Pacifica Tribune, Letters-to-the-editor, 3/6/12, "Happy Trails" by Therese M. Dyer
"Happy trails to Jim Vreeland. These should be very therapeutic to your recovery. Enjoy them.
As for Pete DeJarnatt who says he is not running, he should resign immediately so two competent people can be appointed and we can get the assisted living complex to proceed before we have another lawsuit on our hands by the developer for continuous delays. The city needs the revenue. Do not wait until November when your term is up. Do the right thing.
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| DeJarnatt and Digre resign! |
Since I've been on the Grand Jury this past year we have interviewed more people and done more research than the city council and, yes, we do get mileage and a small stipend.
I might add that it would be beneficial for both the current council or those anticipating running in the November election to put their applications in now. You will get an education beyond your expectation, and you will learn what it takes to run a city efficiently. Tod Schlesinger brought up a good point at last week's city council meeting: why they keep tabling the assisted living until the next council meeting when they knew they would not have a quorum? DeJarnatt needs to step down now."
Posted by Kathy Meeh
52 comments:
Wasn't Total Recall about freedom fighters from Mars?
I don't care if they get benefits but no cashing them out. Is it true these people get a $25,000 year pension if they serve long enough? That would bother me.
Applications for what? What's she talking about?
Part time, volunteer job, pensions!
Tell me it ain't so.
Sorry, it is so.
Ask during council meeting.
Dejarnett has missed quite a few meetings. All the while collecting pay and taking advantage of health care we provide him.
It's time to go Pete. You're not serving the people by staying. Just have the courage like Vreeland did. Please type your resignation letter today.
I don't think he's old enough for Medicare but maybe he really is going to retire and enjoy that $25,000 per year pension we're apparently paying him for life.
Council members do not get $25,000/yr pension for life.
How do you know they don't? Do they know they don't? There's a direct quote floating around from one of them. Not all of them, just the longterm ones. I think they do.
Probably got it the same time they got all that cafeeteria cash. Wasn't that a Ritzma production?
Where's the direct quote? Let's see who said it and what exactly was said.
Therese said she filed preliminary paperwork with the city a few days ago.
an anon is not likely to quote anyone direct. such a pension must be a public record and probably required a vote. time for some independent research if anybody cares.
While she's on the Grand Jury?
We should not be kept in the dark about what anyone being paid with our tax dollars is getting.
Exactly what do Council members get during and after their service?
Shut up, you jabbering idiots.
anon411 spoken like a camp follower
It dedpends where they invest their cafeteria check. Can anyone validate the info that Pete put it into a PERS acct? How else can he get a pension?
Council salaries and benefits including retirement are public record. You are not being "kept in the dark." It's up to you to ask.
Anonymous said...
"Council salaries and benefits including retirement are public record. You are not being "kept in the dark." It's up to you to ask."
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Really, and who do we ask? Where do we look? This information should be on the city website. Instead it's hidden away. The city wouldn't even post employee wages if it wasn't mandated by the State.
Mary Ann or Len, can you please enlighten us here? What exactly do Council members get during and after their terms?
I really don't think the city council pay and benefits are the big problem here though considering Police and Fire are a major chunk of our budget.
anon 5:52 How else? That's the question. If the longtime Council members get a CalPers pension it's not from cafeteria cash. That money, which is cash-in-lieu of benefits, shows up as regular taxable income on the salary reports. You can see it on the 2010 reports. on the state or city website. Their stipend is $700 per mnth or $8400 per year. Their taxable income is around $21,000 as I recall. The difference is cafeteria cash. They quietly voted themselves that benefit about 4 or 5 years ago by "joining"
a benefited employee class. Don't know if a pension came with. Interesting idea. We're paying everybody else forever, why not them? But IDK. Might depend on who you ask. Under pressure from the public and FCSTF Council decided last year to give up their cafeteria cash-out. At some point that savings should be reflected on a salary report on the city or state controller's website.
I do know that their monthly stipend is well above the standard amount stated in the CA Gov't Code for a city of our size. The code says $400 I think. Somewhere along the way prior councils voted themselves a raise or two. It's perfectly legal. This council could also, if so motivated, vote themselves a cut. I think Len Stone waived all compensation.
Seems like city council just wanted what all the other kids have. Problem is they all have too much.
Maryanne led the charge last year to get rid of the cafeteria cash and it is so. I also recall some council members have also taken voluntary cuts as well as not taking cafeteria cash.
Cafeteria cash is the pet peeve of Bruce Banco on FCS and he has been relentless in his campaign to eliminate it. And continues to be. To end this often misunderstood ripoff of public money Banco had to get Council to give it up before they could ask the unions to do so. It's big bucks. Nihart and Stone are council liaisons to FCS and attend their meetings. I think Pete was absent from the Council meeting but the other 4 voted to forfeit it. I'll believe it's really gone when I see their salaries reflect the change on State Controller's website. I believe most of the unions, perhaps all, have made reductions but not outright elimination, yet. For those who criticize FCS, they did this. Thank you Bruce Banco and FSC!
Sure they did once the public pressure started and from the Finance committee. Cash taken in lieu of benefits adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to the payroll. Ask a city department head what it does. If they'll talk.
The thank you to banco should be about getting rid of cafeteria cash in the employee contracts. He had nothing to do with the council cut. Nihart brought it up her first year but it took another budget cycle to get the votes. Check the minutes
Well duh. No kidding it's in the minutes. Council had to "cleanse" themselves of this business before asking the unions to give up theirs and she knew it. She's no fool and good for her. It's an outrageous and outmoded practice. Don't know who is the chicken or the egg, Banco or Nihart. They played different roles, and they had to, but Banco took on the big battle through FCS from its beginning and has stuck with it. Annoying all kinds of folks in the process. Savings to the city from one man's pet peeve? Potentially hundreds of thousands as the cafeteria cash option is gradually reduced. Kudos to a private citizen! But not in the minutes.
Len Stone is the one who brought it to Council this last budget period for the Council cafeteria cash to be completely cut out. It ended up to be cut 50% and Pete was not happy at all about this. He was very argumentative towards Len at the next Council meeting because guess what (?), Pete missed the meeting they voted to cut the Council cafeteria cash in half. This is why Pete will not run again. No cafeteria cash and the heat is on to be accountable. It makes me laugh that he now announces at Council Communications that he had meetings "with some people about some different things". I would sure feel important if I were those people.
Is it true that Digre tried to nominate Leo Leon for Vreelands seat last night?
This woman has to go. Totally out of touch.
I'll believe it's been cut when I see it in the salary report the city posts and also appears on the state controller's website. Their salary s/b no more than that $700 per month stipend. Too many things go from cut entirely to cut 50% to nothing's changed at all. Watch council fight over the credit then! Sleazy politicians.
I think council made some convenient and well-timed noises about cutting out their cafeteria cash just so the city could then go after the unions on the issue. That's where the really big money is. True that Mr. Banco kept hammering away at FCS and the unions are reducing it in increments, 25%, 50%. Being what they are we can expect them to try to make it up elsewhere in the murky area of benefits.
Did council actually give up about $12,000 each per year in cafeteria cash? I'll wait for the salary report before I applaud any of them.
Hutch, Sue and Pete both tried to get Leon in as the interim appointee til the Nov election. Shot down in a great, live example of the problem a 4 member council will have in doing anything by vote without that 5th tie-breaker person. Still, if Leon runs in Nov for one of the 3 seats on the ballot he does have a great chance of getting one. He's got the organization and support. Meanwhile let's hope council follows up with Gil Anda as the interim appointee. Fine choice, knows Pacifica and he's nobody's puppet. Mr. Anda, if you're out there, get your letter of interest in now!
First of all, I could never understand how DeJarnett and Digre were re-elected? In my opinion, they add nothing to the conversation and never have. I would be so happy if they would just resign. Save face, Mr. DeJarnett and Ms. Digre, and just resign already!!!
oh dear me, not something else you
don't understand
^Sue^
If we want a real chance to replace the no growth Council in November we need to organize. Otherwise the mother earth contingency will be singing hari krishna again.
Everyone remember that Len Stone will have zero as a salary because he ran his campaign on serving the City and not lining his pockets. He also has two small kids and could certainly use the money.
fundraiser?
Why raise funds for Len? His term isn't up until November of 2014.
I have no problem with them all getting the basic stipend of $400 mnth(not the current one of $700) and health insurance if they want it. But nothing else. No cafeteria cash and definitely no pension (if the rumor on that is true).
anon333 keep working on it
^Sue^
I'd like to see Len collecting his city council salary stipend, health, pension and any other benefits he is entitled to and is not taking. That's only fair and reasonable. Frankly, it bothers some of us that he may not be taking money and benefits he is entitled to.
On the other hand, reducing or removing the "cash out" health benefits seems like a no-brainer through-out the city employee system.
Cafeteria cash was thrown out last year cause there were finally three votes. Nihart brought it forward for two years and the others didn't move. She tipped off Banco and thank god. She's been on this since the beginning. Of course she can actually understand the budget, has Sue or Pete ever done anything but react? Duh a
Tell it to the unions.
I think it would be good if people commenting here were calling the Tribune and demanding that they do their job of reporting the news so's your questions got answered.
Elaine Larsen 738-4542
Justin Wilcox, publisher
jwilcox@bayareanewsgroup.com
This roundtable online goes nowhere.
"calling the Tribune and demanding that they do their job of reporting the news" - ahahahaha. You think their job is to do investigative reporting. That's not what they do. They print the news that you provide. If you want the Tribune to print it, you have to go out and get the answers to your questions. They're not going to do it for you. And calling them and demanding that they do that won't make a damn but of difference. They don't have the staff or time or money to do that. They can't do that.
You're absolutely right Lionel, but then where could we satisfy our need for revisionist history and fighting over credit for the truly meager successes? But, you are right. We rarely accomplish anything here and facts are definitely optional.
It's not the NYTimes. It's a small town paper with a small budget, policies dictated by a larger company, and their real revenue comes from local business ads. They're careful not to offend, but they do a fine job on community stuff. Real news? Who expects to find much of that in a once-a-week round-up kind of paper?
Hum, "revisionist history, facts are optional"?
Speaking only for yourself of course, Anonymous 957. Most of us work at assuring what we say is correct. And when what was said is twisted, someone else updates or corrects, such as right now.
I have to say I'v been proud of the reporting Elaine has done lately. like Printing city employee salaries.
Sure I would like to see them printing more data like the actual savings for outsourcing PD and more info on where all our money is going. But we have to encourage more of this ourselves by writing the paper.
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