Retiree health care one symptom of Oakland woes

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/25/10 | Chip Johnson

[SmithL]

When you write about Oakland government affairs as I do, the work sometimes takes on a public service aspect.

The hope is that by exposing overindulgent status quo benefits, perks and wrong-headed public policy measures, the words will jar something a-loose in the minds of Oakland's unimaginative elected officials.

One truism that has peeked through the dark economic skies recently surrounding Oakland City Hall is the inability of city leaders to negotiate a decent labor contract - even as they steer a course toward financial ruin.

In the midst of a national economic reduction, the luxurious nature of public employee contracts in Oakland has become a ludicrous example of poor financial planning and failed public policy. It needs to be fixed.

City employees who retire under the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) are already members of one of the most generous public employee retirement systems in the nation, but the extra perk Oakland provides would make most retirees blush.

In 1999, Oakland city officials agreed to pay up to $425 monthly to cover retiree health care payments. The program is open to anyone with more than 10 years of service.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Chapter 9 bankruptcy is available to municipalities (sub-units of a state) but not to a state government itself. That is the one sure fire way to break these contracts and rationalize these out of control benefit packages. But very few local governments have the courage to take that step.