San Bernardino city officials committed in bankruptcy court yesterday to having an “outline” by Oct. 15 to guide discussions with creditors and a mediator, saying that they would adjust to the judge’s impatience with earlier estimates, The San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sun reported yesterday. “The council is fully supportive of whatever date the court sets,” said the city’s bankruptcy attorney, Paul Glassman of Stradling Yocca Carlson Rauth. The mediation is intended to streamline the city’s bankruptcy so that it can more quickly put together a plan to restructure its debt. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury had set the hearing for yesterday after the city — minutes after winning a significant battle over eligibility despite objections that it was purposefully stalling in bankruptcy court — proposed a timeline that she said seemed unreasonably slow. “The primary purpose (of yesterday’s hearing) was because the answers that I was getting from the city about when it might have some kind of draft, terms sheet ... were not satisfactory to the court,” Judge Jury said. No one in court objected to the Oct. 15 date, which is just before retired bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive of Reno, Nev., has said he will be available to begin mediating with the city and its creditors.
