San Diego is just one of those cities that have had serious financial problems for a long time, but now the options are running out.

A private task force of prominent local business leaders formed by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is recommending the city file for bankruptcy unless it undergoes a series of urgent and drastic fiscal reforms, according to a draft of the group's report.
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For six weeks, the mayor and his deputies have insisted that the national and local economic recessions, not structural financial problems, are the primary drivers of the city's current $200 million deficit. In contrast, the draft states that "virtually all" of the deficit is structural, meaning the city is set up to spend more money than it takes in.