OC Blog

Deputy Sheriffs Union Taking it Door to Door

I got a hold of this colorful door hanger today from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs.  Apparently this is AOCDS's first grass root attempt to sway public opinion on their side against Supervisor John Moorlach's challenge to their retroactive pension benefit. 

On the front of this door hanger is a personal message from Wayne Quint, the union's president, attacking Moorlach's proposal as the reason for low morale and recruitment in the department.  However, what is alarming in Quint's message is his claim that a certain Supervisor "support our deputies and stand for public safety..."  This is probably just wishful thinking from Mr. Quint because I am sure our "all Republican" Board of Supervisors is solidly behind the taxpayers of Orange County.  There is no way that any of them would sell out and cut a deal with the union for the purpose of re-election.

On the back of the door hanger is a list of "crime fighting" tips that each family can take to enhance their safety.  This is certainly a clever way to encourage people to keep this campaign literature.  As for those who are interested in signing an online petition to support the union and their generous 3% @ 50 retirement package, AOCDS would like you to click here.

Will the Republican Party of Orange County or Lincoln Club respond to this? We'll just have to wait and see.  I'm sure someone will issue a statement and send it to Jubal.

Janet Nguyen Leaked Pension Memo to Deputies Union?

I just spotted this post by Steve Greenhut over at Orange Punch.  Janet Nguyen's office is suspected of leaking the legal memo which undermined Supervisor John Moorlach's constitutional challenge to the Sheriff's Deputies retroactive pension benefit:

Four supervisors’ offices have been adamant in their denial that they leaked the memo including an analysis suggesting that the effort by the board to retract the retroactive portion of the 2002 pension spike for deputies is likely to fail. The fifth office has been silent. That office is none other than Supervisor Janet Nguyen, and speculation is centering around her office. I put in a call to her, and will report what she says when she gets back to me.

The board has gotten three analyses from outside firms of its legal position — a standard practice as anyone considers legal strategy. All three opinions are protected by attorney-client privilege. The first, by a firm that specializes in municipal bond work, counseled against the strategy. The second argued that that it is a sound constitutional strategy, and the third — which, apparently, ignores the constitutional arguments and looks almost entirely at what pragmatic concerns — is the one that was released to a Register reporter.

Click here to read the rest of this post.  The things you do to get re-elected right?  For her sake, let's hope Steve Greenhut's assumption is incorrect. Unbelievable.

UPDATE: Steve Greenhut just got an answer out of Janet Nguyen: "We didn't leak the memo".  You can read his second post on this issue by clicking here.

Moorlach Responds To 'Hypocrisy' Charge

Supervisor John Moorlach's periodic "The Moorlach Update" e-mail came over the transom this morning. In it, he responds to the charges of hypocrisy being levelled at the Supes by the public employee unions:

The topic of pensions and pension reform continues to get press attention.

Today’s OC Register has an article on a recent pension increase for electeds and an editorial submission on one pension reform remedy that I have advocated for quite some time.

The headline for the article begs for a response, as the article does not provide the full story.

Vote Postponed on Legal Challenge to AOCDS Retroactive Pension Spike

Maybe this has already been reported in the local media and I just missed it. Maybe not.

In any case, the long-anticipated Board of Supervisors vote on whether to proceed with a legal challenge to the retroactive pension spike granted to the AOCDS back in December 2001 appears to have been postponed because it is nowhere to be found on the Board agenda for Tuesday.

What the Board will do is meet in closed session about which law firm should be hired to represent the county should they move forward with the lawsuit.

Does this mean the legal challenge is losing steam? Seconds thoughts among some of the Supervisors?

Stay tuned!

OC Democrats Giving Award To AOCDS Prez Wayne Quint

A reader sent this to me a couple of days ago:

The Democratic Party of Orange County's thirteenth annual Harry S Truman Awards Dinner will take place on Friday, October 19th at the Disneyland Hotel.

Our special key note speaker is presidential candidate, Sen. John Edwards!

Truman This year, our Harry S Truman Award recipient will be Hon. Larry Agran, Mayor Pro Tem of the city of Irvine. Larry has played a central role in Irvine and Orange County politics for almost 30 years. We are proud to recognize such a tremendous leader in our community.

The recipient of the Samuel Gompers Award will be Wayne J. Quint, Jr., President of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff's. A proven leader, he is in the midst of a high-stakes battle with the Republican-dominated Board of Supervisors over their attempt to take away benefits previously won by our men and women in uniform.

Congratulations to Wayne. I think.

Moorlach On Retro Pension Increase: "Setting The Record Straight"

I just received this fact sheet from Supervisor John Moorlach's office: it's entitled "Retroactive Pension Increase To Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS): Setting The Record Straight."

I haven't had a chance toi look at it closely, but one interesting item is that if all retired and active AOCDS members agreed to cover the cost of the retroactive pension increase, it would be about $3,600/year per person

Dan Weintraub On Moorlach's Pension Proposal

Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub devoted today's column (H/T to FlashReport.org) to the OC Board of Supes likely pursuit of legal action to scrap the retroactive portion of AOCDS members 3-at-50 pension hike:

Ever since the Legislature, former Gov. Gray Davis and local governments across California boosted pensions for public employees amid the stock market boom early in this decade, critics have been looking for ways to reduce the cost of those benefits to the taxpayers.

A rollback has always been unlikely, given the influence of public employee unions on the political process. But almost everyone seemed to agree that any changes that did occur could apply to new employees only.

Current employees and retirees who had been given higher pensions, and then made life-changing decisions based on those payments, were considered safe.

Until now.

You can read the rest of Weintraub's column here. Discuss among yourselves.

Interview With Prof. John Eastman On Pension Retroactivity

The most contentious political issue in Orange County is the Orange County Board of Supervisors' likely legal challenge to the constitutionality of the 3-at-50 retroactive pension increase granted to Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS) members in December 2001.

Prof. John Eastman, dean of the Chapman University School of Law, is an expert of state constitutional law who has reviewed the legal case put forward by Sup. John Moorlach and staff and who spoke at the Board meeting last Tuesday in favor of the proposal.

Blogwar! The Sheriff's Blog V. Greenhut

This post went up this afternoon on Sheriff Carona's blog, written by Ryan, who does most of the posting there. It took issue with criticism of AOCDS President Wayen Quint's presentation at yesterday's Board of Supes meeting, linking to one of my posts and to one by Steve Greenhut.

I don't know who Ryan is or exactly what his job in the OCSD is, but he sure doesn't like Greenhut:

Greenhut, had the opportunity yesterday to stand up and express his opinion to the Board and the public, but he chose instead to save it for the safe confines of his office.

Such courage from a man who has to struggle with daily workplace dangers such as paper cuts, ink poisoning and accidental stabbings from the contents of one’s pocket protector.

Well, Ryan certainly elevated the level of discourse on this issue. Sounds uncannily like some of the anonymous comments about Greenhut we get here on this blog.

Board Votes 5-0 For Moorlach Proposal

The Board of Supervisors just voted 5-0 to approve Item 27, Sup. Moorlach's proposal to "consider indicating intent to rescind the retroactive portion of the 3% at 50 pension increase to all Public Safety employees..."

Just as I predicted.

The original motion was amended so the matter will come back to the Board on September 18 rather than September 11. It was also amended at Sup. Bates request to allow for an independent review of Sup. Moorlach's case during the intervening seven weeks.