Saturday, April 24, 2010
Steven Greenhut: Public employees receive 'unbelievable' benefits
Average total pay and benefit packages for firefighters in my newspaper coverage area of Orange County, Calif., is an astounding $175,000 a year, which includes overtime and all the various benefit goodies (total cost). The amount -- a compensation package worthy of a chief executive officer -- literally is unbelievable, especially to people who live outside the aptly named Golden State.
While California is on the cutting edge of this absurdity, just as it is on the cutting edge of various other trends for good or ill, this is a nationwide problem.
It's crucial that people grasp the extent of the raiding of the public treasury. Thanks to the overtime system, rigged to boost employee pay rather than protect the public till, many California firefighters earn more than $200,000 a year in pay alone.
One local firefighter amassed so much overtime his annual pay was nearly $300,000 a year. These are not aberrations. ...
Steven Greenhut: Do public safety officials die early?
...>>If the current age is 55, the retiree is expected to live to be 81.4 if male, and 85 if female.
>>If the current age is 60, the retiree is expected to live to be age 82 if male, and 85.5 if female.
>>If the current age is 65, the retiree is expected to live to be age 82.9 if male, and 86.1 if female.
Here is the CalPERS life expectancy data for public safety members (police and fire, which are grouped together by the pension fund):
>>If the current age is 55, the retiree is expected to live to be 81.4 if male, and 85 if female.
>>If the current age is 60, the retiree is expected to live to be age 82 if male, and 85.5 if female.
>>If the current age is 65, the retiree is expected to live to be age 82.9 if male, and 86.1 if female.
That's no mistake. The numbers are identical for public safety retirees as for other government workers. Here is CalPERS again: "Verdict: Myth No. 4 Busted! Safety members do live as long as miscellaneous members."
Steven Greenhut: Even abusive public employees can't get fired
...The investigation documented one absurd case after another. A teacher drank alcohol in front of kids and made offensive, sexual remarks to students, but he couldn't be fired. Nor could the teacher who was "spotted lying on top of a female colleague in the metal shop" because there was no proof they were having sex.
The Times found that "[a]bout 160 instructors and others get salaries for doing nothing while their job fitness is reviewed. They collect roughly $10 million a year, even as layoffs are considered because of a budget gap."
The article focused on the case of Matthew Kim, who had repeated allegations of sexual harassment lodged against him. He was removed from the classroom seven years ago and has been collecting about $68,000 a year for doing nothing.
The teachers union won't allow the 160 teachers in limbo to do other types of work (clerical, cleaning, chores, etc.), so they sit in a school building -- rubber rooms, as they are often called -- and wait for a ruling. ...
