Vector Control pensions upgraded
The Orange County Register - Tuesday, November 21, 2006
When it comes to enhancing their own pay and benefits, government officials can be remarkably hardworking and tireless. A case in point is the Orange County Vector Control District, a little-known government entity whose job is to control rodents, insects and other pests throughout the county.
The district doesn't even need to exist; its few legitimate functions could easily be incorporated into the county health department. Under the leadership of District Manager Gerard Goedhart, the district since 2004 has relentlessly pursued dramatic increases in retirement benefits for its 52 employees, most of whom spray for bugs and do other administrative tasks that should be the purview of the private sector.
In 2004, the district secured a large tax increase, after convincing voters that their health was at risk if the agency didn't get another $4.5 million a year. Immediately after the tax hike went into effect, Mr. Goedhart began expanding the agency and pushing for significant pension spikes. District workers have a "1.67 percent at 57" defined-benefit retirement plan. That means that - unlike private sector employees, who must rely mostly on 401-k-style plans and Social Security - Vector Control's workers are guaranteed 1.67 percent of their final pay times their years worked, available at age 57. If a Vector Control employee works 30 years, he is entitled to a taxpayer-guaranteed pension of 50 percent of final pay, forever.
That's not a bad deal, but agency employees want even more. Mr. Goedhart pushed last year for a "2.7 percent at 55" plan that would have increased pensions by 62 percent. Unlike the pension spike that Supervisors Bill Campbell, Jim Silva and Tom Wilson pushed through for many other county workers, Mr. Goedhart's proposal would not have been retroactive. It still was overly generous, given that most taxpayers do not retire with anything near that much guaranteed pay. The plan was dropped after controversy ensued.
But that wasn't the end of the story. Mr. Goedhart once again pushed ahead a slightly revised "2 percent at 55" plan, and with little public scrutiny it was passed on a 22-5 vote by the Vector Control board last week. The district claims that increasing the benefits and switching its retirement investments from OCERS (Orange County Employees Retirement System) to CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System), will actually save money each year. If you believe that, then we have a mountain chalet in central Kansas to sell you.
CalPERS is dominated by union officials who, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, play "fast and loose with accounting practices in a way that obscures the total tab the public must someday pay." And the Vector Control plan lowers the retirement age to 55, which will increase medical costs. Such an increase is not factored into the "savings."
Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu, a Vector Control board member who is opposed to the pension spike (he was, however, out of town for the vote), got it right: "I'm totally against [the pension increase]. That agency should not even exist. Goedhart is trying to make a big government over there."
Orange County needs to adopt a measure similar to those passed in San Diego and San Francisco that require all increases in pension benefits for public employees to go before the voters. Something needs to be done to rein in public employee greed.