Special Report: How a vicious circle of self-interest sank a California city

Special Report: How a vicious circle of self-interest sank a California city | Reuters
The mayor blamed a dysfunctional city council and greedy police and fire unions.
The unions blamed the mayor.
Even now, there is little agreement on how the city got into this crisis or how it can extricate itself.

"It's total political chaos," said John Husing, a former San Bernardino resident and regional economist.
"There is no solution.
They'll never fix anything."

Yet on close examination, the city's decades-long journey from prosperous, middle-class community to bankrupt, crime-ridden, foreclosure-blighted basket case is straightforward — and alarmingly similar to the path traveled by many municipalities around America's largest state.
San Bernardino succumbed to a vicious circle of self-interests among city workers, local politicians and state pension overseers.