"Faced with a $100 million deficit in their general fund, Orange County officials are aggressively pushing for union contracts that would force a host of new public workers to accept a lower tier of benefits and pensions...."
OC Total Buzz Blog: LA judge again throws out county lawsuit against sheriff deputies over pensions
"A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has once again thrown out the county’s case against Orange County deputy sheriffs seeking to roll back a portion of their pension enhancement, referred to as “three at 50.”...'
LA Times Sound Off Blog: Councilman Parks on $265,000 pension: I earned it
Notable Comment:
" Parks takes home $17,000 MORE each month than the average RETIRED LAPD POLICE OFFICER. That is totally wrong!!!
LA Times: Subpoenas issued in pension fund investigation
LA Daily News articles of interest:
L.A. police union calls for ouster of San Diego Union-Tribune's editorial page staff
Delayed response: the city can slow, but not stop, hiring officers
The outrageous Parks retirement pay, perks, and benefits are what LAPD Captains, LAPD Commanders, LAPD Deputy Chiefs, LAPD Assistant Chiefs, and the LAPD Chief of Police (over 500 people) get fron the City of Los Angeles when they retire. This only goes to show that the LAPD's top ranks are much too TOP HEAVY!!!
Can we afford this MR. MAYOR? What are YOU going to DO ABOUT THIS? This is a critical topic that requires honest public debate and immediate action!!! You can hire more police officers if you get rid of these OVERPAID 500!
We need less CHIEFS and more worker bees! We need more police officers in this City"
My favorite comment:
"As an LAPD cop, I can be sure of 2 things: 1) Bernard Parks is a clown. 2) Those of you whining about cop pensions are too scared to earn a cop’s pension. It’s similar to complaining how you were “ripped off” by the plumber. How you were “gouged” by the movers. How its “highway robbery” at the mechanic’s shop. You need the dirty job done, but the problem is that you don’t have the heart, education or ability to do it. So you are stuck with the high cost of paying someone else to do it for you. If you chased armed gang members through the projects of South Central for a living, you would probably consider your pension earned too. The sad reality is that your idea of a “shootout” is when you get hit with a rubber band by the Trekkie in the next cubicle. The LAPD is about 150 years old, so I know they were hiring when YOU chose your career. Don’t blame me for standing in the right line. I won’t blame you for burning my Whopper. Welcome to capitalism."
Plug in the SBSO equivelent for contractor/military offier/government manager and see the similarities:
"It is too bad that excesses such as the Parks' situation have only come to light, and sparked outrage, at a time when the ecomomy is in sad shape. Perhaps if excesses such as this had come to light earlier, and if the revelation had sparked the outrage it does now, the excesses may have been apporpriately horsecollared "out of the blocks." Putting the cow back in the barn so long after the barn door closed will not be easy.
I have been a government employee for the bulk of my working years and I have concluded that the average government manager has little regard for fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer. Most think it is somebody else's job, not their's. Government cars loaded with options, redecoration of offices that didn't need redecorating, having as many as 6 high-paid managers to supervise a total of 25 employees, and many other similar stories come to mind.
I watch many a high ranking military officer and/or high level federal employee retire on a great pension on a Friday and return to the same place of work the following Monday as a high-paid contractor. All on the taxpayer dollar. While the Fed likes to tout such things as employee head count reductions on the one hand, they're silent in regard to the swelling of the contractor workforce. It has been a shell game that's been played for many years.
The snapping and cracking you hear in the distance is the sound of the collapse of governments all over the country, at all levels of government."