Tag: marty richman

The public has little understanding of the complex CalPERS retirement system, yet it is one of local government’s largest expenses with annual estimated costs of more than $10 million a year, 30 percent of payroll, for Hollister and San Benito County combined. Some of the highest costs are side deals where public agencies pay all or a portion of the employees’ premiums. This problem belongs to local politicians who know it does not show up in the salary tables and therefore avoids public scrutiny. The upshot is that many members contribute little or nothing to their CalPERS retirement. CalPERS is really two systems, one for most “Miscellaneous Employees” and one for “Public Safety Employees.” Both offer a “full retirement” at a young average age, but at extremely different levels.

Nants Foley: “I am totally against any attempt by the federal government to regulate the Internet.”

Last week I discussed the size of CalPERS retirement pensions. The key point was that the there are large variations between employee groups. The bottom three groups retiring in FY 2010-11 – all miscellaneous employees – averaged $21,000 to $38,000 at 21 years service and age 61. The top two groups – local police/firefighters and the state Highway Patrol – averaged $84,000 to $92,000 a year at 28 years service and age 54. Between those extremes were other local agency and state public employees. Errata: The chart last week should have read “E-7 Sgt. First Class” – not “E-7 First Sergeant.”

 

Nants Foley: “The FCC should not continue its censorship. The American people can do that themselves with their remote controls!”

Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia tainted the debate last week about an affordable housing proposal by not only veering the discussion and making a ludicrous claim that there is no proof of illegal immigrants living on Hollister's west side, but also spuriously painting others as discriminatory in the process.

Unless you’re in the CalPERS retirement system, there is a good chance that you may not understand how it works. Before going into the great debate over local plans, I thought it best to do a series of columns explaining how it works and who pays what.

Racial tensions and segregation concerns over an affordable housing proposal on the west side added to an already chaotic public hearing Tuesday, as city council members repeatedly traded barbs with speakers and fostered an open, heated dialogue that defied open-meeting rules.

An anonymous commenter recently asked me if I had any relatives in the city or county – I have none. He or she went on to inquire what business I was in and who was paying me for my opinions because, the reader said, everyone wants to get something out of government.

Julie Morris: “The death penalty is expensive, fallible and unjust. Since 1978 thirteen executions have cost California taxpayers $4 billion, money siphoned from public safety and schools. We pay roughly $100 million annually for each of the 720 inmates on death row and it takes an average of 25 years to get from conviction to execution, delaying justice for victims' families. California can't afford the death penalty: it's much more cost effective to sentence dangerous criminals to life in prison without possibility of parole and start using taxpayer dollars on programs that benefit law abiding Californians.”