经济学人下载:商业天堂还是贼窝?

Mr Perez has some good reasons. Two of Vernon’s former city officials are facing criminal corruption charges and a former mayor has already been convicted. Their alleged shenanigans included rigged salaries, outlandish expenses and perks. Vernon has usually appointed its officials, rather than electing them, since positions were not even contested. The few residents, since they live in city housing, have been politically tractable.

佩雷斯拥有一些很好的理由。两名弗农市前任官员正面临着腐败刑事指控，一名前任市长已被判刑。他们据称所采取的诡计包括：工资造假、过高的开支与津贴。因为岗位无人争夺，所以弗农市通常任命官员，而不是举行选举。由于为数不多的居民住在城市所提供的住宅中，因此他们在政治方面易受摆布。

But for Vernon’s businesses disincorporation is a step too far. After all, Vernon is really meant to be run for their benefit, not for that of the 96 residents. To a large extent, Vernon represents all that is left of manufacturing industry in Los Angeles County. Who else in Los Angeles these days would welcome belching trucks and slaughterhouses? If Vernon loses its independence, its businessmen say, its electricity company (now city-owned) will have to increase its rates, thus erasing a crucial competitive advantage. Eric Gustafson, the third-generation manager of a family-run maker of lards and shortenings, says that “if Vernon were not a city we wouldn’t be here,” and “if we’re forced to move, we’re not staying in this state.” He’d move his firm to the Midwest, he reckons.

不过对弗农市商界来说，撤市之举走得太远。毕竟，弗农市的运作实际上是旨在服务于商界的利益，而非96名居民的利益。在很大程度上，弗农市代表着洛杉矶县仅存的全部制造业。如今，该县还有谁会欢迎排着浓烟的卡车与屠宰场呢？该市商人指出，如果弗农市失去了独立地位，那么如今由城市所拥有的电力公司将不得不提高电价，而这会令弗农市失去一个关键的竞争优势。一个生产猪油和酥油的家族企业的第三代经理埃里克．古丝塔森(Eric Gustafson)表示：“如果弗农不是一座城市，那我们就不会在这里”，而“如果我们被迫搬走，我们将不会待在加州”。他觉得自己的公司会搬到中西部地区。

The threat of job losses and a new manufacturing exodus naturally gets legislators’ attention at a time when California has barely begun recovering from recession. Mr Perez thinks the threats are overblown. But Vernon, and most of its business customers, plan to fight his bill in the state senate, then on the governor’s desk and in the courts.

在加州刚刚勉强开始从经济衰退中走向复苏之际，工作岗位流失以及新的制造业外逃的威胁自然会引起立法者的关注。佩雷斯认为这种威胁被夸大了。但是弗农市及该市大多数商业客户却计划着在州参议院对佩雷斯的法案进行抗击，之后还将在州长和法庭那里继续斗争。

Even if they prevail, however, Mr Perez’s bill will have done some good. Vernon’s defence strategy is to reform itself voluntarily and aggressively so that corruption will cease even without disincorporation, says Mark Whitworth, the current city administrator and fire chief. There will be term limits for officials, caps on salaries, transparency in housing and so forth. After all, why get rid of an honest city? This bit of the peculiar municipal quilt that is Los Angeles may just persist.

然而，即便他们获得了胜利，佩雷斯的法案仍将带来一些益处。弗农市现任市长及消防队长指出，该市的防御对策是对自身进行自愿而激烈的改革，因此即便不撤市，腐败也将得以终止。改革措施还包括官员任期限制、工资上限、房产透明管理等等。毕竟，为什么要撤销一座诚实的城市呢？洛杉矶这座四处铺开的独特城市中的这一角，或许仍将坚持存在下去。