A little socked away  City officials should enjoy the feeling of
having something saved for a rainy day  It's nice to have money
in the bank and finally the city of Stockton does.  And last
week, the council, in its last meeting of the year, decided to
stuff the $5.6 million into reserves. That means not spending
it.  Not now, anyway.  The positive financial news basically
results from three things: higher than expected sales tax
revenues, vacant positions in the police department, and money
left over from pre-bankruptcy mediation.  Two of those three
things are going to happen again, the mediation money, a one-
time process preceding the city's bankruptcy filing last summer,
and police vacancies, because the department is actively
recruiting more officers.  There is the possibility that
creditors lined up in bankruptcy court will go after the money,
but City Manager Bob Deis said the reserves are so meager
they're not likely to draw much attention.  We'll see if he's
right in the weeks and months ahead.  One