Between where I live and where Wirecutter lives is the medium sized valley town of Stockton.  It's a typical small city around here, with lots of newish suburbs, some bad areas, and a struggling downtown that the town fathers have tried to revive over the past five or ten years by sinking lots of money into.  Looks a lot better now, I have to admit, than it did when I first started traveling there for business back in the 80's.

Today, the town of Stockton declared bankruptcy.   Perhaps this is the best way to get out from under their obligations, but it still is going to mean a tough couple of years for those who work there.

A pundit had this to say about the whole situation:

   "The underlying driver of Stockton's insolvency is CalPERS, the state retirement system. The system is mired in corruption and is one of the main drivers forcing Stockton and other California cities toward bankruptcy. State pension costs have risen from "$611 million in 2001 to $3.5 billion in 2010" even as fund managers have made a series of poor investments and manipulated figures to cover up losses.

However state law says payments to Calpers are mandatory meaning Stockton can not reduce its payments to the system except in bankruptcy. Judge Klein did suggest that changes in the city's obligation to CalPERS could be part of bankruptcy proceedings. "

Let's hope Stockton can bounce back, and perhaps even show the way for similar cities how to solve the seemingly unsolvable problem of civic and public insolvency.