OC Blog

How the OC Sanitation Directors Voted on their 25% Pay Raise

Since there is an interest in knowing exactly how each Directors on the Orange County Sanitation District voted on Ordinance No. OCSD-23, which increased their meeting stipend by 25%, here is the breakdown:

Anaheim: Harry Sidhu voted NO
Brea: Roy Moore voted YES
Buena Park: Patsy Marshall voted NO
Cypress: Phil Luebben voted YES
Fountain Valley: Larry Crandall voted YES
Fullerton: Don Bankhead voted NO
Garden Grove: Bill Dalton voted NO

Huntington Beach: Cathy Green voted YES
Irvine: Steven Choi voted YES
La Habra: Tom Beamish voted NO
La Palma: Mark Waldman voted YES
Los Alamitos: Ken Parker voted YES
Newport Beach: Don Webb voted YES

Orange: Jon Dumitru was ABSENCE
Placentia: Constance Underhill voted YES
Santa Ana: Sal Tinajero was ABSENCE
Seal Beach: Charles Antos voted NO
Stanton: Dave Shawver voted NO
Tustin: Doug Davert voted YES
Villa Park: Rich Freschi voted YES

Yorba Linda: Jim Winder voted NO
Costa Mesa Sanitary District: James Ferryman voted YES
Midway City Sanitary District: Joy Neugebauer voted YES
Irvine Ranch Water District: Darryl Miller was ABSENCE
County of Orange: Chris Norby voted YES

Why would Steven Choi, who is running for Assembly, vote for a 25% pay raise?  I cannot imagine that would look good on any mailer.  At least Harry Sidhu, who is also a candidate for state office, have some common sense and voted 'NO'.

Update: County Retirees Lawsuit Against The County

I posted on Tuesday the Retired Employees Association of Orange County -- represented by the San Francisco law firm of Moscone, Emblidge and Quadra -- has filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the county, charging breach of contract, promissory estoppel, violation of due process and impairment of contract under the state and federal constitutions.

The aim is to stop changes in the medical retiree system due to take effect on January 1, 2008. The Board of Supes enacted these changes in September of 2006 in order to reduce the huge unfunded liability of the medical retiree program.

In any case, I have a copy of the complaint here for your reading pleasure.

County Retirees Sue County Over 2006 Medical Retirement Program Reform

14 months ago, the Board of Supervisors voted for a comprehensive reform package that reduced the unfunded liability of the county's medical retiree program. You can read a couple of our posts on the topic here and here.

Amidst the hub-bub today over Carona's 60-day leave of absence, Undersheriff Joanne Galinsky becoming Acting Sheriff, the votes on charter amendments from Supervisors Moorlach and Norby, county retirees filed a lawsuit today challenging that restructuring.

Or so I was told this afternoon by Eric Norby, chief of staff to Supervisor Chris Norby. I'm working on securing a copy of the lawsuit and will post it when i have it.

OC's Non-Pension Related Retiremen Unfunded Liability Down Almost $1 Billion Since 2006

Another Moorlach update wafted over the transom this morning. This one trailed along a PDF of an article from tdoay's "Bond Buyer" (I never miss an issue myself).

Here's what Supervisor John Moorlach had to say in reference to the article:

The Bond Buyer has a subscriber-only website.  Fortunately, the County has at least two subscriptions, so a PDF file was made of today’s article and is attached.  The key quote is as follows:

“County officials estimate that they have reduced its unfunded liability for non-pension related retirement benefits from about $1.4 billion at the beginning of 2006 to approximately $440 million, including the estimated $140 million in savings from the new contract with the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, approved Tuesday by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.”

AOCDS Agreement Looks Like A Net Win For The County

My initial reaction to the tentative agreement reached between the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs and the County of Orange is it's a win for the county. I think if this were a private sector employer versus union situation, the employer would be considered to have come out ahead.

AOCDS has been fighting for more than a year to prevent the county from auditing their health care fund, and they essentially caved on that one. And agreeing to transition to defined-contribution medical retirement benefit is a big setback for public employee unions in general -- the fear being it will have the ripple effect of other local government agencies pointing to it in their own negotiations and saying, "See - the AOCDS agreed to it!"

AOCDS Reaches Deal With The County

H/T to Peggy Lowe at Total Buzz: the AOCDS has reached agreement with the County on a new contract.

Judging by some of the details Peggy blogs about, it looks like there are some positive outcomes for OC taxpayers. From Peggy's post:

I’m shocked at the details – in the most sticky of the sticking points, the deputies union agreed to allow the county to co-audit the multi-million dollar heath care fund.  It’s a so-called “dual agency” audit, which means the union and the county will pay for a look-see that both sides will be privy to. They’ve been arguing about that for years.

And get this: the deputies conceded to allow a transition to a defined-contribution medical benefit — a 401(k) style fund for each member’s health care. That could make Orange County the first county in the state to convert to that style of health benefit — and that’s a major concession.

The full details will be released at AOCDS membership meetings tonight, tomorrow and Monday. Members will have the opportunity to vote on the agreement at those meetings, and AOCDS hopes to have the pact ratified by Monday evening and approved by the Board of Supes on Tuesday.

AOCDS Needs To Remember Who They Work For

During the Boston Police Strike of 1919, then-Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge famously said, "There is no right to strike against the public safety, anywhere, anytime."

While the Association of Orange County of Deputy Sheriffs' (AOCDS) current action is a work slowdown rather than a strike, it is still against the public safety. When a a jury is sent home and a murder trial cannot move forward because the deputies don't bring the accused murderer to court, the AOCDS is obstructing the wheels of justice from turning.

AOCDS may retort they are still without a contract after a year, but that's no justification for interfering with the administration of justice. And it shouldn't obscure the fact that AOCDS members are well-paid and can look forward to a retirement package most Americans today can only dream about having themselves.

In the door-hanger the ACODS was walking to voters earlier this month, the AOCDS speaks of its "stand for public safety." How does holding up trials square with standing for public safety?

At the end of the day, the AOCDS needs to remember it works for the public, not the other way around. We pay them -- and pay them well -- to provide for public safety, and this work slowdown serves the opposite purpose. The slowdown ought to be condemned in no uncertain terms and the Board of Supervisors should in no way allow it to influence their negotiations with the AOCDS.

A Newport Voice On Councilman Curry's Pension Plebiscite Proposal

"Connected", the pseudonymous proprietor of the Newport Beach Voices blog, posted this morning on Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry's proposal to submit city employee pension hikes to voter approval:

First off, what Newport Beach City Councilman Keith Curry is trying to do with having the voters vote on City Employee Pensions is a very good idea and will help the City save some money, even if 3.5% of the 11% RAISE the City Employees will get over the next three years will go to their own pensions (so technically, they get a 7.5% over the next three years). Its a great start in reining in the overspending City Council's typically do on the Gravy Train mentality City Employees, and City Councils, typically have.

But...before the Lincoln Club of Orange County president Richard Wagner kisses Councilman Keith Curry's butt too much (in this OCRegister opinion piece), lets have him look at a few things the Newport Beach City Council is wrapped up in.

Readers can check out what Connected wants to take a look at by clicking here.

How Much Do CSU Chancellors Make?

According to the San Francisco Chronicle (H/T to Orange Juice):

The governing board of the California State University system is poised to award pay increases averaging 11.8 percent to Chancellor Charles Reed, his four chief deputies and 23 campus presidents as part of a plan to significantly boost their salaries over the next few years.

The Board of Trustees meets today and Wednesday in Long Beach, and chairwoman Roberta Achtenberg has signaled her intent to raise the executive salaries about 46 percent over the next four years.

Here is a chart of the proposed salary increases for CSU executives:

New OCEA Contract & County's Compensation Survey

Martin Wisckol has a very good post over at Total Buzz on the new OCEA's new contract with the County of Orange:

Overshadowed by the retirement benefits battle brewing between county supervisors and deputy sheriffs was yesterday's news that supervisors approved a new contract with the county's largest union, the Orange County Employees Association. The pay increase is based on a compensation study. The hike ranges from 2.5 percent for those paid more than employees in similar jobs elsewhere in the county to 5 percent for those paid less than the average. Here's the county's press release.

You can read the whole post here.