The city of Vallejo is broke yet 46 top brass continue to collect sizeable pensions totalling over $5 million per year.
A reader raised a valid concern of the major investment losses suffered by CalPERS. That famous line by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie Jerry Maguire applies. “Show me the money.”
Let’s look at Vallejo’s bankruptcy and retirees
We have all read that “On May 23, 2008, the City (of Vallejo) filed a case seeking bankruptcy protection and the adjustment of its debts under chapter 9 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The case was filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division (the “Bankruptcy Court”) and was assigned case number 2008-26813. On May 23, 2008, the Honorable Michael McManus, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge was designated by the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to preside over the case. The City intends to continue normal business operations throughout the bankruptcy process. Information about the Bankruptcy Court is available by accessing the Bankruptcy Court’s website at www.caeb.uscourts.gov. You may retrieve copies of documents filed in the chapter 9 case by accessing the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER); a subscription is required. To obtain a login/password, submit a registration from the PACER home page at http://www.pacer.psc.uscourts.gov. You will not be able to obtain copies of documents by calling the Bankruptcy Court directly. Additional information regarding the bankruptcy case can also be found on the following links or by sending an email to bankruptcy@ci.vallejo.ca.us.”
Now let’s look at the 46 retired city employees who will each continue to receive over $100,000 per anum from their CalPERS retirement plans. What will be the funding source for future payments? Note: The information below was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
NAME MONTHLY ANNUAL CITY
MICHAEL KIRCHNER $16,128.48 $193,541.76 VALLEJO
LAMONTE MORRIS $14,160.98 $169,931.76 VALLEJO
JOANN WEST $13,446.50 $161,358.00 VALLEJO
RONALD BECKER $12,485.95 $149,831.40 VALLEJO
KEVIN KELLEY $12,317.86 $147,814.32 VALLEJO
ANTHONY PEARSALL $12,237.73 $146,852.76 VALLEJO
THOMAS LIDDICOET $12,017.31 $144,207.72 VALLEJO
THOMAS HAUSER $11,558.17 $138,698.04 VALLEJO
JAMES JAKSCH $11,538.39 $138,460.68 VALLEJO
ROBERT LEWIS $11,330.08 $135,960.96 VALLEJO
ROGER KEMP $11,081.93 $132,983.16 VALLEJO
KENNETH SIROIS $10,985.91 $131,830.92 VALLEJO
VINCENT SARULLO $10,972.44 $131,669.28 VALLEJO
IVANO PAOLI $10,749.71 $128,996.52 VALLEJO
JOHN POWERS $10,456.41 $125,476.92 VALLEJO
JIMMIE BOSTON $10,256.25 $123,075.00 VALLEJO
RUBEN CARDENAS $10,183.20 $122,198.40 VALLEJO
JOHN THOMPSON $10,063.01 $120,756.12 VALLEJO
JOHN BUNCH $10,048.52 $120,582.24 VALLEJO
KEVIN PURNELL $10,045.14 $120,541.68 VALLEJO
JAMES COUGHLIN $9,885.24 $118,622.88 VALLEJO
ERROL COOLEY $9,866.83 $118,401.96 VALLEJO
DAVID HOEN $9,783.53 $117,402.36 VALLEJO
ALBERT LEHMAN $9,549.55 $114,594.60 VALLEJO
THEODORE STOCKLI $9,402.42 $112,829.04 VALLEJO
JOHN GUARIN $9,284.86 $111,418.32 VALLEJO
LARRY GILES $9,276.81 $111,321.72 VALLEJO
HERBERT JONES $9,173.99 $110,087.88 VALLEJO
GARY TRUELSEN $9,168.30 $110,019.60 VALLEJO
DANIEL LOW $9,135.47 $109,625.64 VALLEJO
ALVARO DASILVA $9,112.34 $109,348.08 VALLEJO
WILLIAM YOUNG $9,034.74 $108,416.88 VALLEJO
JOHN DUANE $8,984.10 $107,809.20 VALLEJO
MARK AKABA $8,963.50 $107,562.00 VALLEJO
JERALD BOWDEN $8,939.14 $107,269.68 VALLEJO
REGINALD GARCIA $8,887.88 $106,654.56 VALLEJO
EXEQUIEL GANDING $8,848.01 $106,176.12 VALLEJO
MICHAEL DEROQUE $8,829.12 $105,949.44 VALLEJO
DAVID MARTINEZ $8,728.86 $104,746.32 VALLEJO
DAVID MCCUAN $8,637.09 $103,645.08 VALLEJO
PHILIP SILVA $8,608.62 $103,303.44 VALLEJO
RAYMOND FIELDS $8,590.70 $103,088.40 VALLEJO
ROBERT LEE $8,542.05 $102,504.60 VALLEJO
MICHAEL FEENAN $8,531.40 $102,376.80 VALLEJO
HOWARD MASON $8,433.92 $101,207.04 VALLEJO
DALE HAWKINS $8,420.70 $101,048.40 VALLEJO
Larry, You just don’t understand! Youwill have to pay more in taxes, because you OWE IT TO THEM! These people work for the government, so YOU WORK FOR THEM!
Someone with a million dollars in the bank making 4 percent doesnt even make that kind of money.
cook.
You are fortunate to get 4% these days
Do a little more homework. Once again, these are highly paid police and fire managers who are getting all the money. Do not equate this with the retirement benefits of typical non-sworn city employees, the vast majority of which will NEVER see this kind of money. A few minutes on the web shows the following:
Kirchum – deputy fire chief
Morris – asst fire chief
West – police capt
Becker – police LT.
Kelly – police LT.
Liddicort – police LT.
I stopped there but I’m sure if you keep going down the list you will continue this trend. Almost ALL police and fire agencies in the state were rewarded with 3% at 50 with little or no contribution of their own, and now an entire generation of these employees is taking the money and running. What did they do to deserve this? They didn’t begin their employment with this benefit. It was a gift to them by overly generous city councils who were pressured by the police and fire associations. Period. This is where the fight should be. How much do you think Brad and Daryl Gates get? The answer is probably more than $1/4 million. You want to do something? Fight for a cap on PERS retirement benefits. Should any public employee earn more than $100,000 in retirement? I don’t think so and I’m one of them. For the most part, the only ones getting this sum of money are police, fire, and high level managers.
Dan.
Obviously with 3% at 50 it is easier to crash the $100,000 annual pension club.
Don’t shift the ovreall focus by overlooking all those earning less than $100,000 who are enrolled in defined benefit pensions that will eventually bankrupt this state.
So while I agree that police and fire lead the list how many tens of thousands of public employees are in these plans? As cities and counties cut services and staffing my question for you is simple. Where will they find the money to keep the checks in the mail?
You may be interested in Berkshire hathaway’s annuity cost calculator. http://www.brkdirect.com/spia/EZQUOTE.ASP
For example a couple both born 6/30/59 investied $1,000,000 would collect $48,000 per year either live.
You should note that the retiree benefit you site does not state medical benefits, and if they are are inflation adjusted, which the Berkshire Hathaway annuities are not. It is also not clear who is a better risk CALPRS or BRK. It is not clear that BRK would write an annuity as large as CALPRS.
geo8rge.
Being retired, due in part to having a private sector Defined Benefit Pension Plan, I do not keep up with other products. Nor do I promote any annuity or other investment vehicles.
This post was to expose the tip of the iceberg of future payment obligations to public sector employees. There comes a time when you have to decide what percentage of taxpayer funds will be dedicated to these lifetime obligations. Simply look at Vallejo which is now bankrupt.
My grandfather was a firefighter for the city of Vallejo for 30+ years, and held a very high ranking position–and will never see this kind of money (or anywhere near it for that matter). It’s very disheartening to see men my grandfather trained for their positions, reaping outrageous rewards that they bullied their way into getting; when my grandfather, and so many men like him, had to fight for mere health benefits and live on barely anything per month. This is outrageous!
All of these ex public servants should be ashamed of themselves taking gross advantage of the people/taxpayers and communities they served.