The Public Sector Burden on the Struggling Taxpayers
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. - Justice Litle, Is America’s Economic Recovery on the Whole Based on a Rotten Sham?, Daily Markets, April 20, 2010Lifeguards' High Pay Riles Newport Beach, California
May 20, 2011AP - Aurora Toussaint brings her disabled son to the sun-kissed beaches of this Southern California city almost every day in the summer, knowing that the lifeguards who watch from their towers will be there in seconds should anything go wrong.
Yet Toussaint, who quit work and dipped into her retirement early to care for her seizure-prone son, was shocked to learn that most of the fulltime lifeguards in this city earn well over $100,000 in total compensation a year — more than Toussaint made in her previous life as a nurse and more than she believes is right in an economy where pink slips have become common fare.
"When I first heard that I was amazed at how much they make. To think that these are lifeguards! That's more than some doctors make," said Toussaint, 55, as she sat by the beach with her son's therapy dog, Romeo. "It does kind of make me feel like, 'Gosh, maybe I should be a lifeguard.'"
That's the kind of reaction Newport Beach's 13-member full-time lifeguard crew has drawn this month, since the local newspaper editorialized about lifeguard salaries, benefits and overtime pay that in at least two instances top $200,000 (with $400 for sun protection) as the city struggles to rein in pension costs.
The ensuing debate over the merits of having lifeguards as well-paid as some CEOs has divided this wealthy coastal city, spawned a pro-lifeguard Facebook page and created headlines as far away as England ("Time for a Career Change? California's Baywatch lifeguards paid up to $210,000 per year!").
The swell of anger from beachgoers and budget-watchers alike has blindsided the lifeguards, who have for years enjoyed the prestige of their jobs in an ocean-centric town that banks on summer tourism. Now, as the pressure mounts, they are balking at their portrayal as suntanned slackers lounging in beach towers as the surf rolls in.
Those whose salaries are in question point out that they hold management roles, have decades of service and are considered public safety employees under the fire department, the same as fire captains and battalion chiefs. The full-time guards train more than 200 seasonal lifeguards who make between $16 and $22 an hour, run a junior lifeguard program that brings in $1 million a year and oversee safety on nearly seven miles of sand.
Many began as seasonal guards and worked their way into management roles and must stay certified as instructors in an array of advanced emergency, scuba and rescue techniques, said Brent Jacobsen, president of the Lifeguard Management Association, the lifeguards' union.
"Unfortunately, there's a lot of disinformation out there. People get this idea that we're talking about 17-year-old kids in lifeguard towers making $200,000 and that's not correct," he said. "We're professional level. Lifeguarding here is different than any other place in the entire world."
Base salaries for Newport Beach lifeguards range from $58,000 for the lowest-paid officer to $108,492 for the top-paid battalion chief, according to a 2010 city report on lifeguard pay. Adding in overtime, special compensation, pension, medical benefits, life insurance and other pay, two battalion chiefs cleared more than $200,000 in 2010, while the lowest-paid officer made more than $98,000.
All lifeguards received $400 in sunscreen allowance and two cleared $28,000 apiece in overtime and night duty pay.
Newport Beach's lifeguards can also retire at 50 with 90 percent of their salary with 30 years of service, according to state data.
"Because of the compensation, lifeguarding has evolved from a brief and youthful interlude into a career and that's probably what's most shocking," said Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who added that in the winter the fulltime lifeguards stayed busy answering phones and painting guard towers. "I think people are looking for elected officials to be more fiscally conservative. We love lifeguards, but that's not the issue."
In budget talks, City Manager David Kiff proposed converting four of the full-time positions to part-time status, a move the full city council is expected to review in the coming weeks.
The lifeguards' union is trying to avoid the reductions by striking a deal that could see them increase their pension contribution from 3.5 percent to 9 percent annually, while instituting a new pension tier for future hires, said Jacobsen. Three fulltime guarding positions that are now vacant because of retirements could also be eliminated, with staffing shifts among the remaining group to cover all duties, he said.
He acknowledged that the current pension benefit now seems excessive given the recession.
"It was reasonable at the time. When we were negotiating, people were making such ridiculous amounts of money on the real estate market and we don't get those big jumps in salary that the private sector does," he said.
Kiff believes the salaries the city's lifeguard supervisors earn are appropriate given the competitive job market for top-tier lifeguards in Southern California, but would like to see the pension scaled back. What that will look like remains to be seen, however.
In Los Angeles County, where guards patrol beaches from Santa Monica to Torrance, lifeguard salaries are fairly comparable, according to a public salary database on the state controller's website, but the retirement benefit is less. Staff who retire at age 50 with 30 years of service receive only 60 percent of their salary.
In San Diego, where swimmers and surfers flock each summer, lifeguards make roughly the same salary range but must retire later, at age 55, and get 75 percent of their salary with 30 years of service, according to the 2009 state data, the most recent available.
"We compete for those jobs and we are in line with what they pay those folks," Kiff said. "You can go up to LA or San Diego and you're going to find folks who do the same for the same pay or sometimes higher....I think people confuse professional guarding with the tower guards and they think, `Oh my gosh, how can a guy in red shorts sitting in a tower earn that?' We're not talking about those individuals."
Newport Beach attracted more than 7 million beachgoers last year during a slow summer of cool temperatures and lackluster surf. Lifeguard supervisors nevertheless oversaw 2,190 water rescues and more than 5,000 medical aid calls, while tower guards intervened more than 76,000 times to warn people of rip currents or high surf. Two people died each year in 2009 and 2010.
Still, for some, statistics will never justify such compensation.
Leonard Musgrave, a former oil company employee, was so outraged that he wrote a letter to the local paper, The Orange County Register, earlier this month inquiring why the city didn't simply put up a sign reading, "Swim at your own risk." The 69-year-old retiree said he isn't swayed by the lifeguards' responsibilities or years of service.
"I supervised 13, 14 engineers when I was working and I was making $111,000 when I retired three years ago with an MBA and a technical engineering degree," said Musgrave, who doesn't have a pension. "I mean, come on! All you have to do is look at good-looking women at the beach. I mean, they shouldn't even get paid! I'd do it for 10 percent of that pay. That's a good job."
Wisconsin and Public Sector Union Overtime: 10 People Who Are Sticking It to Taxpayers
May 20, 2011TwinCities.com - An audit in Wisconsin is coming up with a lot of abuse of the overtime pay work rules that public sector unions have forced on Wisconsin taxpayers. Here are ten good reason to get involved in the the political discussion in Wisconsin:
"Nine state workers made more than $65,000 in overtime last year, including one who took in about $105,000 in overtime to more than double her salary. For the second year in a row, the state worker making the most in overtime was Sheryl Lee Fors, a 53-year-old nurse clinician at Southern Wisconsin Center who made a base salary of $91,077 and $104,930 in overtime. Total earnings for the year: $196,007
Here are the 10 state workers who earned the most overtime in 2010:
- Sheryl Lee Fors, nurse clinician, base pay $91,077; overtime pay $104,930.
- Jose Murray, correctional sergeant, base pay $57,502; overtime pay $102,144
- Vicente Rincon, correctional sergeant, base pay $58,729; overtime pay $87,468.
- Bradley O. Frisch, correctional sergeant, base pay $57,992; overtime pay $78,633
- Steven Butzlaff, correctional officer, base pay $51,827; overtime pay $78,622.
- Cynthia A. Lynch, correctional sergeant, base pay $56,516; overtime pay $73,995.
- Lance P. Boyle, correctional sergeant, base pay $54,993; overtime pay $68,295
- Richard P. Keller, psychiatric care technician, base pay $47,179; overtime pay $67,243.
- James W. Smith, correctional sergeant, base pay $56,763; overtime pay $65,688
- Mary Ann Gorske, nurse clinician, base pay $102,579; overtime pay $61,14
Santa Clara County's Former Social Services Director Comes Under Fire for His Salary Package at the State
In 2007, the average annual salary in Santa Clara was $71,774; the Santa Clara County social services director's salary in 2010 was $216,000; his predecessor made $165,000. May 19, 2011Mercury News - In his first week as the state's top social services official, former Santa Clara County social services director Will Lightbourne finds himself battling more than just the largest cutbacks to the safety net in California history -- he is now under scrutiny for drawing an excessive salary in his new post.
In a Saturday article, the Los Angeles Times described Lightbourne as "one of the state's highest-paid bureaucrats," under a deal that skirted a state salary cap to pay him the equivalent of what he received as county social services director. The article pointed to the irony of the relatively fat compensation package, considering he now is in charge of scaling back lifeline benefits for the state's poorest residents.
Lightbourne, a highly sought-after manager who recently was wooed by Los Angeles County's social services agency, said he agreed to take the state job only if he could maintain the $216,000 salary he received in Santa Clara County. Because the state could not legally pay that much, it created an "executive-on-loan" agreement with the county. Under the deal, Lightbourne remains a county employee, but the state reimburses the local government for his compensation package.
By Monday, Republican lawmakers involved in the partisan budget battles in Sacramento seized on news of the arrangement to ding Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.
Brown administration officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In a joint news conference, Assemblyman Brian Jones, R-Santee, and state Sen. Joel Anderson, R-El Cajon, called for an investigation into how the Brown administration hired Lightbourne at a $216,000 salary, when his predecessor made $165,000 -- the top scale legally allowed for that post.
In an interview Wednesday, Jones -- vice chairman of the Assembly's Human Services Committee -- said he was outraged by the salary dodge.
"I come from local government, and one of the things we've always tried to control is salaries and make sure they're commensurate with the market," Jones said. "To circumvent the law and try to do an end-around to fool the citizens and the taxpayers that are paying the guy's salary -- that's the part I have the hardest time with."
Jones said he is waiting to hear back from the governor's office and the Rules Committee before he decides whether any further action should be taken on Lightbourne's employment.
The chairman of the Human Services Committee, Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, defended the decision to hire Lightbourne at his previous salary. Beall said there could have been a more transparent process for making an exemption to the salary cap, but he believes the compensation, which includes a $400 monthly car allowance, is justified.
"State salaries are a lot less than most of the local government salaries, so, unfortunately, you get what you pay for," Beall said. "If you want somebody that's got a different perspective, you're going to have to pay him a little more, and $216,000 isn't that much more -- he'll be leaps and bounds better than what I've seen up here in Sacramento."
Beall, who oversaw Lightbourne while a Santa Clara County supervisor, added:
"We need experienced people up there to solve some of these big problems, and I think there's no doubt he will more than earn his keep up there in terms of saving money."
Lightbourne has served as social services director in San Francisco and Santa Cruz counties, and in Santa Clara County beginning in 2000. He defended his current compensation arrangement in an interview Wednesday with this newspaper:
"I said I'd be happy to help with the agenda on hand on the basis I am currently employed," Lightbourne said. The deal, he added, "was vetted through all the approval systems."
When asked whether the clamor was distracting, given that he is now tasked with a massive downsizing of California's state support for its poorest residents, Lightbourne said he had little time to be distracted.
In Santa Clara County alone, adults in 1,012 households may lose their benefits as soon as July 1, due to new state rules that scale back lifetime limits on aid.
"All I can do is stay focused on what's ahead of us," he said. "It's a pretty monumental task."
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