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Conservative Wall Street Journal Heaps Praise on Liberal Mike Aguirre, Citing His Pension Battle
Johnny, Face it, no matter what I say, no matter how factual, you're just going to cry "baloney" and ignore it. You're in your own little world. The fact is that Joseph Esuchanko testified in court that the city's pension system is 97% funded. Once again, for the third time, I'll ask -- if Aguirre claims that they pension system is 68% funded, I'd like the name of his actuary and a link. That should be simple, no? Given how much Aguirre puts on the web? If you can't provide that simple bit, let's just go with what we can show. The system is between 78 and 97% funded, depending on who you talk to.— September 8, 2008 7:58 p.m.
Local Newsweek Correspondent Pleads to Chargers: "Don't Bolt!"
Johnny, The FD had a trial program to charge businesses for false alarms. Not surprisingly, the city council allowed the trial to expire. You would be shocked at how many city resources are tied up on false alarms. Trust me, no firefighter wants to be awakened for a BS call. We do everything we can to divert those folks into a more appropriate level of care. I've successfully gotten people into many different treatment programs with a little extra work. As I've mentioned before, our call screening system is top-notch, but it's not anywhere near perfect. As long as the caller says one of the key words, we have to send an engine and ambulance. Many times, freeway calls such as yours are frustrating because someone with a cell phone has driven by and calls in. We have to go in case of a injury, fire or other hazard. There are certain places in this city where you'll see steam rising from industrial plants. People call those in on a cell and we have to go. We don't have the technology to conduct surveillance and see if it's a real fire. So if you want to do your good deed for the day call your city council member and ask why we don't charge the big downtown hotels for the (I'm not joking here) 100 or so false alarms a year that some of them generate. The cops would've cut them off long ago, but burglaries don't quite have the life hazard that high rise fires do, so we still have to go. Oh, and those "hypochondriacs" do get charged for the ambulance ride. Most are on MediCal or MediCare, so you pay it.— September 8, 2008 6:32 p.m.
Conservative Wall Street Journal Heaps Praise on Liberal Mike Aguirre, Citing His Pension Battle
Once again, Johnny, you're trying to compare SD to Vallejo. You're using the situation in Vallejo as a red herring to distract people from the fact that the situation here is getting better, not worse. The simple fact is that the situation here IS getting better. I've said before and I'll say again that there were (emphasis on were) problems here that hurt the system. For instance, I've always been against POSC below market value. But those have been fixed now. It will take time to get back to fully funded, but we're getting there. You keep crying wolf and throwing out distractors like your "GED educated $200K/year firefighters" bit when that's simply not true. I'm not sure why you're so bitter. Perhaps a move to a town with an all volunteer fire department would make you a bit happier. Sorry, but if you want to live here, with the benefit of a professional FD you're going to have to pay market rate for it.— September 8, 2008 12:08 p.m.
Conservative Wall Street Journal Heaps Praise on Liberal Mike Aguirre, Citing His Pension Battle
Golly Johnny, you want a link for what you think is BS information? How about you prove that the average firefighter or cop is making $200K like you always claim? A link please? From http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/pension/… "Kalwarski, in a lengthy report that evaluated the pension using a number of different variables, set the system's funding ratio, a measure of assets against liabilities, at 80 percent, up from 66 percent two years ago. Esuchanko rejected that measure, labeling it inappropriate because it can be calculated in various ways. He relied instead on a ratio that compares the system's present value of assets to benefits, and came up with 97 percent. In essence, said David Wescoe, the system's administrator, though Esuchanko and Kalwarski embrace different philosophies within their field, their results lead to the same end: The pension's system status has improved." So I guess I was wrong -- the actuary hired by the city said the system is 97% funded. A completely different actuary hired by SDCERS says the system is 80% funded. Oddly, SDCERS is being more conservative than the city. In a separate action, Aguirre agreed to use the services of Esuchanko. So...please provide the name (and a link to the report) of the actuary who Aguirre used to determine that they system is funded less than that. Or is that just Aguirre (and Johnny) fantasy?— September 8, 2008 11:53 a.m.
Conservative Wall Street Journal Heaps Praise on Liberal Mike Aguirre, Citing His Pension Battle
Actually, Johnny, the city's actuary (Joseph Esuchanko) testified that the system is 90% funded. Aguirre claims it's 70%. Who's his actuary?Does his actuary have a name?Or is that another "pull it out of a hat" Aguirre number. SDCERS' actuary claims it's ~80%. However, that's taken with a more stringent accounting system that was adopted last year by SDCERS. Were the former system used, the number would be higher. Maybe that's where Joseph Esuchanko came up with his 90% number. That $100 million certainly helped with the funding. But it's not the only factor. SDCERS' investments made 16% last year, and have averaged over 10% for the past 10 years. That time frame includes the crash around the turn of the century. And the city has increased payments. Further, the system has been cleaned up and several "loose threads" that were costing money have been eliminated. That also helps the funding percentage both now and in the future. The basic fact is that you claimed the pension gap is widening. It is not. Nor are health care costs. Just more Johnny Vegas hyperbole.— September 8, 2008 9 a.m.
Conservative Wall Street Journal Heaps Praise on Liberal Mike Aguirre, Citing His Pension Battle
Johnny wrote: "JF, the SD pension and healthcare deficit widens every year." Interesting, given that the funded percentage was 65.8% in 2004 and was up to 78.8% funded in 2007. So I guess the pension deficit isn't widening every year. Remember, the entire pension bill, including paying the amortization is about 5% of the entire city budget. That's hardly breaking the city. Then there's the healthcare. Yes, those costs rise every year. They rise for private employers, they rise for Social Security and they rise for MediCal. However, the mayor has set up a fund to cover future costs. Eventually, the interest from that fund will cover all healthcare costs. So slowly but surely those costs are being reigned in -- more so in the city than in other places.— September 7, 2008 9:23 p.m.
Conservative Wall Street Journal Heaps Praise on Liberal Mike Aguirre, Citing His Pension Battle
A couple of interesting items about Vallejo. Employees took a almost 8.5% pay cut to stave off bankruptcy while management gave themselves a 3% cut. Oh, except the city manager, who took a $89,000 pay raise to over $300K/year in 2007. Employees offered up further pay cuts, but the city refused to take them. In another thread, Johnny wrote that Vallejo is a major city. Maybe at one time, but not now. It's the 45th largest city in CA in population. It was essentially a one business town, but then that business (the Navy yard) left. Heck, Vallejo was even supporting it's own symphony rather than public safety. San Diego is not in that position. Our shipyards continue to thrive and get new work. NASSCO is hiring frequently. We have the biotech world here. We have several major colleges and universities. Etc. Etc. Vallejo has none of that. San Diego will suffer a slightly lower tax revenue this year, but it won't be insolvent. Not by a long shot. Pay and benefits are much lower in San Diego than in Vallejo. A firefighter in Vallejo makes more than a fire captain in San Diego. Again, we're not asking for that kind of pay here. We never have. In the words of Mike Rose, "I just want to be average". Oh, and Don... how many San Diegans do you think read the WSJ?— September 6, 2008 6:09 p.m.
Union-Tribune Employees Camp Out All Night in Lobby To Be First in Line To Get Buyout Forms
Major city? The 45th largest city in CA? Couple of interesting things about this bankruptcy. Union firefighters voluntarily took a almost 8.5% pay cut. Management took a 3% pay cut. Vallejo is by no means a major city, nor are it's finances similar to San Diego's.— September 6, 2008 10:52 a.m.
Local Newsweek Correspondent Pleads to Chargers: "Don't Bolt!"
Don, I never denied that I feel that the FD should expand. I simply said that it wasn't justified by going on unnecessary calls. Any needed expansion is easily justified by response times. I heard a call the other day for a structure fire at a non-sprinklered, occupied high school. The closest two engines were out of service on other calls. So the first in engine to this high life hazard occupancy arrived 12 minutes after dispatch. I'm sure you're aware that fire expands exponentially. Luckily it wasn't much of a fire, but that's simply unacceptable for the public. Imagine the lawsuit if a couple of kids died. Should you have a heart attack at the Wild Animal Park, you might as well call the coroner as call us because the nearest paramedic is coming from Rancho Bernardo -- 15 minutes away. That's why the FD needs to expand.— September 5, 2008 9:43 p.m.
Local Newsweek Correspondent Pleads to Chargers: "Don't Bolt!"
Don, How exactly would the fire department feather it's own nest by going on unnecessary calls? First off, we don't charge for going on calls on fire engines, though our partner, Rural/Metro does charge for paramedic service. Second, we don't choose the calls we go on. You call 911, we go. Third, we've implemented a call screening program to reduce the number of engine company responses to medical aid calls. Fourth, our medical director works closely with the personal physicians of people such as the one you describe above to eliminate 911 calls and get that patient the care that they really need. We're trying to reduce the call volume, not increase it. But the aging of America is working against us. The request for additional firefighting resources is based on response time, not number of responses. Burwell also claims that we go to many cigarette fires. Actually, candles cause many more fires each year. Perhaps we should outlaw candles? I might point out to Burwell that the Fire Department tried desperately to strengthen the building code after the Cedar Fire of 2003 to prevent further catastrophes. Guess who opposed the code change -- yep, the very residents whose homes burned.— September 4, 2008 10:23 p.m.