Recovery? Good Luck With That.

Back in the days of the last big recession to his this area, I sold advertising to car dealers. Long about 1992, my territory generated around $2 million in revenue from the following stores:

Center Chevrolet-Geo

Holiday Olds-Mazda

Royal Chrysler-Plymouth

Kennedy Cadillac

San Bernardino Lincoln-Mercury

Somebody's Pontiac Jeep-Eagle

Somebody's Acura

Somebody's Hyundai

Somebody's Mitsubishi

Fairview Ford

Moss Bros. Dodge

Chuck Obershaw Toyota

Metro Nissan

I watched a lot of sales managers desk a lot of deals back in those days. San Bernardino was never a rich community. Lousy customer credit was always a problem, but the dealers, at least most of them, seemed to do OK.

Never did I think I'd see times like these. First, Uncle Sam closed Norton AFB, taking with it thousands of steady paychecks, both direct and indirect, that fueled car sales. The region grew, and with that growth came more competition in Ontario, Fontana, and Moreno Valley.

I, too, left for supposedly greener pastures for a few years.

Take a look at that list. Nine are gone. Only the last four still exist in one form or another. The manufacturers don't build Oldsmobiles or Pontiacs or Geos or Plymouths or Eagles any more, and Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler have a fraction of the market share they once did.

One thing for certain: while certain banks may be "too big to fail", that phrase doesn't apply to cities. Just look at San Bernardino. Or Detroit.

Thank God I don't sell advertising anymore, either.