Letters to the Editor

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 7, 2008 | by BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

CalPERS 'essential retirement tool'

The City of Orinda members of Public Employees Union Local 1 want to be participants in the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Employees have stated willingness to absorb any cost differential in becoming plan members.

CalPERS is an essential retirement tool for 93 percent of all California public agencies. This is because public employees do not have equitable salaries with the private sector and need to rely on a defined benefit program.

This is not a new negotiation. The union has been in discussions with the city to provide this retirement plan for its employees since the opening of the 2006 negotiations. The City Council has been apprised at several council meetings that employees have moved to other agencies because they offer CalPERS, or that potential employees have turned down employment with Orinda because of the lack of CalPERS. A majority of agencies pay the agency contribution and the employees' contributions; in many cases agencies provide dual retirement plans. Orinda employees have offered to make this cost-neutral to the city and are prepared to pay any costs over the amount paid by the city into the current plan.

How can 93 percent of all California public agencies be wrong?

Tod Fierner

City of Orinda Unit President, Public Employees Union Local 1

Overassertion, maybe

We all know that (Clyde) Vaughn led two negative campaigns against Measures Q and E to finance the repair of Orinda's roads.

While we appreciate in principle Mr. Vaughn's ongoing civic interest and participation in local affairs, we find his recent 7/ 18/08 Sun editorial ("Be Assertive About Your Roads Repair") troubling and his tactics deplorable.

To get potholes or severe safety hazards in residential streets in Orinda repaired, Mr. Vaughn suggests gathering 20 or more neighbors to attend a city council meeting and yelling at them, ("don't mind yelling at the council it gets their attention. Show that you are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore"). We are curious to know if Mr. Vaughn has any grandchildren and if he has taught them to yell at their parents and teachers to get their way as he preaches to the citizens of Orinda. We find these tactics offensive, misplaced and certainly not appropriate for a city government led by volunteers.

Interest Value:

Wouldn't it be interesting if Mr. Vaughn had the courage to run for City Council? Surely he knows two council seats are open for the Fall of 2008 election. Surely he could put together a winning campaign theme of issues that would get him elected. Wouldn't it be even more interesting if he actually won and he was responsible (finally) for more than his own opinion and how difficult that might be in community of highly educated individuals with divergent opinions? Wouldn't it be interesting to see him attempt to manage a limited city budget and advocate for less police and fire protection and find a way to repair our roads and infrastructure? Wouldn't it be productive if both the O.I.S. and Miramonte students (and their parents) came to bimonthly City Council meetings and did what he advocated for - yelled at them to get their way? It certainly wouldn't matter if they were rational or not but just to see him have to actually be responsible and deal with their misplaced anger would be truly worth a Tuesday evening out in Orinda.

Everything we have seen and heard from Mr. Vaughn publicly both at City Council meetings and in the press are so overwhelmingly negative that we no longer appreciate or accept his ongoing cynicism and negative tactics under the guise of public service.

Russ and Mary Belden

Orinda residents