Orange County Fire Authority’s Hefty Overtime Bill a Bad Deal for Irvine Taxpayers
Orange County Fire Authority’s Hefty Overtime Bill a Bad Deal for Irvine Taxpayers
Irvine’s City Council has directed city staff to explore the possibility of leaving the Orange County Fire Authority in 2020. The Council wants to find a more cost effective way to provide fire protection services to city residents. If Irvine can find an alternative that constrains firefighter compensation – especially overtime pay– it may be on the right track....
By Marc Joffe
High Speed Rail Won’t Impact Climate Change
High Speed Rail Won’t Impact Climate Change
According to the high speed rail authority’s website, the bullet train is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by just over one million metric tons annually by 2040. This reduction is supposed to be achieved by replacing almost 10 million miles of motor vehicle travel each day, and eliminating between 93 and 171 daily flights. But...
By Marc Joffe
Surprise! The Nation’s Most Fiscally Fit Cities are in California!
Surprise! The Nation’s Most Fiscally Fit Cities are in California!
California has a reputation for fiscal mismanagement, so I was surprised to see several Golden State cities at the top of a city financial strength ranking I recently compiled for The Fiscal Times. The fact that California has some judicious public agencies does not necessarily negate the fact that, taken as a whole, the state’s...
By Marc Joffe
Convicted or Not, L.A. Sheriff Baca Will Collect a Big Pension
Convicted or Not, L.A. Sheriff Baca Will Collect a Big Pension
Leroy "Lee" Baca, the man served for 16 years as L.A. County's top cop, has admitted to charges of lying to the FBI in a coverup of inmate abuse at the county jail. But even if convicted, the retired Los Angeles County Sheriff will continue to receive retirement benefits – today valued at more than $342,000 annually. A conviction would put him in a unique position to corner the prison commissary.
By Marc Joffe
Double Dipping at the Public Pension Trough
Double Dipping at the Public Pension Trough
On December 30, the Los Angeles Times reported that James Mussenden, the retired city manager of El Monte, raised his total annual cash pension benefit to $216,000 by using a Supplementary Retirement Plan from Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS). The PARS plan is not unique to El Monte: if the leadership of any public agency...
By Marc Joffe
How to Get Rich by Teaching at UC
How to Get Rich by Teaching at UC
They may not have won a Nobel Prize, but California taxpayers and students are awarding ten retired University of California professors an attractive consolation prize: pension benefits amounting to more than $300,000 each per year. Topping the list of UC pension beneficiaries is Fawzy I. Fawzy, M.D. a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. He received over $354,000 in 2014, an amount that will continue to grow each year with cost of living increases. Recently, Dr. Fawzy generously helped his junior colleagues by explaining their compensation and pension benefits in a lecture uploaded to YouTube. His knowledge of the ins and outs of the UC payroll and retirement systems is truly impressive.
By Marc Joffe
In California, Innovation Ends at the Water Tap
In California, Innovation Ends at the Water Tap
Despite being the home to many of the world’s great startups, California’s approach to its water shortage has been anything but entrepreneurial. The triumph of bureaucracy over entrepreneurship is epitomized by the December 22 release of the state’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan Environmental Impact Review (EIR). The document, characterized by the San Francisco Chronicle as...
By Marc Joffe
Dallas Pension System Crisis: Could It Be Repeated in California?
Dallas Pension System Crisis: Could It Be Repeated in California?
Despite a strong national economy and rallying stock market, the city of Dallas faces a pension funding crisis that has triggered fears of a municipal bankruptcy. Can something similar happen in California? Dallas’ Police and Fire Pension System (DPFP) was already teetering at the beginning of 2016, when its actuarial valuation report showed a funded...
By Marc Joffe
New California Policy Center Study Proposes Pension Funds Invest in Infrastructure
New California Policy Center Study Proposes Pension Funds Invest in Infrastructure
Although Sacramento and Washington DC will be ruled by very different governing philosophies over the next two years, we believe that a centrist approach to infrastructure policy can be a win/win for California Democrats and for Republicans who will control the federal government for the next two years. We analyze promising areas of infrastructure investment,...
By Marc Joffe
Teachers’ Unions Spend Over $27 Million on State Races
Teachers’ Unions Spend Over $27 Million on State Races
In a recent op-ed, California Federation of Teachers (CFT) President Joshua Pechthalt calls out special interests for pouring money into California elections in support of charter schools. He writes: The charter association spent better than $24 million in relatively few races this year. Oakland, where previously $20,000 was a lot of money for a school...
By Marc Joffe
Who’s Going to Pay for Trump’s Huge Infrastructure Plans?
Who’s Going to Pay for Trump’s Huge Infrastructure Plans?
A rare point of agreement between President-Elect Trump and Congressional Democrats is that America has an infrastructure deficit: The nation’s transportation, power, water and sewerage facilities are too often outdated and unable to reliably serve a growing population. But while the diagnosis crosses party lines, solutions are more controversial. Democrats may not be too worried...
By Marc Joffe
Will Taxpayers get Shafted in the Latest Chapter 9 Bankruptcy?
Will Taxpayers get Shafted in the Latest Chapter 9 Bankruptcy?
When a government files for bankruptcy, bondholders, employees and vendors typically fight for a share of the agency’s assets. But what about taxpayers? Shouldn’t their interests also be considered by the bankruptcy court judge? This is the question we hope will be answered in California’s newest Chapter 9 bankruptcy, that of the West Contra Costa Healthcare...
By Marc Joffe
West Contra Costa Healthcare District Goes Bankrupt Again; Time to Throw in the Towel
West Contra Costa Healthcare District Goes Bankrupt Again; Time to Throw in the Towel
On October 20, the West Contra Costa County Healthcare District (WCCHD) filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy – its second such bankruptcy filing in ten years. In 2015, the district closed its one hospital – Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo – which had been hemorrhaging money for many years. Since WCCHD is insolvent and...
By Marc Joffe
