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Showing posts with label bankrutcy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bankrutcy. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Prospect voters choose to abolish Fire Department

Residents of the Village of Prospect voted Tuesday to abolish its Fire Department.
The 82-46 vote comes as the village faces possible bankruptcy as it struggles to cope with a 2008 workers compensation claim from a volunteer firefighter that amounts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, any fire in Prospect will be covered primarily by Barneveld’s department, and also by Remsen, Mayor Fran Righi said. The Prospect fire station likely will become a satellite station.

“As of right now, the village owns all their assets,” Righi said of the Prospect Fire Department. “As of 8 a.m., the tones will not sound, we will be changing the locks and taking an inventory.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, there was a slow but steady trickle of voters coming to the Prospect Village municipal building to vote.

The sky was clear, the scent of wood smoke hung in the air and the clock at the corner of Upper State and Summit streets pointed to high noon.

Of the roughly 175 people eligible to vote, 128 cast ballots. Few, however, would disclose to the media their decision.

“I’m for the Fire Department,” said resident Kim Fazekas. “I think there is a different solution.”
But George Zacek said he had voted to abolish the department.

“The way it is structured now, there’s just a small number of families that are liable for every comp case that arises,” he said. “It puts a tremendous burden on the...
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Friday, July 19, 2013

Detroit's Bankruptcy Signals a Failure in Disability Compensation Programs in the US

The bankruptcy of the city of Detroit reflects not only an economic and social tragedy for America, but it also marks a failure of basic disability and compensation programs for the US workers. It is a sentinel event marking the end of a booming industrial era for the US, and its disability and retirement programs, and demonstrates the consequences of a benefit scheme built on empty promises for injured workers.

"Once the very symbol of American industrial might, Detroit became the biggest U.S. city to file for

bankruptcy Thursday, its finances ravaged and its neighborhoods hollowed out by a long, slow decline in population and auto manufacturing.

"The filing, which had been feared for months, put the city on an uncertain course that could mean laying off municipal employees, selling off assets, raising fees and scaling back basic services such as trash collection and snow plowing, which have already been slashed.