Citing pension costs, Costa Mesa, Calif., plans to lay off nearly half its employees

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

Nearly half the city workers in Costa Mesa received layoff notices last week. Street sweepers. Firefighters. Mechanics. Payroll clerks. Animal control workers. In all, about 210 of the city’s 472 employees, many of whom have worked there for decades. On Thursday, as the notices were being handed out, one 29-year-old maintenance worker committed suicide by jumping from the city hall roof.

The cutbacks are necessary because the escalating costs of providing pensions for police, firefighters and other unionized employees are draining the city’s revenue, city leaders say.

Within three years, city projections show, more than one of every five tax dollars will be spent on employees’ retirement benefits, which were made far more generous in the years before the stock market crashed in 2008.

“Just do the math — this is unsustainable,” said Jim Righeimer, the city’s recently elected mayor pro tem. He campaigned on the pension issue, eliciting anger and a counter-campaign from the city’s police and firefighters. “Under these kinds of burdens, we can’t do everything the city needs to do.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/citing-pension-costs-costa-mesa-calif-plans-to-lay-off-nearly-half-its-employees/2011/03/18/AB1y68x_singlePage.html

[Miss_Underestimated]

1. More stupidity on steroids. There is so much wealth in that area; the rich must be

spending it on lobotomies for politicians or something. What an unspeakable scam.
Costa Mesa is where the Orange County Fairgrounds are located -- sold off at a firesale price by the dishonorable, illegitimately elected Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Arctic Dave]

3. +1

The guy making teenthousand is bankrupting Cali, not the billionaire scam artist. Who could have known.

[Sherman A1]

2. More screw the working class

It would be too bad if the remaining city employees all caught a case of the "blue flu"' and were unable to report to work for a few days. Let the newly elected mayor see just how good he is doing all those jobs by himself.

[SunSeeker]

4. Costa Mesa is not broke

Just last year, the Costa Mesa City Council had proposed that the city purchase the Orange County Fairgrounds (located across the street from Costa Mesa City Hall) from the state for $96 million. http://theocnow.com/2010/04/21/breaking-news-costa-mesa-proposes-to-buy-oc-fairgrounds-for-96-million/ The City of Costa Mesa is not broke. This city worker’s tragic death is the result of the extreme right wing City Counsel’s privatization scam that will only further fleece the middle class of Costa Mesa. The City Council should look across the street at the Orange County Fair Board to see their own future. In 2009, when a state attorney advised the Fair Board on issues and sat with them through monthly meetings, their total bill reached $57,889. Then, the Fair Board contracted with the private law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, causing their legal services bill to skyrocket to over $300,000 per year. http://voiceofoc.org/oc_central/article_13a0974e-39eb-11e0-9afe-001cc4c03286.html

[Miss_Underestimated]

5. thanks for this update on fairgrounds - tangible evidence of immediate exponential increase in costs

when public property & services are privatized. But in the republican playbook, real facts and figures don't seem to matter

[freshwest]

6. Why don't they cite the theft of the pension monies? That's closer to the truth.

Ah, but that might upset the untouchable banking and corporate interests. Mustn't get the folks upset that can pull the rug out from under everything. Picking the people's means of support, one at a time. Guess they expected those public workers to die sooner.