Robert Fellner

Latest by Robert Fellner

Oakland trio cleared over $1.6 million in pay and benefits last year, new data show

Oakland trio cleared over $1.6 million in pay and benefits last year, new data show

An Oakland fire captain, a police officer, and a civil engineer each made over $500,000 in pay and benefits last year, according to newly released 2018 pay data published on TransparentCalifornia.com. The city’s top earner was Fire Captain Lawrence Hom, who cleared $557,655 in total compensation thanks in large part to an agency-high $309,185 overtime payment. Police officer Malcolm...

By Robert Fellner

Caltrans Union Spokesman Understates Engineers' Cost by $71M

Caltrans Union Spokesman Understates Engineers' Cost by $71M

In a hearing on Senator Moorlach’s SBX1-9 (Responsible Contacting for Caltrans) bill, Ted Toppin of the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) made a series of demonstrably false claims regarding the cost of Caltrans engineers. Toppin claimed that the cost of a fully-loaded engineer – including all wages, benefits and even the cost of their office and service truck –...

By Robert Fellner

CalPERS Spends $50 Million on Investment Advisors, Underperforms Market by 67%

CalPERS Spends $50 Million on Investment Advisors, Underperforms Market by 67%

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) spent nearly $50M on their investment advisors in 2014, despite producing a dismal 2.4% investment return – 67% lower than what the market returned over the same time, as measured by the S&P 500. CalPERS’ 275 investment officers and portfolio managers cost taxpayers $49.27 million, with chief investment...

By Robert Fellner

University of California Hikes Tuition to Fund Soaring Pensions of up to $350,000 a Year

University of California Hikes Tuition to Fund Soaring Pensions of up to $350,000 a Year

The University of California (UC) is implementing major changes to their retirement system to address its $12.1 billion unfunded liability, which has been cited as the driving factor behind recent tuition hikes. The proposed changes include a cap on pension benefits and the possibility of offering a 401(k) defined contribution plan to new hires. Looking...

By Robert Fellner

Over 8,000 LA County Retirees Made at Least $100K in Pension Pay as Taxpayer Cost Soars

Over 8,000 LA County Retirees Made at Least $100K in Pension Pay as Taxpayer Cost Soars

Last year, 8,088 retirees in the Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association (LACERA) received yearly pension and medical benefits packages worth at least $100,000, a more than 11% increase from the previous year, according to Transparent California’s recently published 2014 pension data. At the same time, the employer’s annual required contribution – the cost borne by taxpayers...

By Robert Fellner

Rolls Royce Health Care Plans for L.A. County Public Agencies

Rolls Royce Health Care Plans for L.A. County Public Agencies

SUMMARY:  The price of health insurance in America has consistently risen faster than the rate of inflation and, despite the intentions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is projected to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. A provision of the ACA known as the ‘Cadillac Tax’ is designed to discourage employers from purchasing...

By Robert Fellner

New Report Confirms LA Dept. Water and Power Compensation Highest in Nation

New Report Confirms LA Dept. Water and Power Compensation Highest in Nation

Phase I of a comprehensive benchmarking report on the LADWP was just released by the City of Los Angeles. The report itself confirmed a few things most ratepayers already know – that the LADWP’s payroll costs are dramatically higher than that of their peers and their customer service is quite poor. Previously, in my study, Examining Public...

By Robert Fellner

Examining Public Pay in California: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Examining Public Pay in California: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Summary:  The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) is the nation’s largest municipal utility, but it may also be one of the clearest examples of excessive public pay driven by powerful public sector unions. This paper analyzes the pay received by DWP employees to their non-DWP counterparts and finds that the average DWP...

By Robert Fellner

Analysis of the Reasons for San Diego Police Department Employee Departures

Analysis of the Reasons for San Diego Police Department Employee Departures

Summary:  The San Diego Police Officers Association and, to some degree, the San Diego media has long held that low pay was a significant factor in the department’s attrition rate that required pay increases to solve. A recent City-commission study that found the SDPD’s compensation (base pay range + cost of benefits) was near the...

By Robert Fellner

San Diego Police Losing Officers To Lucrative Retirements, Not Other Departments

San Diego Police Losing Officers To Lucrative Retirements, Not Other Departments

Editor’s Note:  The following article addresses an ongoing debate:  Are local police departments in California where pension reforms have been enacted, San Diego and San Jose in particular, losing officers and new hires faster than they can replace them because of these reforms? Readers of this article are encouraged to also read the response posted...

By Robert Fellner

Average CalPERS Pension Up To 5 Times Greater Than Comparable Social Security Payouts

Average CalPERS Pension Up To 5 Times Greater Than Comparable Social Security Payouts

CalPERS officials are fond of saying that their average pension benefit is only about $31,500 – suggesting that CalPERS members’ benefits are at Social Security-type levels. On this basis, they argue it’s a “myth” that public pension benefits are excessive. But is that really true? What happens when something like Social Security’s benefit assumptions –...

By Robert Fellner

San Francisco Transit Workers Average $123K Per Year – Reject 11% Raise

San Francisco Transit Workers Average $123K Per Year – Reject 11% Raise

For unionized government workers receiving an average $123,000 per year, a more than 11 percent pay raise wasn’t enough. While taxpayers are seeing their own income stagnant, government workers will receive double digit raises, further increasing the burden on many taxpayers who are making considerably less. Last year, San Francisco municipal transit workers received an...

By Robert Fellner

Pasadena Unified Superintendent Promoted, $55,000 Raise, Despite District’s Failing Performance

Pasadena Unified Superintendent Promoted, $55,000 Raise, Despite District’s Failing Performance

Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) superintendent Jon Gundry has just been tapped as the new superintendent for the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE), despite PUSD’s failing marks under his tenure from 2011 to 2014. His base salary will rise from $240,000 to $295,000 with the promotion effective August 1. In 2013, the PUSD...

By Robert Fellner

AVERAGE Orange County Pension 88% of Final Salary

AVERAGE Orange County Pension 88% of Final Salary

Would you take a 12 percent pay cut in exchange for a 100 percent reduction in work? In Orange County, if you’ve worked 30 years – say from age 25 until age 55 – that is exactly what you can expect. And many OCERS retirees are receiving pensions in excess of their highest salary. For...

By Robert Fellner

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