How Does "Zero-point-Eight at Sixty-Eight" Sound for a Pension Plan?
How Does "Zero-point-Eight at Sixty-Eight" Sound for a Pension Plan?
The economy is picking up steam. State, city and county employees have willingly accepted millions upon millions of dollars in cuts to their pensions. California’s largest pension fund has recouped every single investment penny it lost from the Great Recession. So I thought perhaps California police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other public employees could finally exhale....
By Edward Ring
The Fall of Pacific Grove – Privately Owned Real Property are the Only Assets to Pay for Pensions
The Fall of Pacific Grove – Privately Owned Real Property are the Only Assets to Pay for Pensions
Part 6 of 7: Unions Will Seek Court Imposed Tax Increases Instead of Reform In a corporate bankruptcy, the judge can close down the business, sell the assets, and determine which creditors get paid. But in a municipal bankruptcy (MBK), a judge cannot force a city out of business. The city should come out of...
By John Moore
Controversy in Detroit: What's a Fair Settlement of Bondholder and Pension Obligation Claims?
Controversy in Detroit: What's a Fair Settlement of Bondholder and Pension Obligation Claims?
A huge battle between pensioners and bondholders is on. Last week, a Bond rating agency blasted Governor Rick Snyder’s $350-million Detroit pension rescue plan as being too favorable to creditors at the expense of bondholders. Today, the New York Times reports Detroit Turns Bankruptcy Into Challenge of Banks. Amy Laskey,a managing director at Fitch Ratings, said in a recent report...
By Mike Shedlock
The Fall of Pacific Grove – Anti-Pension Reform Mayor Claims to Favor Reed Pension Reform
The Fall of Pacific Grove – Anti-Pension Reform Mayor Claims to Favor Reed Pension Reform
Part 5 of 7: A New Reform Initiative is Proposed Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose is a genuine pension reform advocate. He has been working on a state-wide pension reform initiative for the last year. On Oct. 15th, the proposed initiative was filed with the state attorney general. Pacific Grove’s Mayor, a dyed-in-the-wool anti-pension...
By John Moore
The Fall of Pacific Grove – Outsourcing of Safety Services Causes Increased Pension Deficits
The Fall of Pacific Grove – Outsourcing of Safety Services Causes Increased Pension Deficits
Part 4 of 7: How the Unions Control the City’s “Pension Subcommittee” In Pacific Grove (Pacific Grove), the employee unions rule. They have the full support of the city manager, the city attorney, and the council majority. True “collective bargaining” is a myth. The Pacific Grove Charter established a strong city manager form of city...
By John Moore
Attacks Resume on California's Prop. 13 – How Else to Fulfill Insatiable Government Union Demands?
Attacks Resume on California's Prop. 13 – How Else to Fulfill Insatiable Government Union Demands?
A handful of far-left, Bay Area activists think they have come up with a clever plan to chip away at Proposition 13. Specifically, they are attempting to persuade local school boards and city councils to pass resolutions in support of removing Prop 13 protections for business property. While “resolutions” are not laws, they nonetheless can...
By Jon Coupal
Data Shows Correlation Between Government Union Power and State Government Solvency
Data Shows Correlation Between Government Union Power and State Government Solvency
Editor’s note: Mike Shedlock has done it again by pointing us at an important new study that examines and ranks the financial condition of the 50 U.S. state governments, as well as at a terrific map generated by the data. But missing from the study was a consolidation of state and local government financials –...
By Mike Shedlock
City of Redondo Beach Fights Unions – Full-time Firefighters Make $220,990 Total Compensation
City of Redondo Beach Fights Unions – Full-time Firefighters Make $220,990 Total Compensation
“If you say you can’t afford it, prove it. If you can’t prove it, pay up. We’re not being greedy here. It’s embarrassing how low we are paid compared to others. The average salary of a city employee in Redondo Beach is $47,000″ – President, Redondo Beach Fire Association, January 15, 2014, Daily Breeze article “Negotiations become...
By Edward Ring
The Fall of Pacific Grove – CalPERS Begins Calling Deficits "Side Funds," Raises Annual Contributions
The Fall of Pacific Grove – CalPERS Begins Calling Deficits "Side Funds," Raises Annual Contributions
Part 3 of 7: By 2005 Pension Costs Were Crippling the City In 1999, CalPERS represented to the state legislature that a 50% increase in pension benefits for safety unions would not result in increased costs. It based its opinion on its investment prowess. But by 2002, the tech bubble broke, and CalPERS began suffering...
By John Moore
California State Budget Increases 9%, Includes Raises for Unionized State Workers
California State Budget Increases 9%, Includes Raises for Unionized State Workers
Shortly after Jerry Brown was first elected governor, nearly 40 years ago, he famously said, “This is an era of limits and we all had better get used to it.” In keeping with this theme, it is now taxpayers who look at Governor Brown’s proposed 2014-15 budget with reduced expectations. In fairness, there are aspects...
By Jon Coupal
City of Palo Alto Faces Strike – $139,907 Average Total Compensation Not Enough
City of Palo Alto Faces Strike – $139,907 Average Total Compensation Not Enough
“Although the city is recovering, we are and will continue to have difficulty attracting and retaining experienced and skilled employees if we don’t achieve a solution now.” Palo Alto City Employee and SEIU Local 521 Chapter Chair, Palo Alto Online, January 14, 2014 This refrain has been heard for over 20 years. It plays out...
By Edward Ring
The Fall of Pacific Grove – How City Thwarted Reform, and CalPERS Squandered Surpluses
The Fall of Pacific Grove – How City Thwarted Reform, and CalPERS Squandered Surpluses
Part 2 of 7: City Attorney Kept Sponsors of Initiative from Participating in Defense of Initiative Part 2 of 7: In 1927, the City of Pacific Grove adopted a charter that reflects the principles of “home rule” and provides for local control of municipal affairs (California Constitution, Article XI, Section 3). That is why evidence...
By John Moore
The Fall of Pacific Grove – How it Began, and How City Officials Fought Reform
The Fall of Pacific Grove – How it Began, and How City Officials Fought Reform
Part 1 of 7: Pacific Grove is a quiet town of 15,000 residents located on the northern tip of the Monterey peninsula, with the larger resort town of Monterey to the east, and Pebble Beach to the west. With windswept white sand beaches, defiant stands of cypress growing out of surf splashed rocks, and one...
By John Moore
Detroit’s Emergency Manager Threatens Pension Fund Takeover
Detroit’s Emergency Manager Threatens Pension Fund Takeover
Detroit’s emergency manager Kevyn Orr says a pension fund takeover is a “right, if not an obligation” after Orr learned of extra, unwarranted pension payments. Please consider Emergency Manager Weighs Pension-Fund Takeover. Kevyn Orr said in a recent interview that at the current pace, the city’s General Services System pension fund could lose its ability to...
By Mike Shedlock