One Man's Bail Out Plan for His Town
How George Custer raised $500,000 for his city in deficit.
Aug. 10, 2011— -- The city of Oakridge, Ore., faced a serious shortfall of $420,000 of its $3 million budget.
In a city of 3,221 people, several Oakridge employees were laid off and the city was looking to secure loans for its deficit.
"No one knows at this time what happened" to the money, said George Custer of the town's debt.
But Custer wasn't waiting for Superman. He had a one-man bailout plan. Custer decided to raise the deficit himself as a concerned citizen.
He began soliciting private loans from citizens to cover the shortfall. He called individuals, some who were willing to lend to the city and referred Custer to more people to call. Within days, the city of Oakridge secured a $500K bank loan and there was no need to use Custer's citizen loans.
With the national debt and economic debacle, does our country need more George Custers?
"When people grumble about the government this and the government that, I tell them 'look, we are the government,'" said Custer. "Each and every individual in this country is the government. You may not like, necessarily, the current administration but you are either part of the problem or part of the solution."
