[quote=Veritas]Between the DROP, pension spiking (which the County turned a blind eye to for years) and fake work comp retirements, the tax payers are getting hosed because of this kind of cronyism. My favorite is the work comp fakers who retire from one department only to go do the same work for another department. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a great example of this kind of employee scam. The Chief’s disease is another one. Even fire chiefs get in on this act.
… “a 2004 investigative report by the Sacramento Bee found that among retired members of the California Highway Patrol, 66% of the rank and file officers, and 82% of the chiefs retired with service disabilities. Similarly, a 2006 investigative report by the San Jose Mercury found that two-thirds of San Jose Firefighters retired with service disabilities.”
No one is saying the work is easy and that the employees in high risk careers should not be fairly compensated, but the City Council and the Board of Supervisors should ensure that the tax payers are not being victimized by the Unions and Associations that represent the employees, lest the voters lose faith in their ability to do the job responsibly and fairly.[/quote]
One huge problem with this debate is that people are conflating (what I would call) the abuse of public pensions and honest DB retirement plans in the public sector.
I don’t think anyone here would defend pension spiking, abuse of disability benefits, etc. We need to separate the debate about abuse (because there is no debate there…it is wrong) from the debate about public sector compensation and benefits.
Also, you need to do more research on the DROP program. Most public employers use it because it **saves** them money. The arguments against it are more envy-based than rational, OR people are against it because they don’t actually understand how it works or why it exists.
