THE DECISION: Officials in Stockton, Calif., population 290,000, failed to close a $26 million budget gap and now plan to make theirs the largest U.S. city ever to seek bankruptcy court protection. It’s taking the mantle from Bridgeport, Conn., population 144,000, which sought but didn’t win protection in 1991.
LAST RESORT: Leaders said long-struggling Stockton, which has dramatically cut staff and services, was done in by the recession, pension and health care costs and contractual obligations.
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POPULAR MOVE: It’s costly and destabilizing, but 13 U.S. cities, counties and other government bodies sought bankruptcy last year, the most in any year since 1994.
