The public has been made well aware that failure of executives in the private sector does not mean those executives lose their stock options, bonuses, retirement packages and golden parachutes. Recent examples include General Motors, AIG, and Merrill Lynch.
Today the Register in a story titled “ Golden parachutes abound in O.C. “ reported that executives in County government who are perceived as having failed in their jobs or worse – get convicted of a crime related to some kind of malfeasance in their jobs – are able to draw monthly retirement income for the rest of their lives if they meet age and length of service requirements of the County retirement system.
Is it fair that private and public sector executives are allowed to keep 100% of their promised retirement benefits when they leave after driving their organization into bankruptcy, insolvency, or some other kind of morass of inefficiency? Should there be a distinction on this issue between those who worked in the public sector and those who worked in the private sector? Should they all just be sent to a pauper warehouse?
Tough questions. Apparently no readers here care to venture an answer. Perhaps it is too complex of an issue.