Far West

Natwar Gandhi, the District of Columbia's chief financial officer, says that while it's time to retire from his post, he would have liked to have explored the idea of a public-private partnership to fund the district's infrastructure needs and find a way to help the poor given the city's narrow tax base.

An agreement on funding new and renewed transportation infrastructure could be the basis of a bipartisan budget deal, President Barack Obama said Friday at the Port of New Orleans in south Louisiana.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday announced that LeeAnn Gaunt will lead its enforcement division's municipal securities and public pensions unit, replacing Elaine Greenberg, who left to join a law firm.

The SEC's enforcement action against participants in the Regional Events Center Public Facilities District's arena deal shows that the commission will not shy from seeking financial penalties against municipal issuers and transaction participants, market participants said.

Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy plan will eliminate dozens of suits, restructure debt, and offer the sewer system "a fresh start," court documents said.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Fresno, Calif.'s subordinate lien water revenue bonds to A-plus based on weakening finances.

The Maryland Transit Administration plans to seek bids soon for a private partner willing to provide up to $900 million of funding for a $2.2 billion light-rail line in the northern suburbs of Washington following Gov. Martin O'Malley's and the state Board of Public Works' unanimous approval of the P3 competitive solicitation process.

The municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, received Standard & Poor's top rating based on improved finances and the agency's new local general obligation bond criteria.

The bankrupt city of Stockton, Calif., is planning to sell $55 million of water revenue bonds next week to convert its outstanding variable rate bonds to fixed-rate.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the issuer rating for Torrance Memorial Medical Center to A3 even as the Southern California hospital looked to complete construction on its new patient tower six months early.