Contra Costa Taxpayers Association » Government Waste

$100,000 Pension Club in the news

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:57:50 +0000

The $100,000 Pension Club is making news. The $100,000 Club is the brainchild of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility. Over 5,000 members who receive pension of $100,000 or more from government entities that use the CalPERS pension system can be found at www.CaliforniaPensions.com.

For the curious, Concord has 15 members headed by their former City Manager, Ed James, at $167,180 per year. Walnut Creek has 10 members, with former police chief Tom Soberanes at $179,399 leading the pack. Richmond has 49 members headed by Charles Bennett, the former police chief, at $172,200.

The idea behind revealing those making over $100,000 is not to “out” anyone, but to call to the attention of taxpayers that some members of government (particularly safety) are receiving some very generous pensions. Of real concern are those granted pensions that actually exceed the amount they earned before they retired.

The blame (and solutions) to the pension problems are in the hands of elected officials. No one should blame the pensioners who are legally entitled to the amounts granted. Governments cannot continue to have people retire as early as age 50 and receive generous retirement benefits. This does not include all employees, but the drain on the system is becoming enormous.

BART benefits out of control

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:50:25 +0000

The recent BART contract negotiations have revealed how that body’s compensation packages are out of control. Of the 3200 BART employees (many are part-time), 716 earn over $100,000, are guaranteed lifetime health benefits after working 5 years, and have their pensions paid for by BART. They can retire early as well. The BART board is correct in taking a hard line on the budget negotiations. This level of compensation is simply unsustainable.

432 Contra Costa employees with pensions over $100,000

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:44:45 +0000

The Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Association released the names and amounts of those receiving pensions in excess of $100,000. There will be some familiar names on the list. Former sheriff captain, Donn Irwin, had sought to block the release of this information that had been requested by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility. Full Disclosure: Executive Director Kris Hunt is on the Advisory Board of that group. The list of those receiving pensions in excess of $100,000 is attached. CCCOUNTY retirees over 100k by highest pension.

BACKGROUND

Former Deputy Sheriff Donna Irwin lost her bid to obtain a restraining order to stop the release of the names of those earning pensions in excess of $100,000 in the Contra Costa Employees’ Retirement Association. With the help of Howard Jarvis, the Contra Costa Times, the LA Times, and the California Newspaper Publishers’ Association, the information is now available. This court decision was a critical one for taxpayers because the judge was so clear in his opinion that this was public information that it should keep other retirees from filing similar actions. The list can be found at www.cocotax.org as well as attached to this document. By the way, Ms. Irwin is receiving $144,648 per year.

National Debt Clock will frighten you

Kris Hunt — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:34:33 +0000

Click on the National Debt Clock below. It will frighten you.

BOS approves nurses contract with no OPEB adjustments

Kris Hunt — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:47:05 +0000

The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved another in a long line of union contracts without dealing with the issue of retiree health. This is the 4th contract within a month (the others are fire chiefs, District Attorneys, and firefighters) that does not solve the problem of retiree health. A recent column by Dan Borenstein of the Contra Costa Times revealed that benefits for the hospital staff were equal to 81% of salaries and that does not include the cost of retiree health care.

The BOS needs to be realistic about dealing with this problem. There are over 5,000 people under contracts that will be expiring this coming fall. Continuing to grant unsustainable benefits to the above groups sends the wrong message to the rest of the County employees.