San Jose's Chuck Reed & Pension Reform (Vallejo: city hall, bankruptcy)

[SportyandMisty]

A good article regarding San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed & his pension reform proposal:

Chuck Reed: A Liberal Mugged by Pension Reality - WSJ.com

It begins:

San Jose, Calif., was the richest major city in the country last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's survey of median household incomes. More than 100 tech-related firms including Adobe Systems, Cisco, PayPal and eBay are based in the self-proclaimed capital of Silicon Valley.

Yet in Mayor Chuck Reed's view from the 18th floor of city hall, San Jose in recent years has been dead broke and slouching toward bankruptcy, propelled by ruinous public-pension obligations. Over the past decade, he says, the city has shed 25% of its workforce, including 20% of its police department, to cover soaring retirement costs....

Click the hyperlink above to read the rest of the article. You don't need a subscription to the WSJ.

[zombocom]

Well, San Jose has it's own pension system (not part of Calpers), and has been a bit more pessimistic about ROI, which is why San Jose has a pension liability problem that other places supposedly do not.

tough to say what will happen, however, I'm comfortable with the notion of unilateral modification of contracts, and I'm also not entirely convinced that our budget problem can be blamed on middle class government employees.

I know Reed is pushing a proposal on the state level, but I suspect the contract clause will inhibit that route (he's already lost in court). Will the threat of bankruptcy be sufficient? Looking to Vallejo, bankruptcy wasn't really the magic bullet people thought it would be.

[things and stuff]

I definitely like the idea of reducing the amount of police officers. The whole police industry is growing out of control, imo.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by things and stuff

I definitely like the idea of reducing the amount of police officers. The whole police industry is growing out of control, imo.

Well, I don't know if you would feel the same way if you needed one and couldn't get a cop to respond in a timely manner. San Jose actually isn't that heavily "policed" in terms of LEOs ratio to total population.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

A good article regarding San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed & his pension reform proposal:

Chuck Reed: A Liberal Mugged by Pension Reality - WSJ.com

It begins:

San Jose, Calif., was the richest major city in the country last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's survey of median household incomes. More than 100 tech-related firms including Adobe Systems, Cisco, PayPal and eBay are based in the self-proclaimed capital of Silicon Valley.

Yet in Mayor Chuck Reed's view from the 18th floor of city hall, San Jose in recent years has been dead broke and slouching toward bankruptcy, propelled by ruinous public-pension obligations. Over the past decade, he says, the city has shed 25% of its workforce, including 20% of its police department, to cover soaring retirement costs....

Click the hyperlink above to read the rest of the article. You don't need a subscription to the WSJ.

Yes, you do need a subscription to read the article. Annoying!

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Well, I don't know if you would feel the same way if you needed one and couldn't get a cop to respond in a timely manner. San Jose actually isn't that heavily "policed" in terms of LEOs ratio to total population.

Agreed.

Believe me, I have no love for the greedy cops (more specifically, their greedy union), but SJs police force was already pretty lean even before the recession.

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Agreed.

Believe me, I have no love for the greedy cops (more specifically, their greedy union), but SJs police force was already pretty lean even before the recession.

According to a recent article in the SJ Merc, their salary was near the bottom of south-bay police forces, but their total compensation was near the top (once retirement and health benefits and other stuff was added).

[Heidi60]

Originally Posted by things and stuff

I definitely like the idea of reducing the amount of police officers. The whole police industry is growing out of control, imo.

Exactly!

However, it isn't only the P.D. but all city workers. Many S.J. residents don't like handing big benefits to city workers when they are having trouble finding jobs of their own. The voters have already spoken, now they need to be heard. The private industries employees can't keep going back to the tax payers to get more benefits when they feel abused. Our tax dollars need to be spent on providing shelter for the homeless, libraries, and health care for the elderly. The city workers have plenty of income and benefits so they need to consider the effect of their demands on the general public.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

According to a recent article in the SJ Merc, their salary was near the bottom of south-bay police forces, but their total compensation was near the top (once retirement and health benefits and other stuff was added).

There 'ya go. You want the benefits, you get less salary. This is life. Many a cop (or at least their union) is not into financial reality, and that has been a problem for a long time.

[cardinal2007]

Presumably if the police is making that much they must have a lot of negotiating power. Or they artificially limit supply of people that can apply to be a police officer. I know it is a dangerous job, and with cost of living around here, maybe police tends to move away? Most businesses would balk at providing a pension these days, and would rather do 401k, or 403b or something similar. If pensions are a big problem the city should move people to defined contribution plans and away from defined benefit plans, we can't guarantee return on investment after all.