Comments on: What are the core functions of a city?

By: KenO

KenO — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:09:53 +0000

Core functions of city: security, water, food.

By: KenO

KenO — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:08:26 +0000

Oakland is just another speck of light in the nebula of what some people call “complex systems.”

It’s a city based on industrial civilization.

We’re leaving that phase of human existence.

Examples:

* NASA ending space shuttle program, laying off 28,000 people in Broward County, Florida
* People downshifting from SUVs to Civics, Civics to Mopeds, Mopeds to bicycles
* People cramming in tighter into living spaces: house to apartment, more bodies per apartment, moving in with kids or moving in with parents
* Buying less consumer crap 90% of which ended up in the dump 6 months later anyway
* Using less electricity

The city needs to become far less complex. By choice or forced to, it will happen. The city’s budget will shrink every year it still exists… which means we’ll see ever more corruption and bribes to get services, regulatory compliance, avoid penalties…

I can forsee the day when City of Oakland breaks down into smaller, more manageable towns led by “big men” — the way life was in the late 1800s/ early 1900s.

By: len raphael

len raphael — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:03:58 +0000

there is a saying that the main function of city govt should be police and potholes. add fire, libraries and planning, maybe trees.

By: David

David — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:51:37 +0000

You need to adjust the mortality rates for smoking (in cops, twice as high as general population) and drinking, along with, probably most importantly, premature death due to suicide.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:17:29 +0000

while i haven’t done much research in this area, while trying to validate the age, i came across information which led me to believe that the people responsible for managing public employee retirement funds use 2 actuarial tables. One table s for the overall civilian pop. the second is for law enforcement personnel.

not sure if their is any need to address staffing needs as the deaths are coming post retirement. what would hte insurance be used for?

By: len

len — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:20:17 +0000

partly curious whether the projections for cost of retirement medical/dental benefits (i’m assuming it’s pay as you go as it is for the other city employees, which might be incorrect) use the 56, 66 or something higher.

but mostly if there is a very premature likely age of death, i’d say either we have to make staffing changes or increase their compensation or buy some kind of insurance policies for them.

but my skepticism comes from an extremely skewed sample of military combat officer rank vets. where it seems that the ones who got past age say 35, live out a normal life span. no, i haven’t looked for any stats on this.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:25:39 +0000

len, here is a link to an actual study which shows an average age at death of 66. I skimmed the article but it is clear that the stressors of the job contribute to behaviors that lead to premature death.

http://www.cophealth.com/articles/articles_dying_a.html

again the 56/57 is an oft used age but i haven’t seen what supports it.

just out of curiosity, why do you seem skeptical of this premature death?

By: len

len — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:59:37 +0000

very high divorce rate i’d expect. probably increased by opd more recent scheduling.

but early mortality overall?

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:15:41 +0000

I don’t have any stats, but I did know this one former Oakland Police Officer who was in the process of getting a psychology degree with which he was going to use to help other Oakland cops with their issues. He mentioned that it’s quite common for cops under that level of stress to have domestic problems of their own when they get home.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:11:58 +0000

len, it is true for almost all law enforcement officers that the incidence of firing while on duty is low, but the number of stressful situations, which includes situations where the gun is not drawn, is high.