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"We were able to say to our employees that we were going after bondholders as well." Robert Stout, the former finance director of Vallejo, Calif., which ended its three-year stay in bankruptcy protection last November. (Image: David Graham)
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"It's the single biggest problem for cities." Former Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, speaking about getting more income for cities from nonprofit organizations that don't pay taxes. (Image: David Graham)
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"Bankruptcy does not connote default and default does not connote bankruptcy." Piper Jaffray & Co. managing director Yaffa Rattner. (Image: David Graham)
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"Cities are starting to clarify what they'll pay and not pay." Jon Schotz, a co-portfolio manager with Saybrook Capital. (Image: David Graham)
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"We have relationships with our clients and when we have issues, we try to work things through. Most of the time we are successful. There are times when local politics comes into play. We need politicians with the guts to say, 'We made this commitment.'" David Penchoff, chief credit officer for municipal finance with bond insurer Assured Guaranty Corp. (Image: David Graham)
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"I realized that it's incumbent for a city coming out of receivership, you have to take a good, hard look at how you communicate with investors for the long term." Nancy Winkler, Philadelphia's city treasurer (Image: David Graham)
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"When you're a city manager, you go through a honeymoon stage. In Ecorse, nobody was happy to see me." Joyce Parker, emergency manager for the city of Ecorse, Mich. (Image: David Graham)
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"There are so few data points on Chapter 9 bankruptcies; we're reading all the tea leaves… In the 1980s, the stigma of corporate-style bankruptcy faded away. Recently, the same thing happened with the residential housing collapse. Bankruptcy is seen as a strategy. Could something like this happen in municipal bankruptcies? Certainly that's something we'll be curious about." Naomi Richman, a managing director for public finance at Moody's Investors Service.
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