If you want to see what truly majestic structure that over $100,000, 000 will buy go to Avocado in Newport Beach and look at the new City Hall under instruction. A thing of beauty of great cost. Our problem may be we have to much sand for our city fathers to stick their heads into to ignore the winds of insolvency howling through the cities of this state.

                     Find the Right Color

The financial chaos and overspending thrust

Has just caused three California cities to bight the dust

Too much pensions, too much salaries with an economy in a long term stall

No wonder that cities across the state have their backs up against the wall

There is also a sign of spending on projects to the max

Even in a time of falling revenue from all sources of tax

This city ran well for many years in buildings nondescript

They somehow worked and kept us out a financial crypt

But if you work in the shadow of luxury mansions and yachts

A more majestic place of government is what most employees sought

Go up Avocado to see workings on a $100,000,000 recreation of our surf

White wave upon white wave on the roof moving on a line up the turf

The crash of the white waves you can almost hear

Close your eyes and you can see the surfers running for their gear

An ocean’s foam and spray you can almost feel

As a design for a city hall this is the real deal

Save for one detail somewhat overlooked

As growing liabilities flow over our city’s books

These waves like Stockton may be pushing us over the brink

As a warning they perhaps should be painted not white but pink

The only silver to be found is that the library is so close

Our city fathers may find a book on fiscal sanity now that we need it most.

© July 13, 2012 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet