AOCDS Blasts Price Tag Of County Suit Against Pension RetroSpiking
Posted by: Jubal | 09/16/2008 1:40 PM
This just came over the transom from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs:
I sent an e-mail back to the AOCDS asking how much they've spent fighting the lawsuit.
UPDATE (3:04 p.m.): Martin Wisckol posted a response from Sup. John Moorlach.
COUNTY OF ORANGE LEGAL BILLS HIT $1 MILLION MARK IN SUP. MOORLACH'S EFFORT TO CUT DEPUTY SHERIFF PENSIONS
County Records Show Legal Bills Now Total $1,002,678.75 Through June 2008
SANTA ANA - County of Orange legal bills for Orange County Board of Supervisor John Moorlach's effort to significantly cut deputy sheriff pensions in Orange County now total over $1 million, county records show.
The bulk of the $1,002,678.75 in legal bills the county has run up through June of this year has gone to Kirkland & Ellis, a law firm the County Board of Supervisors chose to hire at the urging of Moorlach after three previously hired firms each told the board the county could not win a litigation effort to slash deputy sheriff pensions. The three different outside law firms were paid a collective total of $282,872.44 for their advice.
"The county has spent over $1 million in taxpayer dollars on lawyers for a frivolous lawsuit three other outside law firms told them they could not win," said Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff President Wayne Quint. "... and that is only after five months of litigation. The case has just begun."
"Washington, D.C. lawyers do not come cheap," continued Quint. "Plane flights, hotel rooms, and rental cars add up quickly. It is very telling that this is the only firm the county could find to agree to take their case. To quote John Moorlach in a speech he made in 2000 to the Orange County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, 'County agencies should become more accountable to taxpayers for the lawsuits they file. ...every time you hire an attorney, the only person who wins is the attorney.' Well - the attorneys are making out like bandits in this case."
The County of Orange filed their lawsuit against the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) on February 1 of this year in an attempt to invalidate a pension increase the County Board of Supervisors had voted to grant county deputy sheriffs in 2001. The County recently lost their effort to have the case tried in Orange County courts and this week the California Attorney General and California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) announced that they would file an amicus brief in support of the Deputy Sheriff's efforts.
COUNTY OF ORANGE LEGAL BILLS FOR PENSION LITIGATION
(through June 2008)*
Law Firm Amount Paid
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP $ 99,598.40
(Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen $125,561.04
(Jan. 1, 2007 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Snell & Wilmer LLP $ 57,713.00
(June 30, 2007 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Kirkland & Ellis LLP $719,806.31
(June 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008)
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TOTAL LITIGATION COSTS BY COUNTY $1,002,678.75
I sent an e-mail back to the AOCDS asking how much they've spent fighting the lawsuit.
UPDATE (3:04 p.m.): Martin Wisckol posted a response from Sup. John Moorlach.
CATEGORY:
At The Trough, Politics Behind the Orange Curtain
you can see the documentary I made about him at recallingrocco "dot" com....
moorlach + 1
taxpayers -1,002,678.75
sounds great
I think the question about how much AOCDS has spent is valid. Mainly because I thinkt the court will rule against Supervisor Moorlach's lawsuit and AOCDS will most assuredly ask the county to foot their legal bill as well.
This was a longshot from the very start and for Supervisor Moorlach to refer to $1,000,000.00 as "spit" is a horrible display of what he thinks of the tax payers donation to his political stunt. Add in the cost for AOCDS's legal fees and it becomes a lot more than just "spit". And yes, I know it isn't much in comparrison to what he could save IF he prevails but that is a very unlikely IF.
Given the state of the county's economy and the budget cuts that are about to take place I'll bet that million could go a long way towards making an agency whole.
I sent an e-mail back to the AOCDS asking how much they've spent fighting the lawsuit.
Whatever the amount is, it's AOCDS member's money, not the county taxpayers'. If Wayne Quint wants to spend his member's hard earned dues, that’s between him and said members. I don't want Moorlach spending my hard earned tax dollar on a frivolous lawsuit.