Problems bringing Glendale to its knees

Those of us that were raised in Glendale remember a town that was fiscally conservative and the letter that was recently sent to us by the city of Glendale Water & Power re: the exorbitant rate increases would have been impossible.

Recently, Glendale has followed the path of many California cities and has reached a point where public institutions have allowed their salaries, pensions and benefits to crush our once-stable city economy. This is truly unconscionable.

We are little different now than the cities of Los Angeles, Fresno and Stockton. Glendale organizations/unions have continued to place the burden created by unsustainable salaries, pensions, and associated benefits on our city’s private sector.

During the recent debates associated with our city council’s election, there were those that bragged about correcting this problem. That was truly laughable, for the deficits associated with these public organizations are still raging out of control. We truly don’t know how Stephen Zurn and other Glendale leaders have the nerve to ask for more money before they correct the financial cancers that are bringing our city to its knees.

Just imagine talking to your grandparents about a group of people that work 20 to 30 years and retire with a pension and benefits that approximates their last year of employment. They would either laugh in your face or cry for you, your children and your grandchildren.

Kym Murphy
Glendale