Before Leaving CA For "Greener" Pastures (or criticizing it), Get a Reality Check! (Shasta Lake: real estate, house)
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I disagree. I work in the public sector. The cops and firemen have gotten greedy. Cops & Firemen in CA are paid significantly more than cops & firemen in other high cost areas. They typically get raises that are higher than the other public sector unions.
A recent example is that most unions where I work took no pay increases this year (including most high level management--although a few did). Yet the cops and firemen are still taking their raises, even though payroll for cops & firemen is 85% of the General Fund budget. It's a similar story in most jurisdictions.
I hope all of you who think cops & firemen are worth their pay don't mind seeing your parks, libraries, and other city services close down, or paying extra taxes to keep them open...because that's what it's going to come down to if their power continues to go unchecked.
While I could see putting a cap on raises while we balance the budget I don't agree that their work should be considered similar to all public workers including the dept parks and rec, etc... Different jobs will command different pay. And in CA police and firefighters are compensated higher than many other public workers, though not all including the bureaucrats. And yes, I would rather cut park funding than reduce funding for police or firefighters if given the choice. Yet I don't think anyone likes these cuts. I hate these cuts in education as a parent. And a good friend of mine works for the State Parks. He has mandatory furlow days which equates to a pay cut. Balancing the state budget is a painful process. Should police and fire feel the pain in their pay as well? Possibly in the short term. But should they command higher compensations overall, absolutley!
I'm retired now, and have lived in California for my entire life, outside of my time in the Air Force.
I would never even consider leaving this state.
I'm constantly seeing comments from those from other states, saying California's "broke", etc.
I can still ride to the ocean or the mountains just as I've always done.
Some of these people who opt to check out of our state because they feel it costs too much to live here, or they don't like the politics, etc, remind me of somewhat of the song "You don't know what you got, til it's gone".
I read a comment on another forum from someone who often is required to travel to the Midwest, they said "it reminds them of the 50's, without the cool cars".
Despite California's faults, I still love it here.
I disagree. I work in the public sector. The cops and firemen have gotten greedy. Cops & Firemen in CA are paid significantly more than cops & firemen in other high cost areas. They typically get raises that are higher than the other public sector unions.
A recent example is that most unions where I work took no pay increases this year (including most high level management--although a few did). Yet the cops and firemen are still taking their raises, even though payroll for cops & firemen is 85% of the General Fund budget. It's a similar story in most jurisdictions.
I hope all of you who think cops & firemen are worth their pay don't mind seeing your parks, libraries, and other city services close down, or paying extra taxes to keep them open...because that's what it's going to come down to if their power continues to go unchecked.
VERY good & truthful post. The CHP & firemen dont have to take any pay cuts & unpaid days off yet others do. Thats total BS !
VERY good & truthful post. The CHP & firemen dont have to take any pay cuts & unpaid days off yet others do. Thats total BS !
Thank the coin-operated Legislature that are union-owned for that. But people keep re-electing them and when they're termed out of both houses, elect family members to keep the "dynasties" going and slurping from the public trough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mailman
I read a comment on another forum from someone who often is required to travel to the Midwest, they said "it reminds them of the 50's, without the cool cars".
I disagree. I work in the public sector. The cops and firemen have gotten greedy. Cops & Firemen in CA are paid significantly more than cops & firemen in other high cost areas. They typically get raises that are higher than the other public sector unions.
A recent example is that most unions where I work took no pay increases this year (including most high level management--although a few did). Yet the cops and firemen are still taking their raises, even though payroll for cops & firemen is 85% of the General Fund budget. It's a similar story in most jurisdictions.
I hope all of you who think cops & firemen are worth their pay don't mind seeing your parks, libraries, and other city services close down, or paying extra taxes to keep them open...because that's what it's going to come down to if their power continues to go unchecked.
That's just not true, in many municipalities Police and Fire took large cuts even when they had contracts calling for substantial raises. Politicians have taken this opportunity to engage in Union Busting. Perhaps if they capped State Salaries at $150,000 and did away with the State Senate they could save some money. There are alreay over a dozen states that have gone to single house legislatures
Hey, mysticaltyger, just remember those sentiments when you see those firefighters standing in front of the cameras making political endorsements next time there's an election. They are NOTHING MORE than political hacks who are exploiting the uniform they wear for self serving political purposes.
There was an opportunity to fix this mess a couple years ago when Arnold took on the unions. The teachers and firefighters went to work and hit the airwaves. It worked. The public felt sympathic and defeated the propositions. Now we're in this mess and have no body to blame but us.
Yeah, we all like fire fighters (I was a cop'er for 30 years) but there's a HUGE difference between 3 or 4 of them rolling up (ON DUTY) when your house in on fire and 1 of them standing in front of a fire truck on some BS commercial (OFF DUTY AND WORKING FOR A UNION) for some political cause.
Well...the unions pretty much own the politicians. They give them thousands (if not millions) of dollars for there campaigns & in return the politicians give them OUR tax dollars. What a bunch of corrupt, pathetic losers.
Hey! Quit picking on the firefighters and the police! When my house is on fire, should I expect some DMV worker to pull up in front of it and start putting the fire out? Will that DMV worker stay there for 15 hours? For six days in a row? Will someone from the Parks dept. show up when shots are fired in the neighborhood?
Trying to compare the police and fire departments to other civil service positions -- well, there is just no comparison.
Note: I do not put teachers on equal footing with police and firefighters. There are far too many people who would be willing to be teachers. There are far less people willing to do the work of the fire and police departments.
The bottom line is every job is important & serves a function & purpose. It just stinks with whats going on in ca now. Hopefully it gets better but i doubt it will for awhile. Not everyone can be a cop or fireman just like not everyone can run a business right ( hence-the ca legislature & govenor). Oh...they (the legislaure) know how i feel but they never reply back. I think the interns read & delete the emails unless some idiot threatens them. You can say what you want just no threats. The first admendment protects us from the govt (thank goodness). If it didnt i would be in jail...guaranteed.
So who's picking on firefighters? I missed something. I used to be one. We're talking about their unions when they exploit their status and popularity of their members for purposes that are contrary to the best interests of the state. You don't see police unions doing that kind of stuff.
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