First Vallejo, now Stockton as California municipalities join sister jurisdictions in the South and New England in the bankruptcy club.  True trickle down at work here: Once anti-tax zealots gained a stranglehold over federal and state legislatures, the aid spigot for local services such as public safety and education was shut down.  And the folks who live in cities such as Stockton don’t have the werewithal to fully fund their schools, cops or firefighters.  “It’s on them” say the anti-tax ayatollahs, as if educating kids serves only the locality or crime never spills over to the next town. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/us/stockton-california-heads-for-bankruptcy-court.html?smid=pl-share

Though this story is about yet another government operation in Pennsylvania that rose from the dead after an elected leader was shown the door, most jurisdictions in the state continue to elect leaders for basic business functions that need professional management but instead get political operatives who can pay little attention to how effectively things run.    New team brings Clerk of Court’s office into the 21st century.