Speak of being bent over. Go ask San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association members.
This attorneys group primarily represents county prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Like a bunch of lap dogs, the group ran out and voted through a labor contract modifcation with San Bernardino County, which effectively cancelled ongoing cost of living adjustments.
The big question is; in exchange for what?
The bargaining unit representing another group of District Attorney employees, the investigators, rejected a similar concession proposal. The investigators, who belong to the Safety Unit, will now get a big fat 7% raise this month.
Yes, the Safety Unit, represented by the San Bernardino County Safety Employees’ Benefit Association (SEBA) rejected their proposal.
What’s troubling is District Attorney Mike Ramos is going to take out the bulk of his budget cuts on his prosecutors, while leaving his own personal police force known as the Bureau of Investigation, mostly untouched.
Can you say duped?
I guess they had better get kneepads and a life time supply of chap stick because you know the County will keep coming back asking them to give up more and more as time goes by. I also have a feeling that a majority of the SBPEA members have voted in favor of the County “alternative” so I guess they should go out and purchase the same supplies.
I voted for the raise…
The response to concede was an almost overwhelming 80% of the membership. Our union leaders beleaguered the point that we did not want to face the retribution sure to befall those who did not concede. It is almost as if there were promises made to some of those leaders for future employment on the fifth floor?!? In all, the sheep were led astray yet again. Get ready for that increased workload after the inevitable layoffs, oops, positions deleted for budgetary realignments, start happening.
So did I…
This drama has not yet played out at all.
Maybe, just maybe, the Public Attorneys did the right thing, you know like in an economy where the private sector is getting reamed and jobs are scarce, maybe doing the right thing is worth something?
Look out politically if you read the comments on the Sun and the Daily Press SEBA is getting some support from the body politic but not nearly what it would usually be…
You can count on the fact that there would be far less sympathy for County attorneys making $150,000. Bank on it.
It’s a fair pay for a great job, that should be the standard that measures, not how everyone else is doing.
It continues…individuals to foolish to pay attention to the long term financial impacts of continued deferrals of our raises tout the scrutiny of the public. The public for the most part, wants less government, not more cheaper government! Deferrals effectively make it more difficult to persuade quality candidates to apply. Continued deferrals are just self-inflicted welfare checks written to other employees that the public really doesn’t need. Granted, trial slots have to be manned by someone, but ancillary staffing levels as well as specialized prosecutor positions should go, if the money dries up. Looking at politics (oh know, might have to turn the prisoners loose, might not be able to respond to all the fires, gonna be a back log of civil cases) is what has gotten us into our current position. Lets just balance the checkbook for once.
It continues…individuals to foolish to pay attention to the long term financial impacts of continued deferrals of our raises tout the scrutiny of the public.
Please explain the long term financial impacts of continued deferrals because I’m really curious what those are?
The public for the most part, wants less government, not more cheaper government!
Okay, so the public wants better government for less? That’s not new, but how does giving attorney staff 7% more accomplish that goal? Please explain how you get from there to here. Because no good civil servant I know is going to work less properly because they don’t get their raise…on the other hand the attorneys who are there to just collect their check aren’t going to work harder if you give them 7% more.
Deferrals effectively make it more difficult to persuade quality candidates to apply.
Please let me know the last time an attorney was hired by either the PDs or DAs office and how many “GREAT” attorneys were disinterested in applying because the opportunity to make up to $150,000 a year for an 8-5 attorney job with the opportunity for trials please let me know, because um I think this is a proposition that is just thrown out there but isn’t actually the case.
Continued deferrals are just self-inflicted welfare checks written to other employees that the public really doesn’t need.
Ultimately, the public gets to decide what the public needs, and the attorneys may be best served by letting the public know that instead of seeking out only their interest they did what was best for the public when all the other county employees sought only their own interest.
Granted, trial slots have to be manned by someone, but ancillary staffing levels as well as specialized prosecutor positions should go, if the money dries up. Looking at politics (oh know, might have to turn the prisoners loose, might not be able to respond to all the fires, gonna be a back log of civil cases) is what has gotten us into our current position. Lets just balance the checkbook for once.
Counties all over this state are cutting trial slots, you assume facts not in evidence. Contra Costa for example has indicated they are going to forego prosecuting most misdemeanors. I don’t quite understand what is meant when said “looking at politics” means.
As to just balancing the checkbook that is correct they do need to balance the checkbook. Hopefully the supervisors do the wise and right thing.
1. Long term deferrals: wage= x +$0= X as opposed to
commodity A = $y + 15% growth per annum (eggs for example) or
commodity b = $z + 6% growth per annum (clothing for example)
Wages stay flat, or in this case decrease, while goods and services increase. Your buying poser just went down the tubes. Oh, and that’s not even considering the increase in taxes that will further erode your economic situation.
#2 read this again…the public for the most part, wants less government, not more cheaper government! The only people that want more government are the people with their hands out. More bad people = more DDA’s and PD’s. Get rid of government regulations, create more opportunity for work, crime levels decrease, bad people decrease.
#3. Uh, economic times tend to rebound quicker in private sectors before they do in public sectors. They also have the ability to reward performance with rewards (you have heard of partnerships?) I don’t know of too many Harvard or Standford trained JD’s working for Berdoo, do you? Now factor in the static wage situation, along with the increased cost of retirement contributions and medical costs, a union that continually tells its members to concede (whats the point of the union anyway), well, you get the picture, right? Oh,and 8-5, get real. We all know that ain’t the case when you are in trial. And I should have bolded the
QUALITY part of the statement. You know, people who are not afraid of the courtroom, or don’t piss of the bench so much they get banned. Ones that don’t feel it is there God given right to stream sports radio via taxpayer expense or never prep for a case ’cause nobody really cares about the outcome.
I am too tired to answer the rest and I don’t know if it will help. If you think giving up your raise is a good thing so be it. I have never understood how you can be worth 55$ an hour today and then be worth 45$ an hour tomorrow doing the same activity, workload, etc.
Especially when the elected officials responsible for the mismanagement of the County budget have done nothing but increase their pieces of the pie.
#1 -
So you point out that inflation will degrade the current purchasing power of wages. Okay, that’s pretty thin gruel compared to numerous private sector employees who are making wage concessions or losing their jobs outright. If you look at the actual government CPI number inflation is low, if you look at Gold, well we’re all going towards the end of the world anyways. Yes inflation eats away at purchasing power, but that same purchasing power will now buy you a much bigger house and other commodities there is NO consistent cross-sector inflation that justifies a CPI based increase, worse, what other position entitles all employees to a raise “just because.”
#2 – I’m with you, right there with you. Less Government Regulation = Good, Less Government taxation of private sector payrolls = more economic investment = more growth = good. I just don’t see how paying Public Sector Attorneys more accomplishes this to quote the underwear Gnomes:
1. Pay Public Sector Attorneys More
2. ????????
3. Profit! (Economic Growth)
I just can’t figure out step 2.
#3 – Harvard and Yale grads aren’t coming out to SBCPAA for 3.25% more no matter what…but you have a number of good private sector attorneys who work harder for less money than the public attorneys in SB County. You could pay a lot less and people would still be lining up for the job. Saying that Harvard and Yalies aren’t coming to Berdoo isn’t news, but I don’t think half the office is Top 50 school anyways, and quite frankly I have no clue what school has to do with, some of the best attorneys in the office went to non-ABA schools.
As to 8-5 yes, I get it, in trial people take work home, lots of work home sometimes gobs of it, and yet also sometimes people take off at noon half the week, and they work from home for the whole week before trial. In general in the main, the hours are reasonable, the work-life balance is good, and you give up the pay for reasonable hours.
As to quality I agree completely 125%. But at this point the issue over quality isn’t one. The offices aren’t hiring, they haven’t hired for a while at least and aren’t going to be anytime in the near future, the issue isn’t quality candidates its the quality of the people in the chairs, which I gather from your statement that you do think there are some people who are afraid to try cases, cannot get along with the judiciary, and stream sports or talk radio in their officer all day, but as long as there are some of those in those chairs they are getting the same raises as those who actually do go to trial on tough cases, who fight for the victims, who put in a full days work, not because they’re desk is falling over, but because that’s what the county pays them to do, but that’s because after 2.5 years in, what’s the material difference between a Needs Improvement, Meets, Exceeds, or what ever it is rating? There is none.
I voted for the modification, and I knew exactly what I was doing. I don’t appreciate being told I am stupid. Sure, I would have liked to receive the 3.25% raise, but I make a great salary for a job I really enjoy. I was not willing to see my fellow employees get laid off for a couple of hundred extra dollars per month in my take home pay. Law enforcement is a different breed of animal, and I am not surprised by the SEBA vote. Law enforcement officers truly believe that they are not expendable, and I don’t think the SEBA members who voted against the proposed SEBA MOU modification really believe that there will be LE layoffs. We will soon see if they are right.
I believe the point being made is Ramos is taking out his budget cuts on the bargaining unit that voted for the concessions while protecting his precious investigators who are a part of SEBA.
The term “Door Mat” is more appropriate here.
You were foolish because you believed the county has a hole that only your wallet can fill. But, even if you want to believe that, how about we fill the hole with the raise being given in concert with a furlough matching the court closures? Same difference? What about the notion of deferring capital improvement projects, especially those that are beholding to the friends of the next development scandal candidate? You ever wonder why they are trying so hard to build the new government center in downtown San Bernardino out of a mall? Pardon the cynic in me, but do you really believe the BOS has employee interests at heart? Those are the points SEBA rightly made. Now we see who says uncle first.
Gov 98, this economy is gonna tank for a while. How are your retirement earnings gonna stack up against inflationary costs when your income has been stagnant for 5 years. You have lost and compounded the damage with concessions. You really think the 50 million shortfall that Derry has projected for next year is gonna lead to a little more cash flow for us. Hell, if medical costs don’t don’t go up 30% next year I’d be happy as a lamb. Hopefully we can get some changes to SBCPAA leadership and try to make up some lost ground.
I’m voting for you,Gov98! Well put! We all need to work together, all sides! And what’s the problem? “MONEY”! What is needed is to balance the county budget and stay in that budget. No borrowing from anywhere. What’s really, really needed is a certain % of every thing cut. All salaries, top to bottom, by the same amount! Now that’s fair.
Is it fair to cut the salaries of individuals that work in grant based programs? The grant was written to cover the costs of the staffing, etc., levels needed to implement the program requirements. Where does that extra grant money go when you cut the salaries? A little here and a little there? Just like borrowing from Cal Pers to pay for government screw ups? Is that how you balance a budget? The problem isn’t money. In case you have forgotten how little the BOS has given up, it is the corruption and lack of foresight by the 5th floor and Sacramento that has gotten us here, not desire to keep up with the cost of living.
Unwilling- All county employees need cuts in pay to balance the budget. All by the same percentage, not just grant people! All departments, all supervisors, every body!
OK, Fed up, so where does the money go! HI I am gonna charge you double the cost of your previous automobile registration fee, something limited by law to pay for the costs associated with CHP, DMV, DOT, etc, but I am going to take 25% of that fee and use it to pay for prison inmate health care costs. Really, you find that thinking OK?
Unwilling, Everything in a budget is needed or it wouldn’t be there. So, to balance a budget cut x amount from everything, if the money isn’t there to cover the costs. It’s pretty simple to understand. The money doesn’t go anywhere because it’s not being payed out.