I always thought that the ridiculous pension spike given to the O.C. Deputy Sheriffs by our O.C. Board of Supervisors was a bad deal – but they voted to hand out this money. Then a later Board decided to undo this mess. To date they have spent $1,291,442.70 on this case. But today the case got tossed out. Below is a press release from the Association of O.C. Deputy Sheriffs regarding this victory for their members:
COURT THROWS OUT LAWSUIT BY ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO SLASH DEPUTY SHERIFF PENSION BENEFITS
Superior Court Judge Tosses Out County Legal Case Against Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS) and Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) to Overturn 3% At 50 Pension Benefit For Deputies
FOR MORE INFORMATION: George Urch (714) 464-9125 (Cell)
Rejecting legal arguments by the County of Orange that Deputy Sheriff pension benefits in Orange County are unconstitutional, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix today threw out of court a lawsuit by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to overturn 3% at 50 pension benefits for Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (County of Orange v. AOCDS & Board of Retirement, Case #BC389758), two months before the case was scheduled to go to trial.
The County of Orange had filed the controversial lawsuit last February after three different outside law firms they had hired for legal counsel had each warned them they could not win such a case. Meanwhile the Orange County Board of Supervisors, as of December 2008, have rung up almost $1.3 million in legal bills in their legal effort.
“The Deputy Sheriffs, their families, and especially those deputies who no longer work, are pleased — but not surprised — by the Court’s decision to throw out the County’s case,” said Wayne Quint, President of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS). “The County spent hundreds of thousands of dollars getting opinions from three different outside law firms that all predicted this outcome. Now that they have spent over one million dollars of taxpayer money on this lawsuit, we only hope they will not lay off any more county probation officers to finance an appeal.”
Continued Quint, “To quote County Supervisor John Moorlach — who has been driving this Don Quixote type effort — in a speech he made in 2000 to the Orange County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, ‘County agencies should become more accountable to taxpayers for the lawsuits they file. …every time you hire an attorney, the only person who wins is the attorney.’ “Well – the county’s attorneys have made out like bandits in this case – almost $1.3 million so far, at a time the county is suffering a fiscal crisis. It is unfortunate.”
“It is unfortunate” Unfortunate is RIGHT! Win or Lose we the taxpayers are stuck with the Bills!
Maybe it is time for the Board of Supervisors to live up to their contractual obligations instead of trying to find a way to wiggle out of them. Why not recognize their unfunded liabilities concerning retirement matters and develop a plan to pay them instead of seeking to escape their obligations?