Memo To Fullerton Council: Put Pension Spike On Public Agenda
Posted by: Jubal | 08/14/2008 4:06 PM
H/T to Steve Greenhut at Total Buzz for drawing our attention to this post by Fullertonian and PensionTsunami.com editor Jack Dean (plus check out Steve's post on Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson's effort to shine more sunshine on the process:
If such taking on such a permanent, major financial obligation is good public policy, then the Fullerton Council should be happy to oblige Mr. Dean.
August is the favorite month of the year for public employee unions everywhere because voters are away on vacation or otherwise pre-occupied. And this year it's even better for them, what with the added distraction of the Olympics being broadcast in mesmerizing HDTV over a two-week period. What better time to launch a sneak attack on the local treasury and boost pensions?You can read the rest of Jack's post here.
So I should not have been surprised to learn that a proposal is before the Fullerton City Council to increase the employee pension formula from "2.0-at-55″ to "2.5-at-55″ -- a factor of 25%.
No, seriously, I mean it -- I should not have been surprised. No taxpayer should have to be surprised. A major change like this -- which dramatically increases liability and is irreversible to boot -- should not be sprung on citizens after the fact, which is apparently what was going to happen here.
Yesterday on the Orange County Register's blog, editorial writer Steve Greenhut reported that Fullerton Councilmember Shawn Nelson plans to recruit a legislator to sponsor a bill to amend the Brown Act to eliminate such surprises in the future:
If such taking on such a permanent, major financial obligation is good public policy, then the Fullerton Council should be happy to oblige Mr. Dean.
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