But the OC Board of Supervisors will probably still move forward anyway.
Peggy Lowe reports in today’s OC Register:
Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach’s plan to slice the pensions of sheriff’s deputies is not likely to win because its key arguments have never been supported by state courts in the past, an independent legal analysis says.
The report, which was sought by other members of the Board of Supervisors and kept from the public, was obtained by The Orange County Register. Moorlach’s proposal, aimed at the deputy sheriffs’ union, will again be discussed by the board today when it meets in closed session and hires a private legal firm that will pursue a lawsuit.
Written by Richard A. Derevan, a Costa Mesa lawyer, the memo says courts would be reluctant to “unwind” the benefits the deputies already get and that judges could see Moorlach’s plan as causing a disruptive domino effect across the state.
Derevan wrote that he has read a September memo written by Morrison & Foerster, the law firm hired by the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, in addition to two other reports. In addition to his own concerns, the union “has other legal arguments that make the chances of success for the county problematic,” Derevan wrote.
On today’s agenda is the consideration, in closed session, on what law firm to hire to go forward with Moorlach’s Folly.
Given the public disclosure of the results of the independent review, will the Board folly Moorlach or will the stop wasting our money?
WHat do you think?
I think this is why we need political diversity on the Board of Supervisors. Some one or some members who have the guts to say ” This is a real dingbat idea,” or ” Maybe the idea has some merit but its only a 50-50 chance for success in the courts. So instead of calling press conferences to announce this adventure why not sit down and try to negotiate something?”
Instead, no one seems to have the guts to stand up to Moorlach on this one.