On Sunday, Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) General Manager Nick Berardino responded to Supervisor John Moorlach’s op-ed regarding the looming state and local budget shortfalls and the impact of public employee pensions on that crisis. Berardino points out that OCEA members have taken the lead in reform and Moortlach’s rhetoric does more to move us backwards on the road towards futher cooperation.
Over the weekend Supervisor John Moorlach fired off a premptive Op-Ed in the Orange County Register attacking public employees and blaming their pension benefits for budget shortfalls and what the headline to his commentary describes as a “Formula for disaster.” Moorlach goes on with this misleading argument against defined benefit retirement plans.
Supervisor Bill Campbell “was surprised” to learn that his colleagues were introducing a last minute proposal for lobbyist registration. But he told his colleagues that the “devil is in the details” and after reviewing their proposal he felt it would be more appropriately named the “Citizen Registration Ordinance.”
Speaking on Wednesday to the Senate Local Government Committee, OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino denounced county and city officials who line their pockets while attacking the benefits received by public employees.
OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino challenged County CEO Tom Mauk to a debate about executive compensation during the County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. Berardino also called for Supervisors to start paying for their pensions during a discussion about whether Supervisors should move toward a defined contribution retirement plan.
Five years ago, Supervisor Bill Campbell and the Orange County Employees Association recognized two things: the importance of providing quality health care coverage for retired county employees and the rising cost of doing so. So, together, we addressed these issues head-on. Through the collective bargaining process, OCEA and the county arrived at an agreement that reduced the county’s unfunded liability for retiree medical benefits by $815 million while continuing to ensure our employees would receive adequate care in their most vulnerable years.
It was a rare sight. A group of county supervisors and labor leaders sitting across the table from each other at a public meeting having a calm discussion, even offering each other complements. There was no shouting, no finger pointing and even the posturing was kept to a relative minimum.
Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin
