show the facility to the potential rrestaurant operators she is soliciting while the existsing restaurant is still operating.

Natural gas leak ruled out as cause of 'suspicious' fire - (www.pleasantonweekly.com) Police are eliminating a natural gas leak as one of the possible causes of an explosion and house fire on East Angela Street early last month, but remain tight-lipped as they continue their investigation. Last week, police for the first time classified the fire as having a "suspicious" nature, but said little more. The Zuffa family, which also includes Deonna Zuffa's husband Keith and their two sons, owned classic cars and go-karts, which they stored in their three-car garage along with gasoline containers. Sgt. Knox declined to say whether the containers may have ignited the blaze. Records show the single-story, four bedroom home, which was built in 1996, was sold for $75,000 in a foreclosure sale on Sept. 30 to Marilyn and Richard Greenberg, or the Greenberg Trust. The 2,300-square-foot home has a market value of $940,000. The Zuffas filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on June 2, 2008, according to records from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland. The case was dismissed on Oct. 30, but it is still considered an open matter and a future court date of Feb. 9, 2009 exists, a deputy court commissioner confirmed. A notice of trustee sale was issued for the home last May 2. A house will go into foreclosure if a homeowner misses three consecutive mortgage payments. California foreclosure law states that on the day that was established for sale of the property, and only after all publication period requirements have been met, the property can be sold to the highest bidder for cash for the full amount of the debt plus a foreclosure fee and expenses. If no one bids at the trustee's sale, the property automatically reverts back to the beneficiary for the debt.

Commentary: State bankruptcy new concern for city - (www.pleasantonweekly.com) Already, since 1992 when the state shifted the allocation of local property tax revenues from local government to "educational revenue augmentation funds" (ERAFs), cities, counties and special districts have seen $7.5 billion taken away to meet ongoing state budget crises. This has included $100 million from Pleasanton, taxpayers' money that otherwise might have been used for a new library or to build out Bernal Community Park. That state grab stopped with Proposition 1A, which voters approved in 2006, a measure that placed strict rules on just how frequently and with what penalties Sacramento could take money from city and county coffers. Now, however, there's a new concern. With more California cities facing bankruptcy and the state, itself, grappling with a $41 billion budget crisis that California State Controller John Chiang says gives it less than 70 days from running out of cash, Fialho and Culver have new concerns how state bankruptcy would affect financial agreements with its cities and counties. Not long ago, it was ludicrous to think that a city could go bankrupt, but Vallejo now has and Isleton and Rio Vista, small towns about 30 miles from Pleasanton, have begun consulting with bankruptcy lawyers. The state's Pooled Money Investment Board has already shut off the flow of $3.8 billion in loans to finance about 2,000 infrastructure projects. That's expected to idle 200,000 private-sector workers and cost the state economy $12.5 billion, according to Chiang. Last Monday, Fialho received an email from the League of California Cities notifying him that because of the financial crisis, major capital projects have come to a grinding halt. That no doubt will affect work on new eastbound carpool lanes under construction in Pleasanton's section of Interstate 580. It could also mean a slowdown in other state-financed improvements, including the widening of Highway 84. Fialho has also been told not to expect the second installment of $187 million from Proposition 1B, money used locally for street resurfacing and other roadway improvement projects.


OTHER STORIES:

Flat-screen TVs to face energy-efficiency rules in California - (www.latimes.com) Starting in 2011, state regulators want retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models of power hungry LCD and plasma sets. The industry opposes the new rules and warns of higher prices.
Foreign professionals in U.S. fret as layoffs mount - (www.latimes.com) The loss of a job could mean an unscheduled trip home for those in the country on work visas or seeking green cards.
Amid financial crunch, health clubs get in shape to keep members - (www.latimes.com) Discounts and increased marketing budgets are among the strategies to attract and retain customers beyond the new year's surge.
Economic downturn could change tastes in housing - (www.latimes.com) One expert foresees smaller homes built closer together. Trends point toward higher-quality materials and energy efficiency.
L.A. County judges may face a steep cut in pay - (www.latimes.com) A legal battle looms after a program hiking jurists' compensation in L.A. County is ruled unconstitutional.

House Prices Fell at Their Sharpest Pace in October - (www.nytimes.com)
Record house price plunge reported - (www.denverpost.com)
More record house price declines - (themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com)
House prices off record 18% in past year - (www.marketwatch.com)
Case-Shiller Numbers, By Metro Area - (blogs.wsj.com)
$600,000 to $326,968 in Sonoma County, CA - (healdsburgbubble.blogspot.com)
Historical House Price Changes - (www.miamicondoforum.com)

Stanford Economist Says Fed Policy "Excessive" in 2003 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bernankes bond market bash - (www.livemint.com)
Bailout legacy will be inflation - (msnbc.msn.com)
The New Treasury Bond Owner's Manual: Phantom Bonds - (www.newgeography.com)
Printing Money -- and Its Price - (www.nytimes.com)
Sacramento Market Meltdown Visualization 2006-2008 - (sacrealstats.blogspot.com)
England Consumer Inflation, Residential Deflation Forecast 2009 - (www.marketoracle.co.uk)
In which Suffering was a Waste - (www.wondermark.com)