San Bernardino Mayor: 'Very Dark Day' After Bankruptcy Vote

San Bernardino's city council voted to seek bankruptcy protection Tuesday — making it the third community in California to file in the last two weeks.

San Bernardino mayor Patrick Morris agreed that it is not the kind of day mayors like to see.

"Some would say it's a very dark day," he said. "We've been hit by a perfect financial storm."

Morris pointed to the recession, high pension costs and labor contracts that were agreed to before the economic downturn as causes.

But in the Los Angeles Times, the city attorney said that city budget officials falsified budget documents that were given to the mayor, hiding deficit spending.

As The Los Angeles Times report:

City Atty. James Penman said city budget officials had falsified documents presented to the mayor and council for 13 of the last 16 years, masking the city's deficit spending.

"For the last 16 years the budget prepared for the council showed the city was in the black," Penman said, not naming those allegedly responsible. "The mayor and the council were not given accurate documents."

Morris said he was unaware of whether the claims were true.