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San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
And for the record, this is a job that has the lowest entry level requirement of any 6 figure job I have ever seen =========================== Ah, so what you're saying is that the pay level may, in fact, have something to do with the low recruiting numbers? That's why we care if it's lower. Go back to the original question. I see you failed to answer that. If Saathoff is the single most powerful person in SD politics, why is our pay lower that both the PD and other FD's? Answer that question. Quit dancing around it. Answer the question. The 401K plan that SD firefighters have is self-funded only. No city money goes into it. The LAFD figure you used is outdated. From the joinLAFD.org website, "Excellent starting salary from $53,766 to $74,416 for entry-level firefighter position." Let's see, a 39K starting salary vs. a 54K starting salary... hmmm...where should I apply? Oh... and LAFD gets 4 more paid holidays a year. Research, Johnny. You can get 21 days off per month. Work a 56 hour week doing 24 hours shifts. Sorry if you don't like the word "work". Not all the time attorneys "work" is in front of the jury, is it? Again, the job is open. You're welcome to come on down and apply. You could be an attorney on those 21 days off. Several others have done it. No lame excuses. Either you apply, or you don't. Either you can get hired or you can't.— January 19, 2009 5:41 p.m.
Union-Tribune Slashing Wages and Benefits, Warning of More Staff Reductions
I buy 2% milk at Vons/Stater Brothers/Ralphs for $5.75 for 2, which is less than $2 a gallon. =============================== Yep, and every firefighter makes $250K, right Johnny? I see that math isn't your forte either, which may explain some of your claims. Wait, weren't you a science teacher before you were a real estate agent before you were an attorney but sometime after you flunked out of the police academy?— January 19, 2009 4:56 p.m.
Union-Tribune Slashing Wages and Benefits, Warning of More Staff Reductions
How long after Aguirre was elected? =================== Don, the articles I noted were all from 2007/2008. After the UT turned on Aguirre. We have NOT received a free pass from the UT. Sorry.— January 19, 2009 4:11 p.m.
Union-Tribune Slashing Wages and Benefits, Warning of More Staff Reductions
Johnny, The fire chief's benefit package is not $100K. More like half that. Sorry, but your exaggerations are getting the best of you.— January 19, 2009 4:10 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
JF=the 90%@50 has been emplemented in virtually ALL FD and PD within the last 9 years-they started doing it in 2000/2001 across the nation. ====================== So what's your point? Other cities implemented 3% at 50 by negotiation. We did it by settling a court case. The city's alternative was to pay retirements based on OT. Which do you think would be worse for the retirement system? Again, if Saathoff was the most powerful man in SD politics, why did we have to sue? As Just Wondering pointed out, the 90% at 50 is now a CAP. There was NO cap before. Folks regularly retired with 110-130% of their salary. Under the old system, I'd be eligible almost 100% of pay at 57. Now I'm only eligible for 90%. Again, which is worse for SDCERS, people retiring with 130% of salary? Or people retiring with 90% of salary. See, Fred, you claim that the union has been irresponsible. Yes, somewhat. But we've also created a system that is much easier to predict. That was on purpose. Can you imagine the difficulty (and cost) of predicting retirements based on overtime?— January 19, 2009 4:03 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Fred, Note that I said, "your elected officials" or "the elected representatives of the people". Nothing about "your representatives". I chose my words for the reason you mentioned. Meanwhile, Don wrote something about Saathoff being the most powerful man in San Diego politics. Really? So why is firefighter pay lower than police officer pay? Why is firefighter pay in SD lower than firefighter pay in other towns? Please answer those two questions for me. Saathoff is nowhere near the most powerful man in SD politics.— January 19, 2009 3:43 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
I have one response: that's pretty damned young. =================== Yep, but here's the kicker. Why don't you sponsor a study comparing the age of fire service workers to the amount of worker's compensation. My guess is that you'd find that retiring in the 50's is cost effective. Remember that the actuarial rates are designed for that retirement. That's why we pay so much more (double) out of pocket than those in SS. Johnny calls for a FD retirement age of 67. Don is 73. So Don, think back 5 years. Think you could strap on 100 lbs and climb to the top of a 42 story building? I don't. So what does the city do with those folks? Manufacture jobs for them? No, the city is cutting positions. Ah... retire them. Bingo!— January 19, 2009 3:31 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Johnny, You never do learn, do you? You're so obsessed with my pay and benefits that you actually changed political parties over that one issue. That's completely clouded your thinking to anything but your hatred. You say that the taxpayers did not "put in" DROP, the unions did. It would appear that you are unfamiliar with the concept of representative government. The unions did not propose DROP, the city did. They came to us with the proposal and we accepted it. Your elected officials read the ordinance several times and approved it. Then, the elected representatives of the taxpayers voted to accept the program. You say that DROP was designed to make up for the fact that we die earlier. You have that exactly backwards. DROP was designed to hang on to senior employees. Once again, you're confused. The retirement age for safety members has always been 50, at least in recent memory. The reason for that age really doesn't matter. You continue to spout off about retirement ages while using the earliest possible retirement age for public safety personnel and the latest possible age to maximize Social Security. Why do you insist on using the two opposite extremes? Why don't you use the averages? The facts show that the average age at separation for safety members is 57. The average age at separation for SS recipients is 62. Could it be that you're trying to skew the numbers? All of your arguments are a moot point. DROP is a vested benefit, further strengthened by the Corbett case. It's a done deal. Oh, and since you represent a majority of the residents, why don't you run for council and fix everything?— January 18, 2009 8:22 p.m.
Union-Tribune Slashing Wages and Benefits, Warning of More Staff Reductions
That's the point: the U-T was aware of FF excesses until it began smearing Aguirre obsessively. ===================== A quick search showed several editorials a year railing against firefighter pay and compensation after Aguirre was elected. Oddly, those were mostly during contract negotiation time. I don't think the UT rolled over as much as you say... at least not with us.— January 18, 2009 6:35 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Don, I don't know. But that's why we specified that it be a mutually agreed upon person. We want to know for sure, or at least as sure as one can be with actuaries. Some people contend it costs money, some people contend it makes money. What's the truth?— January 18, 2009 6:28 a.m.