Moorlach Attacks County Worker Benefits
Supervisor John Moorlach, Chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the great and powerful Emperor Chicken Little, today proposed a ballot measure to amend the County Charter to prevent future boards from granting enhanced pension benefits for county workers without voter approval.
The Orange County Register’s Peggy Lowe reported on Total Buzz that the Emperor’s Court Jester, and Chief of Staff Mario Mainero wrote the proposed ballot measure. Mainero said the retirement benefits are often approved during flush economic times by representatives unconcerned about how local governments will fare during tough financial patches.
“When there are flush times, quite frankly, the unions statewide convince the legislature to rachet up the benefits more,†Mainero said. “This is a defense against that.â€
Moorlach doesn’t think that the Board of Supervisors, the constitutionally required and duly elected representatives of the people of Orange County, can be trusted with the really tough decisions. You know, the decisions that require research, study, understanding, and comprehension of all factors affecting them. These would be the decisions that the taxpayers pay these people more than $220,000 a year to make while being supported by staff costing more than $800,000.
In an LATimes story today, Chicken Little Moorlach is quoted about his initiative:
“We had a board that created a rather substantial debt, and not one taxpayer voted to approve that debt,” Moorlach said. “So let’s make sure that doesn’t happen in the future and let’s let the voters take a little control of the budget.”
So Chicken Little, why stop there? Just put everything to a vote of the people. The budget is more than $5 billion a year; if board members can’t be trusted to study the impact of pension costs on the budget, they certainly shouldn’t be deciding the budget. Why should we have a Board of Supervisors hiring a CEO, let’s just put Tom Mauk’s job performance and pay to an annual vote of the people. And as for contracts heck, no point in approving those, just put them to a direct vote of the people as well.
Sorry Emperor Chicken Little, you can’t pick and choose the decisions you want to make in a representative democracy. You have to do the job you are elected to do, tough calls and all. Of course, I know you want us to forget that you did advocate for the negotiated enhancement of the Deputy Sheriff pension benefits (including the retroactive benefits) when you were County Treasurer. I could be wrong, but I believe you supported the negotiated 2.7 @ 55 pension benefits for general county workers. I don’t think you had your change of heart until you needed a scape-goat for your Supervisor campaign.
Hitler blamed the Jews; Bush blames Muslims; Evangelical Christians like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blame the gays; and self-righteous zealots like the Emperor Chicken Little blame public employees and their benefits.
The players and reasons may change, but the objective is still the same. Find someone to blame, and then take out your frustration and rage on them.
All hail the poor little Emperor Chicken Little. I wonder when he will give back his pension benefits that he believes the Board of Supervisors erred in granting him?
This is interesting. I’m sure at least Norby will be opposed to it since he’s on the record as being against ballot box budgeting.
Right!! Who am I kidding?
This will go over really well in OC “Ray-gun Country” (remember how the Old Man loved to blame civil servants/welfare queens for all the ills of the land). Chairman Warlock picked a great time to do it too. Imagine all of those unemployed former mortgage company brokers sitting home in denial, watching “One Day at a Time” reruns, who are just looking for someone to blame for their own greed.
OC is the ground-zero of free-market-worshipping, private-sector employees with 80s-style “Bright Lights, Big City” delusions of riches but who have nevertheless failed at life. Now they will be able to take out their misplaced spite and jealousy on public employees. Imagine the glee, the heady rush at being able to stick it to those career bureaucrats!