3 billion a year!!

Commission launches effort to improve pension system
By Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau
dailynews.com
3/10/07

Warning that runaway pension benefits could steal money earmarked for schools, police and roads, a California commission on Friday launched the first statewide effort to overhaul the employee pension system.

California's retirement systems for state employees and teachers have a combined unfunded pension liability of about $49 billion for pensions and $70 billion for health benefits.

Combined, the liabilities already are costing taxpayers more than $3 billion a year - money that could instead be paying for programs like schools and public safety if the benefits were properly self-funded.

"I think the leaders have recognized that rising obligations of this type remain one of the biggest problems facing governments everywhere, particularly in California," said commission Chairman Gerald Parsky.

"As these costs rise and need to be met, it means that less money may be available for other programs that have very high priorities - such as education, public safety and environmental protection."

The panel, appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators, will spend the next nine months studying the scope of the pension and health benefit issue and proposing possible solutions to state policymakers.

Parsky, a Los Angeles-based investor and Republican fundraiser, said the group will protect benefits promised to state employees, but will need to find ways to reduce future costs so the government can continue to adequately fund other programs.

Local governments and school districts are facing similar multibillion-dollar deficits. Los Angeles Unified School District is facing a long-term liability of at least $10 billion for retiree health benefits alone.

Schwarzenegger's previous effort to reform the state pension system in 2005 fell flat when his proposal to shift to a 401(k)-style plan ran into heavy opposition from public employee unions.

Firefighters and police officers, in particular, were incensed that the proposal appeared to cut benefits for widows - an element that Schwarzenegger said was unintended, but which led him to drop the plan rather than risk placing it on a ballot.

Public unions are expected once again to be a major force in the debate, but this time Schwarzenegger has included them in the decision-making process.

The state commission has at least five representatives of public employee unions, including one appointed by Schwarzenegger and four appointed by the Legislature.

"Clearly two years ago we were at war and there was no input from public employees," said Lou Paulson, president of California Professional Firefighters. "Having this commission \ there's going to be folks out talking about it and there will be hearings and everybody will at least get some input.

"Last time it was, `This is the system and this is the way it's going to be."'

The commission is expected to consider a variety of proposals - including a controversial plan suggested Friday by a nonprofit foundation established by former San Fernando Valley Assemblyman Keith Richman.

Marcia Fritz, an accountant and vice president of Richman's California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, said the group believes raising the state employee retirement age could create substantial savings.

Currently, state employees are eligible to retire by age 55, and public safety employees can retire at 50. Richman's group is proposing to raise the ages to 65 for regular employees and 55 for public safety employees.

The move would save millions of dollars by delaying thousands of people from entering the pension system.

"We hope the commission clearly hears the tick of this fiscal time bomb and finds a responsible way to limit its damage to future budgets and programs," Fritz said.

Public employee unions are likely to oppose that plan, however. On Friday, union members in the audience laughed and jeered when Richman's name was mentioned during the hearing.

Richman also was one of the driving forces behind the failed effort to move to a 401(k) system two years ago.

Officially, however, union leaders were more diplomatic at this early stage, saying they would like to hear more details of the plan before critiquing it.

The commission plans to hold up to five public hearings statewide by May 31. It will then work on a report and analysis of the scope of the pension and health benefits problem and recommend solutions by Jan. 1.

harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com

(916) 446-6723

Govt Pensions: Legalized Fraud

Is anyone surprised by this article at all. No. Politicians are only beholden to public employee unions. And all "public safety" employees are "heroes" as soon as they walk in the door, so they cannot ever be told no. Even if Grandma has to go to the poor house due to her county tax bill the "darlings" of the pensions system cannot be denied. LAAG needs to hand out some bright green ribbon magnets (like those yellow ones for the troops and the pink ones for breast cancer; I dont think green is taken) that say "I DONT support pension scammers"

County pension artists
L.A. safety employees drawing new attention

BY TROY ANDERSON, Staff Writer
LA Daily News
Article Last Updated: 03/05/2007
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_5363901

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and firefighters retire on disability pensions at a nearly 50 percent higher rate than their counterparts in 19 other California counties, according to a report released Monday.

The 73-page report by Buck Consultants comes more than two years after the Board of Supervisors ordered an investigation into whether employees were fraudulently obtaining lucrative disability pensions.

The supervisors ordered the investigation after the Daily News revealed that an average of 79 percent of firefighters and 56 percent of sheriff's deputies received job-related disability retirements in the decade prior to 2005.

"There really is a culture of maximizing benefits," county Risk Manager Rocky Armfield said. "And the employees are very good at it."

As part of the investigation, the supervisors asked the firm to analyze 35 cases to determine whether any were fraudulent. The firm found no cases of outright fraud - defined as deliberate attempts to qualify for benefits that cannot be supported by doctors.

But investigators found four disability pensions whose justifications, they said, "contradicted" the original intent of a law granting disability pensions.

Buck Consultants said case law concerning disability pensions has gradually allowed more employees to qualify than was originally intended by a 1937 law that still governs pensions. The law was designed to allow incapacitated public employees to be replaced by capable employees.

In two of the cases reviewed by Buck, the connection between the injury and the job was minimal, analysts said.

Another case involved an employee who not only received a disability retirement at an advanced age, but whose main reason for the disability was the "aging process," investigators said. Very little of the disability was work-related.

In the fourth case, a firefighter who retired on a disability pension started a new job within days of leaving the department.

"It seems to us that the level of sophistication is higher in Los Angeles County regarding how to scam the system," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. "I think it's probably not surprising when you have an entrenched bureaucracy like this with union leadership who encourage this kind of activity."

Employees savvy

Armfield said safety employees are well aware of the advantages of obtaining job-related disability pensions, half of which are tax-free. The job-related disability pays a minimum of 50 percent of an employee's compensation, while a non-job-related disability pays about 33 percent.

And when the employee dies, the spouse receives 100 percent of the final pay, instead of 65 percent.

"So you can easily see why it would be economically wise for safety members to at least apply," Armfield said. "There is no illegal activity in applying. They are simply seeing if they will be granted the disability, and if they are, there is a tremendous upside economically."

Also, Armfield said an "informal infrastructure" has developed over the years involving law firms, doctors and employee unions that assist safety employees late in their careers in applying for disability pensions.

The report found that as of June 2004, 61 percent of county safety employees retired on job-related disability pensions. In the 19 other counties, the percentage was 33 percent.

Standard liberal

The report also found that the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association applied a more liberal standard in deciding when to grant disability pensions, approving job-related disability pensions for 53 percent of applicants in 2003-04, compared with 18 percent in 15 other counties.

Among the 35 disability pension cases reviewed, the investigators found four filed after the applicant turned 60, and 11 filed within 90 days of retirement, suggesting that the employees were timing their applications to coincide with their normal retirement dates.

On the bright side, the report found a large number of employees who had filed workers' compensation claims were persuaded to come back to work on light duty. As a result, the costs associated with employees who file claims shortly before retirement have dropped from $49 million in 2003 to $37 million in 2005.

Still, investigators found a common practice among county employees approaching retirement of "spiking" their final pay with unused vacation, sick leave and other one-time payments.

Investigators said it is not difficult to get injury claims approved, citing examples of workers injured by tripping over a file cabinet, bending under a desk, lifting a ladder and falling off a bicycle while off-duty.

"The disability threshold is very, very low," Armfield said. "It's diminutive to the point if you apply with any good justifiable medical reason allowed under the act, there is a good chance you'll get it."

To help reduce soaring pension costs, Buck Consulting recommended legislative changes to reform the 1937 law back to its original intent and encouraged the sheriff and county Fire Department officials to return more injured employees to work in light-duty jobs.

But investigators wrote in the report that reducing the number of disability pensions will be challenging when many safety employees possess "extensive knowledge and understanding" and a "well-established external support network" to help them file for disability pensions.

It will be difficult to reform the 1937 law, wrote county Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen, noting that legislation passed last year will further increase the number of disability pension applications. That law enables safety employees to receive a 100 percent disability pension even though factors unrelated to work caused a significant portion of their permanent injuries, Janssen wrote.

troy.anderson@dailynews.com

(213) 974-8985

March 6, 2007 city council election: 4 more years of "stay the course"

Incumbents Mayor Larry Van Nostran, Councilman Joseph Esquivel beat challengers Marty Schuster and John R. Nelson Jr. Schuster is a real estate agent in Lakewood who ran unsuccessfully in 2004. Nelson is a Long Beach Unified School District electrician.

A number of articles appeared in the local news papers about the incumbents. Quite frankly all 4 were really not that much different on paper. None have any vision and its just more of the same drivel: We love the Sheriffs, we like sports teams and their fireworks money. God forbid someone says anything bad about fireworks (you could be branded a heretic). Don't look for any fresh ideas with these candidates. The Press Telegram endorsed the incumbents. Quite frankly after three terms on the council its really time for a change. Just like in Washington. The problem is why vote in "fresh faces" when they don't have any fresh ideas? LAAG did not endorse any of the candidates.

Why the lack of good candidates? Well many reasons but surely the most likely reason (and as is typical of the city) is that there was no announcement about the deadline to apply as a candidate on the city website or in their email newsletter (I assume to discourage people from running). This is typical of the city failing to implement its own "e government" initiative. We announced it here on the LAAG website at least a month before the filing deadline.

The Press Telegram article appearing on 3/6/07 entitled "Few surprises, 1 upset in elections" noted as follows:

"In Lakewood, Mayor Larry Van Nostran and Councilman Joe Esquivel breezed past real estate business owner Marty Schuster and electrical manager John R. Nelson Jr. for another four years in office.

Van Nostran, who will commence his ninth term, [that is 36 years by LAAG's count] garnered the most votes with 3,169 while Esquivel earned the second spot with 3,102 votes. Schuster received 1,890 votes and Nelson lagged with 912.

"I didn't care as long as I got one vote more than the third place person," said Van Nostran. "I think it's a real stamp of approval ... (Residents) know we're really working for the good of this city."

What really scares LAAG is that Van Nostran has been in so long he thinks that 3,000 votes out of 42,000 registered voters in the city (and 80,000 residents) is a "mandate". He is as delusional as some other politicians we know in Washington. I would not call it a mandate but rather utter disgust and a failure by most residents to even care. I suspect that 70% of the people that voted for this dynamic duo were the same ones that have been voting the pair in for the last 20 years.

The only good thing about this election is that Esquivel said he would step down after this 4 year term. He was mayor when the Dunrobin explosion occurred. That is sort of like having the distinction of being the Captain of the Titanic. Lets just hope he is not grooming a successor. As for Van Nostran who knows. He is already the longest reining city councilman in the state and quite franking that is the only distinguishing factor of his reign. It only took him 20 years to fix the motorhome parking mess and that was only after two councilmen forced it onto the backs of the voters. Now lets see if he can handle the results of the election. Had the problem been fixed earlier by real leadership we would not have “grandfathered” in all these eyesores now looking for a parking spot from Southern CA Edison.

Rialto officials report progress on perchlorate

10:00 PM PST on Monday, February 26, 2007
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_B_bperch27.1b2d449.html

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise

About 30 residents of Rialto and the surrounding area were told Monday of two developments in the flight to clean up perchlorate contamination in water wells.

The long-awaited hearing to determine blame for the Inland region's most significant water-pollution case will be held in Rialto starting March 28, city attorney Bob Owen announced to the audience at a town hall meeting in Rialto.

The hearing could lead to the cleanup of an underground plume of perchlorate several miles long.

Owen also announced that a plan outlining options on cleaning the plume of contamination and the source area has been completed.

Now, the city wants to involve the community in the decision-making process of what remediation efforts will be chosen, who will pay for them and how much it's going to cost, Owen said.

"This is what we will be taking to court, to the upcoming hearing, to the Regional Water Quality Control Board and to state and federal officials that represent us," Owen said.

A link to the city's Web site will be added in coming weeks soliciting community views on the issue, he said.

Perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel and fireworks, has contaminated six Rialto water wells. It is believed that the chemical interferes with thyroid function and brain development. Human fetuses and newborns are considered most at risk.

Residents were reassured after expressing concern that the city's water is safe to drink.

"You're pretty much safer than the average consumer in California when it comes to water because of the council's zero-tolerance policy," Owen said.

Under the city's policy, if a well tests positive for detectible levels of perchlorate, it is taken out of service. The well's water won't be placed back into the city's water system unless it is outfitted with treatment equipment and the water tests -- using state-approved methods -- do not detect perchlorate.

Councilman Ed Scott said he wants to hire a medical expert on perchlorate to learn about all possible medical side effects of the chemical and to see if anyone in the area is affected.

Philip McCririe, a Rialto resident, said he is glad to see that city officials are concerned about the water contamination and are making progress.

"It's very bureaucratic, but I'm happy it's moving forward," he said.

Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at 909-806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com

One Year anniversary of the Dunrobin explosion

Well hard to believe but March 5, 2007 will be the one year anniversary of the Miller house explosion on Dunrobin Ave in Lakewood CA. What has changed? Nothing really. We had a "fireworks" referendum with one fireworks company spending $40,000 to combat the anti-fireworks money people (which were almost 40% of the vote). We have the same city council today as we did March 5, 2006, which ironically will likely stay the same on the Mach 6, 2007 election the day after the one year anniversary.

The only fallout for the utter lack of response to the pre-explosion problems from Miller by the Sheriff's department was for them to be rewarded with a new $20 million dollar station "makeover" (more perks for Deputies) and more overtime pay (likely $100,000) every July 4th to subsidize the cost of increased police presence. Just like at the Federal and State level, everyone shirks responsibility, no one is blamed or held accountable (other than lip service) and things go on as usual. Well LAAG is still working on the fireworks issue along with other cities fighting them. We sort of feel like the anti-smoking people 30 years ago. Few people listened back then but look where they are today.

Also, rather ironically, the Miller house on Dunrobin which was virtually destroyed in the March 5, 2006 blast just went up for sale today (March 4, 2007) by the new owner who rebuilt and remodeled the house. It looks great after spending about 300,000 on it. All we can hope is the house is sold to someone who does not use fireworks. Surely the nearby neighbors who lived through that hell on March 5, 2006 hope so as well.

As for Brian Miller he is looking forward to getting out of State prison on or before October 2008, just in time to celebrate the 4th of July in 2009.

Teens' arrest in sign protest roils Glendora

This story below is totally unbelievable but just goes to show you that local politics is just a dirty as national politics, the only difference being that there is very little investigative reporting going on at the city level. And as a result this is what you end up with. At least the LA Times caught wind of this before the election.

Two points.

One: a police officer on the city force (retired or not) which answers to the city council should never be allowed to run for city council. That is a clear conflict of interest. This story exemplifies that fact. Clifford's status was likely a factor in the severity of the police response.

Two: The defacement of property was the placing of the signs where they don't belong. What the girls did was perfectly legitimate in the light of the fact that the election in Tuesday and because the the city attorney had advised the department not to enforce the sign ordinance in cases of political displays.

One can only hope this turns the election against Clifford. If he is elected could the city expect more of this sort of thing?



Teens' arrest in sign protest roils Glendora
By Jim Newton
LA Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/admark/la-me-glendora3mar03,1,2902420,print.story?coll=la-headlines-business-advert
March 3, 2007

Even by the notoriously nasty standards of small-town politics in Glendora, the late-night arrest of two teenagers last week has taken local elections in this little city to a bracingly new low.

The 18-year-olds, Keleigh Marshall and Christina Giammalva, set out the night of Feb. 19 to engage in some mischief by putting stickers on the political signs of Glendora elected leaders. The stickers read, "This sign violates Glendora city ordinance," a reference to Glendora's law prohibiting campaign signs on public property.

Notwithstanding that law and an accompanying set of rules that regulate the placement of campaign material, the same council members who passed the regulations appeared to be violating them — and thus the protest by Marshall and Giammalva.

While the young women were affixing those bulletins, however, they were confronted by none other than Councilman Gary Clifford, who is among those running for reelection. He demanded that they remove the stickers, and when they refused, the retired police officer called for backup.

Glendora's tiny Police Department responded in force, rolling out four cars and a sergeant — every available unit that Monday night. The strike force ignored the teenagers' allegations that Clifford was the scofflaw and came down hard on the young women.

They were handcuffed by the side of the road and taken to the station in separate cars. They said they were booked, searched and kept in jail four hours, and interrogated separately while their parents and lawyers were held at bay. Later, when a department spokesman released a statement to the media on the arrests, he identified both teenagers by name but omitted Clifford's identity, describing him only as "one of the victims" of the vandalism.

Glendorans are used to backbiting in their local politics — recalls and accusations of misconduct have been commonplace in recent years — but the spectacle of a councilman and his Police Department placing two teenagers in irons dismayed many residents.

"To me, it's criminal," said Gene Osko, a retired judge who has agreed to represent the teenagers.

Erica Landmann-Johnsey, a resident of Glendora since 1981, was equally disturbed. "I'm just appalled," she said. "I feel horrible for the girls."

There's now talk of a recall should Clifford win Tuesday. Landmann-Johnsey says she'll happily circulate petitions to make that happen.

The teenagers, meanwhile, are reeling. "It's embarrassing," said Marshall, whose father served on the City Council until being recalled several years ago. "I have this reputation as a criminal in Glendora."

Giammalva agreed. "It was pretty traumatic, to be honest with you," she said.

For his part, Clifford shows no signs of remorse or second thoughts. He says he offered to drop the matter if the young women would remove the stickers, and he accuses them and their supporters of blowing the incident out of proportion, of "trying to build this up into something that it isn't."

In addition, Clifford complains that the teenagers were defacing only the signs of candidates they opposed, evidence that their actions were motivated by politics. And although he acknowledges that some signs have been posted on public property, he argues that all sides have done it.

The remedy for such violations, he adds, is to file a complaint, not to deface property. "You still don't have the right to vandalize," he said. "It's just not appropriate behavior."

Police Chief Chuck Montoya, meanwhile, has been thrust uncomfortably into the middle of the city's political campaign. Interviewed Friday, he said his officers did not cite Clifford because the city attorney had advised the department not to enforce the sign ordinance in cases of political displays. The 1st Amendment, Montoya said, gives wider latitude to candidates than it does to others when it comes to sign advertising.

Still, it was the council that adopted rules for political signs in 2004, and those rules — which Montoya said lack the force of an ordinance — specifically direct candidates not to put up their signs on medians in public streets or on parkways or other public property. Clifford was among the council members who approved those rules.

As for the case against the teenagers, Montoya declined to comment, saying it was still under investigation. It has yet to be referred to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, which would decide whether prosecution was warranted. But he did concede that the matter was unorthodox.

"I've been in law enforcement for 32 years," he said. "This is a unique situation."

The truth about pensions

LAAG has a better idea than the ones below. Lets do to the govt employees pensions the same thing the private sector has done. Let the govermnet entities file bankruptcy and let the bankruptcy courts do what the political hacks cannot or will not do (due to vote pandering to/by the public employee unions)

The truth about pensions
A former politician speaks out about unsustainable benefits.
Article Launched: 02/27/2007 07:32:54 PM PST
http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_5318170
Long Beach Press Telegram

Keith Richman, a moderate Republican who was among a very few politicians in California willing to tell taxpayers the truth about the state's impending public pension disaster, no longer is in office. But fortunately, he's still telling the truth.

In speeches and in a recent article in the Orange County Register, Richman reminds us that the huge deficits have not gone away. The shortfall for public employees in Orange County alone is $1 billion for retirees' health care and $2.3 billion for lavish pensions.

For state employees, the shortfall is $140 billion for retiree health care, and $100 billion for pensions. Compare those numbers to the state's budget deficit of only a few billion dollars, which politicians struggle over and still can't quite seem to cover.

The State Employees Association belittles Richman's warnings as a crisis that doesn't exist. Oh, come on. The deficit numbers come straight from the California Legislative Analyst.

These plush benefits bear no resemblance to the real world of nongovernment jobs. That's bad enough from a taxpayer's view, but the more important point is that the benefits are unsustainable.

Politicians, who solicit money from government employee unions to finance their careers, show no interest whatever in negotiating more sensible contracts.

Richman offers a better solution: Continue the benefits for existing employees, but stop offering them to new nonsafety employees. Raise the retirement age to 65, which would cut pension costs by 50 percent and medical costs by a third. The retirement age for new public safety employees, who are subject to greater risk of physical disability, would be 55.

As Richman says, there is no defensible reason why government clerks, diesel mechanics, cooks, bureaucrats and the like should retire 10 years earlier than their private-sector counterparts.

We'd like to see Richman back in public office. But in office or out, we're grateful that he keeps speaking the truth.

TSA Union

Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:50:20 -0800
To: Senator@boxer.senate.gov, "U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer" , Adolfo_Bailon@boxer.senate.gov, Leannah_Bradley@boxer.senate.gov, Joy_Freiberg@boxer.senate.gov, Corey_Jackson@boxer.senate.gov, Brian_McLafferty@boxer.senate.gov, Aaron_Rosenthal@boxer.senate.gov, Gina_Semenza@boxer.senate.gov, Eram_Siddiqui@boxer.senate.gov, Kate_Simon@boxer.senate.gov, Judith_Vasquez@boxer.senate.gov, senator@feinstein.senate.gov, richard_harper@feinstein.senate.gov, mark_karesh@feinstein.senate.gov, "U.S. Congresswoman Linda Sanchez" , bill.grady@mail.house.gov, lauren.ross@mail.house.gov, iram.hasan@mail.house.gov, john.brodtke@mail.house.gov, clint.carte@mail.house.gov, romulo.rivera@mail.house.gov, karen.minatelli@mail.house.gov, rachel.potucek@mail.house.gov
From: updates@LAAG.us
Subject: Sept. 11 anti terrorism bill and the TSA union issue

Dear Senators Boxer and Feinstein and Representative Sanchez:

I dont agree with 90% of what Bush does however I do agree with his threatened veto on the Sept. 11 anti terrorism bill over the TSA union issue (see story below). There has been almost no media coverage of this provision (typical). That sort of a provision (almost as bad as an "ear mark") does not belong in this bill as it is anti taxpayer (as all public employees unions always are). For more on that issue and how public employee unions are causing the public pension system to collapse see www.LAAG.us and http://www.pensiontsunami.com/ Also unionization will have no effect on passenger safety and arguments could be made that it could decrease safety for taxpayers and only increase benefits to TSA employees. Quite frankly the screeners never should have become federal employees to begin with. It was slipped in while voters were in a state of hysteria (just like we over-reacted on Iraq) Federal requirements should have been put in place for private screeners. Federalizing thousands of jobs was a giant mistake and quite frankly the job TSA has done so far has been abysmal, especially with all the stories on the hundreds of missing uniforms. Surely that would be something that the Union would help them on. You loose a uniform you get fired. Union would prevent that. VOTE NO ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS AND BAILOUTS! Just because the federal govt. is infested with other unions is no reason to keep piling them on. This type of "give everyone the same sweetheart deal" thinking is what has led to our current pension and federal wage inflation problems. Search for "pensions" here

LAAG.us
Lakewood CA 90712

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WASHINGTON (AP)--U.S. President George W. Bush probably would veto a Sept. 11 antiterrorism bill if it includes a Democratic-sponsored provision to let federal airport screeners unionize, a Republican senator said Tuesday.

"The president's message on the bill is going to come out tomorrow. I think that it will contain a veto threat on the TSA collective bargaining position," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration.

Collins said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told her of the impending veto threat.

A White House spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Such a veto threat would be an effort to flex Bush's political muscle with the new, Democratic-led Congress on the old battleground of labor rights. It also could throw an obstacle into talks over how to debate and pass the recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission.

For now, senators are eager to follow the House and pass a bill enacting the commission's recommendations to tighten the nation's security. The House bill also includes a provision that would let TSA screeners bargain collectively.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had reached a tentative agreement Tuesday to conduct the debate over the next 10 days without the distraction of Iraq.

The sense of urgency on the 9/11 recommendations was conveyed to both leaders in a letter Tuesday from families of those killed in the terrorist attacks on that day in 2001.

"This legislation is far too important to be politicized by...controversial amendments and debate, particularly those relating to Iraq," wrote Carol Ashley and Mary Fetchet of the Voices of September 11th.

Reid and McConnell said the Iraq debate would wait for next month, after passage of the 9/11 bill. The arrangement would allow the Senate to debate legislation bolstering antiterrorism security measures on railroads and airlines without being distracted by the furor over President Bush's buildup of troops in Iraq.

"We have got to finish this bill," Reid said as he opened the Senate session. He read parts of a letter from relatives of people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks asking the Senate to consider the legislation "without complications regarding Iraq."

Even minus an Iraq debate, provisions in the antiterrorism bill or planned amendments make the legislation contentious.

The administration vigorously opposes a measure that would give TSA screeners the same collective bargaining and whistleblower rights held by most other federal employees. The White House also opposes an amendment that would let states delay adopting standardized drivers' licenses.

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said screeners have been denied the most basic employee protections since joining the federal payroll after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Collins said Chertoff delivered a staunch defense of the administration's position during the GOP caucus' weekly policy lunch Tuesday. She said she nonetheless plans to try to attach an amendment that would delay requirements for states to adopt national drivers license standards.

Many states have complained about the cost of the program, and civil libertarians are concerned about privacy issues.

Other measures in the bill would improve rail and aviation security, provide funds for state and local emergency communications systems, improve intelligence sharing between federal, state and local officials, and expand a visa waiver benefit for favored countries.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Screening for Unions
February 21, 2007; Wall Street Journal Page A16
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117202953048414561.html

Democrats figure they owe Big Labor for helping them take Congress, and now comes the payback. Tucked away in House and Senate bills that purport to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission is a provision that the Commission most assuredly did not recommend: collective bargaining rights for the Transportation Safety Administration's 43,000 airport screeners.

Congress created TSA in 2001 without union rights on common sense grounds that the agency overseeing airport security was more like the Defense Department than, say, Agriculture. Unionization, with its myriad work rules, would make it harder for the executive branch to hire, fire, train and reassign workers to best meet changing terrorist threats.

Democrats haven't stopped trying to overturn that decision, and in 2002 they forced a showdown with President Bush over union rights as part of creating the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Bush opposed the effort by Senate Democrats who were then in the majority, and the dispute helped the GOP gain Senate seats that November. This may explain why Democrats are now trying to unionize TSA sotto voce, under the cover of 9/11 Commission "reforms," and so far the press corps has barely noticed.

The Bush Administration has caught on, however, and opposes the change in TSA rules. Democrats are betting the White House won't have the nerve to veto an otherwise popular, if ill-understood, bill over this single provision. Our guess is that if Mr. Bush did veto such a bill, he'd find public sympathy for an argument that he was protecting a vital national security function from being corrupted by union politics.

Twelve to study public pension costs

Given that this panel is chocked full of govt. employees and govt. union reps. LAAG sees very little progress via this "committee" on the pension shortfalls other than "Damn the private sector taxpayers....Full speed ahead towards the pension iceberg"


Editorial: Pension puzzle
New commission has its work cut out for it


Published February 23, 2007
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B6
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/127583.html

Faced with a politically intractable problem, elected officials invariably turn to blue ribbon commissions -- panels of distinguished citizens they hope will come up with palatable solutions.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed such a commission early in his first term to deal with the state's burgeoning prison crisis, to little or no avail. The panel made sound recommendations, which the governor ignored, and the prison crisis has deepened.

Now the governor, together with legislative leaders, has created a new commission, this one to deal with another intractable state problem: the soaring cost of retiree pension and health benefits. Like the Corrections Independent Review Panel, the individuals named to the Public Employee Post Employment Benefits Commission have impressive credentials. They include academics, public employee union officials, financial experts and former pension fund managers.

But will panel members be able to persuade elected officials to force the kind of sacrifice from politically powerful constituencies -- specifically, public employee unions -- that fixing the state's retiree health and pension problems will inevitably demand? There's reason to be dubious.

The Legislative Analyst's Office laid out the health care part of the panel's challenge in a special report last year. Under new federal accounting rules, state and local governments are required to disclose their health care obligations to current and future retirees. The LAO study pegged the state portion of those costs at between $40 billion and $70 billion.

Those obligations are paid out of the general fund now, a $1 billion annual expense and mounting. To place the obligation on an actuarially sound footing, the LAO recommended that the Legislature and the governor begin setting aside billions more into an investment fund for future obligations. The LAO also recommended cutting benefits for future hires.

On the pension front, courts have consistently ruled that the state cannot borrow to finance its unfunded liability. So general fund contributions to the state pension fund are likely to rise sharply as well.

In his charge to the new panel, the governor correctly outlined what's at stake: "Rising pension and retiree health care costs," he predicted, "means less money for ... education, public safety, environmental protection and health care." That means a much diminished California.

The panel can guide lawmakers to the right answers. But the governor and legislators must do what they failed to do on the prison front -- make the hard decisions necessary to fix the problem. Doing that would be notable -- worthy, in fact, of the proverbial blue ribbon.

Twelve to study public pension costs
Panel selected by state lawmakers, governor to issue report by 2008

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS01/702210323/1006
Keith Matheny
The Desert Sun
February 21, 2007

Twelve Californians have been appointed to lead a state group to examine and suggest solutions to the rising cost of public employees' post-retirement benefits.

State pension systems for government workers and teachers - CalPERS and CalSTRS - have a combined unfunded liability of $49 billion. And California may owe between $40 billion and $70 billion in promised but currently unfunded long-term retiree health care for state workers.

A four-day Desert Sun investigation in December revealed:

Coachella Valley cities' pension savings were wiped out in the dot-com stock market bubble that burst in 2000. The cities now face a collective unfunded liability of $51 million and rising. That's money that could go toward education, public safety, transportation and other public services.

Cathedral City's population increased almost 70 percent since 1990. Its emergency fire calls tripled in that time. The cost to run the city's fire department jumped almost $1.7 million in the past five years alone.

Yet the city's number of firefighters has remained virtually unchanged for nearly two decades because city officials see the cost of new hires' salaries and benefits as prohibitive.

Palm Springs and Cathedral City fire departments often run engines with only two firefighters, instead of the recommended four or five. It can cause delays in responding to emergencies.

The valley's three school districts have a combined $114.5 million retiree health care liability.

Governments such as Palm Springs and Riverside County are turning to borrowing millions in bonds to pay off portions of their worker retirement obligations.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, appointed six members to the new commission. Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, both Democrats, appointed three members each.

The positions do not require Senate confirmation, and the commission members will not receive a salary.

The panel will determine the full extent of unfunded health care liabilities owed by California governments to their workers and propose plans to address those obligations and promised pensions. The commission is to draft a report for the governor and Legislature by Jan. 1.

Perata in a statement praised the "high quality of experts" convened in the commission.

"This group is clearly capable of undertaking the important and difficult task of weighing public employee benefits and finding ways to manage costs without undercutting workers," he said.

Nùñez said the Legislature would pay close attention to the commission's "process and progress over the coming year."

"We need a careful review of pension issues that is fair and responsible to workers and taxpayers alike," he said in a statement.

Researching retirement benefits
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, appointed six members to a new commission to study the rising costs of post-retirement benefits for public employees. Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata appointed three members each.

"Soaring obligations of this type remain one of the biggest problems facing governments everywhere, for the simple reason that rising pension and retiree healthcare costs mean less money for other government programs such as education, public safety, environmental protection and health care,"
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement Monday.

Named chairman of the commission was Gerald Parsky, 64, of Rancho Santa Fe, chairman of the Aurora Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based investment firm.

Parsky, a Republican, served in the 1970s as an assistant secretary with the U.S. Treasury Department, and has served as a member of the University of California Board of Regents since his appointment in 1996.

In addition to Parsky, members appointed to the commission by Schwarzenegger were:

# Matthew Barger, 49, San Francisco, Republican, asset management advisor for an investment firm.


# Paul Cappitelli, 49, Rancho Cucamonga, Republican, a member of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department since 1978, currently serving as commander of the West Valley Detention Center.


# John Cogan, 59, Portola Valley, Republican, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of public policy at Stanford University.


# Connie Conway, 56, Tulare, Republican, vice-chair of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.


# Curt Pringle, 47, Republican, Mayor of the City of Anaheim and former Assembly Speaker.


# Appointed by the Legislature to the commission were:


# Ronald Cottingham, Bonsall, Republican. President of the Peace Officers Research Association of California and a lieutenant with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.


# Theresa Ghilarducci, Democrat. A national expert on employee pensions, trustee on General Motors Retiree Health Fund and a past presidential appointee to the advisory board of the Pension Guaranty Corp. Director of the University of Notre Dame's Higgins Labor Center.


# Jim Hard, Democrat, president of California's largest union of public employees, Service Employees International Union Local 1000, representing nearly 90,000 workers.


# Leonard Lee Lipps, Democrat, public school teacher and regional manager for the California Teacher's Association.


# Dave Low, Sacramento, Democrat, assistant director of governmental relations for the California School Employees Association.


# Robert Walton, Willows, Independent, retired in 2005 after 34 years in state government, including more than 30 years with the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS.


The positions do not require Senate confirmation, and the commission members will not receive a salary.

LASD: cannot control costs; project restrictions looming

Yet another example (below) of wasted taxpayer dollars. When will taxpayers ever realize that we just don't get our moneys worth from any public agency and that the Kings and Queens of LA County (The Board of Supervisors) are not really beholden to the taxpayers but public employee unions?


2/21/07
Sheriff's project goes awry
By Pam Wight Staff Writer
Whittier Daily News
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_5270158

WHITTIER - The county Board of Supervisors is facing $6.4 million in cost overruns stemming from a relocation project run by the Sheriff's Department.

As a result, the supervisors are weighing whether to restrict the department's ability to manage future capital projects.

The board was supposed to take up the issue of the Special Enforcement Bureau relocation project at Tuesday's meeting, but the matter was continued until Feb. 27.

The relocation project's aim is to create a centralized area for homeland security training and response, according to the board's agenda.

To do that, officials decided in 1999 to upgrade the sheriff's Biscailuz Regional Training Center in Monterey Park in order to relocate the Whittier-based Training Academy and the East Los Angeles-based SEB to that site.

However, project costs began to rise when builders encountered old landfills at the Monterey Park site, which meant making significant changes to the original grading, drainage and site preparation plans.

Heavy rains in 2005 exacerbated the situation, officials said.

Sheriff's officials authorized cost increases and other changes without first getting the board's approval - a violation of county procedures, according to the agenda materials.

Now, the county's Chief Administrative Office is recommending that from now on Public Works should manage any capital projects that cost more than $1 million and involve "building new structures."

Supervisor Don Knabe said in a written statement that cost changes need to be "determined by the Board of Supervisors through approval of change orders and not validated after the fact."

Meanwhile, Sheriff's Department officials are conducting an internal investigation to identify where the management problems occurred and will issue a report to the CAO within 60 days.

"Even though the work we did was all reasonable and necessary, protocols were not followed," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Victor Rampulla. "And so we're doing an inquiry into the decision-making process. We can't just say everything's fine. The public doesn't expect that. We have a responsibility to follow procedure."

According to Knabe, when the board first approved the project it was supposed to be overseen by Public Works. The project was given to the Sheriff's Department in 2004 in an attempt to stay within budget.

Officials expected that moving the training academy would save the department $1 million annually, money that otherwise would have been spent on leasing office space.

The first of two phases of the project was the SEB relocation, which is nearly complete. Moving the training academy from the Sheriff's Training and Services Center from South Whittier will be the project's second phase.

Original cost estimates for each phase were approximately $9 million. Now, Phase I will cost more than $16 million and Phase II is expected to be $19.3 million, including "improvements and refinements" to the original plans.

Sheriff's officials are asking that the Board of Supervisors allow them to take $6.4 million from the Phase II account and spend it on completing Phase I. The money will go in part to contractors and consultants for work that is already done.

In the meantime, officials will re-evaluate Phase II, said Rampulla.

"While I am certainly unhappy with the way this project has been managed," Knabe said, "I am pleased that the cost overruns are being absorbed by the Sheriff's Department within their existing budget as opposed to this board bailing them out with additional general fund dollars."

pam.wight@sgvn.com

(562) 698-0955, Ext. 3029