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San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
You cannot disclaim him, while still claiming all the money, JF. ======================= Fred, I never purchased service credit at the lower rate, though I could have gotten in on the cheap. The major reason I never did is that I suspected greatly that it would backfire.— January 6, 2009 3:27 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Johnny, $40-50K is more than first year FD employees make currently. A top step firefighter (after 4 years) makes $57K/year. You don't seem to get it. Even with the current salary and benefits, we had only 200 people to interview last time for 80 jobs. That's it. A roughly 2:1 ratio going in to the interview. What part of that don't you comprehend? It's not the 1000:1 ratio you claim.— January 6, 2009 3:24 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Fred, I don't post my name because the mayor has a strict policy against employees making public statements without his approval. Sorry. Besides, it also doesn't matter what I make as long as you claim it's unsustainable. So let's talk about that. There are two sides of the equation. One is income out. The other is income in. San Diego collects much less in taxes than any other major city in California. Even worse, San Diego gets back a smaller percentage of it's sales and property taxes than other major cities. Yet the citizens want the same services as in other major cities and the employees want to get paid the same as employees in other cities. I do think that there are places to save money in payroll in the city. But I don't think that they're in the FD or PD. In fact, our payroll needs to be increased. The FD is 50% short in staffing, according to one study. So... the citizens are not getting the same services as in other cities. Not the same fire protection, not the same pothole repair, etc. Again, it's a two sided equation. City employees have already taken cuts in salary. The FD recently received a 5% pay raise, but that was after giving up a 4% retirement pickup. Compare 4% pretax to 5% post tax. Prior to that, we received no pay raise for three years. We will receive no pay raise next year. So, our net pay increase over 5 years is likely negative given the tax disparity. We've also had our health care cut in that same time frame. I know, boo hoo. In the meantime, what additional taxes have citizens paid? Sure there have been a few fee increases, but has the average citizen been hit in the pocketbook by a general tax increase? No. We've taken the pain, they have not. How exactly would a TOT increase hurt the average citizen here? How many new fire stations would that fund? I'm OK with freezing our wages for a while, but I want to see the shortage of firefighters go away. I've been working on ways to save the city money on FD payroll. The union board members I've spoken with seem to like my ideas. We'll see if the city buys off on it. I know the union is spending money to conduct studies on how to make the retirement system and retiree healthcare sustainable.— January 6, 2009 3:18 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Johnny, Vallejo employees are the highest paid in the state, according to a PD salary survey. Comparing them to San Diego employees is ridiculous. According to the website, a Vallejo firefighter's full contract rate is $130K/year. A San Diego firefighter makes around half that. Even I think that their compensation is ludicrous. What was that about apples and oranges? Obviously, the "retirement pickup" is much higher in Vallejo than it is here. Here we pay 50% of the normal cost of retirement. According to SDCERS, employer normal cost of retirement is around 14%. That would be around $16K, not $32K. Employee contributions would then also be around the same as someone in the private sector. I don't disagree that our retirement is better. Heck, I think every American should have a retirement like ours. Realistically, we pay a little more than double the rate that those in Social Security only pay. We get a final percentage that is a little more than double what Social Security pays. Amazing.— January 6, 2009 2:59 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
"I know how the system works, I know who are in the system, and it is not the best or the brightest." Grammar looks good.......what is wrong with that post? =================================== I know who ARE in the system? Yep... a genius all right. It should be, "I know who IS in the system". But you didn't pick that up, even after a second look. Poking fun at your English skills is fairly petty, all things considered. It is kind of funny, however. Here you are a former teacher with an advanced degree. Someone who as a lawyer has to prepare written briefs and speak intelligently and a dumb, GED educated knuckle dragging firefighter can poke holes in your grammar and your logic. Maybe it's time to reconsider your notion of superiority based on a college degree.— January 6, 2009 2:41 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Fred, Apparently, you've misinterpreted my challenge. I'd never for an instant claim that we're the only ones qualified to have an opinion on our job. You're certainly entitled to your opinion. I respect your long hours in the Navy. I've said for a long time that those in the service should be paid about double what they are. Consider how those hours at sea would affect you if you did it for 30 years -- no shore duty. So you might have a good feel for the hours and stress I'm talking about. Let me ask a couple of questions. Were you involved in actual life and death situations? Or did you just train for it? Incidentally, you might want to change your Facebook page because it claims you were a "Personnelman". Sounds dangerous. ;) You claim that anyone can do our job. Over 50% of adult Californians are obese. They can't make it through the academy. The 45% who are left need to pass EMT school, score over 90% on the test, have a decent interview and pass the background and medical. What percentage of the population do you think is left to employ? You'd think former sailors would do well, and many have. But we've also failed Navy SEALs out of the academy because they couldn't pass the exams. It's not quite so easy as you make it out to be.— January 6, 2009 2:30 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
I know how the system works, I know who are in the system, and it is not the best or the brightest. =========================== Interesting English usage for someone in the "top 1%"— January 6, 2009 2 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Fred, My apologies that this has sunken into the gutter. I usually try to focus on the "what" not the "who" but hearing the same crap again and again forced a shift. You say that, "Putting you fires is NOT as difficult or dangerous as the media and your union would have us believe." OK, so put your money where your mouth is. The San Miguel Fire Protection District in the Rancho San Diego area hires reserve firefighters. Since you're a community-minded individual, why don't you go down and apply. It will give you a good taste of what being an urban firefighter is about. Remember, this job is EASY, right? Anyone can do it? If what we earn is so much... why not join us and make the easy money yourself? Johnny, you're invited to participate as well. We just hired a guy your age. If he can do it, you can too. Here's my second proposal. For the next few nights, I want you to set an alarm clock at a random time between midnight and six AM. I'll leave a question for you to answer upon awakening. It'll all be common knowledge stuff, at least for a firefighter. I'll even let you use references. Let's see how you do. Are you game? Can you hack it? Again, Johnny, you're welcome to participate. Oh... some nights there may be 3, 4 or 5 questions. At different times. Remember, to earn the "big bucks" you need to work OT several nights in a row, so we'll simulate that.— January 6, 2009 11:29 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
That is the biggest BS lie you have ever posted JF.....that applicants for the PD or FD are actually hired by personnel.... BALONEY! ======================== Sorry, Johnny, but those with good test scores are interviewed by two Fire Captains. Those interviewers make notes and scores. They don't know how those interviewed scored on the written or their ranking. City personnel does the final tabulation and offers of employment. Again, I'm sorry you couldn't get hired, but that doesn't mean that they system isn't fair.— January 6, 2009 9:50 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
NO cop has a JD at HIRE ============== Would you like to show me where I said that any did? Or are you putting words in my mouth as usual?— January 6, 2009 9:43 a.m.