Local News Comments

It’s one of those ahh haa moments. Lets make TUD Next~

The grand jury found the tip of the iceberg. Not only wages and benefits but full ride education. Just ask Bev Shane how she got her law degree, or Mr. Pedro his degree. We have given them too much! Both of these examples will retire with huge retirement payments + full benefits and the education to then double dip in a new career. The public sector unions have done this, all the employees did is accept it without question. Most knew it was not sustainable, but oh well!

Most of the pvt sector is 15%. There are a lot of unemployed folks out there. I mean really..How hard can a county job be? Most of the building inspections we have to baby sit.

I am a county employee, and I can tell you that over the years my barganing unit has taken significant cuts that have severely impacted my family's finances. The majority of county employees are just scraping by like the rest of you. We work hard, earn our paychecks, and pay taxes just like anyone else. We don't drive fancy cars or live in luxury homes. The county does take good care of it's employees but they are in no way wasting money.

Most government jobs don't have private sector equivalents. A comparison to salaries and benefits of similarly sized local governments in California would have been more useful.

LuckLady

That doesn't go for the middle and upper "Management" does it?
If you totalled their wages and perks...you could hire three times the amount of county and city workers, couldn't you?

Their is a LOT of fat at the middle and top. A LOT.

The large majority of county employees are not management and do not get the same benefits and perks.

There is a big difference in the benefit package between what one of the Assistant Administrators or Dept Heads receive and what say a housekeeper for facilities management gets.

Any problems involving PERS are being created by the top 5% of the wage earners in the system who by themselves are milking it dry. That goes for the state system as well as local city and county levels.

"..but they are in no way wasting money." Wow. Do you really believe that?

I hope the county employee above was on break or vacation when she read and posted. Surely she doesn't do things like that on our dime.

I have heard that Sonora P.D. officers don't pay a single penny of their own retirement. Supposedly the City Council voted to cover the 9% they were paying. And that is way too generousness. I hope to see drastic cuts with all public employees. I feel they have become far superior to us civilians and we need to rein them in before its too late. Great job Grand Jury.

I don't work for the county, but i pay taxes here, can I get some free education benefits too? Maybe they could pay for law school, or accounting classes that Pedro seemed to miss.

whoa, wait a minute. As a single mom of 3 children and a county employee. I find this report appalling. I have to pay out of pocket for a portion of my family health/ dental benefits and can barely make ends meet at the rate of pay I get as a general employee. Being a county employee is by far luxurious and we work hard to serve the public. This is the thanks we get?

LuckyLady you hit it right. Why does everyone think just because you work for the county you are rolling in dough? My bargaining unit has not seen an increase in wages in over 3 years but we have seen cuts. And now the grand jury in their infinite wisdom recommends taking even more money out of my already empty pockets. Much more and I will not be able to pay my families bills. I live in an average house, my newest car is 8 years old and I am wondering if I will even be able to help pay for my kids to attend college. The only real thing I have left is my retirement and there are those who want to attack that. And just to note I have already been paying into my PERS retirement with my years of service and dedication. I guess that does not mean anything anymore does it?

You know what is going to happen. They are going to go to the bottom level employes and tell them they are cutting back their benefits and not touch the once how make the high dollar salaries. See what kind of people you will get to apply for those law enforcement and fire jobs. See what happens when they say "we will say pay you $32,000 a year all you have to do is clean up the scum for society and get shot at." Oh and you have to pay $500 a month for health benefits, because it is the law.

I am a county employee and have been for many years .I live paycheck to paycheck, drive a 17 year old car and have had to hitch hike to work .I go without many things most people enjoy. The benefits that are being spoken about are for in office supervisors and management.I will not leave with any benefits . As for the county taking good care of it employees , you should think again.The county always looks at what is in the best intrest of the county , its managers and supervisors. Not the hard working everyday Joes

Just and sammy123 pretty much sumed it up! The county "did" take good care of their employees and treated them as assets, but that came to a screeching halt about 5 or so years ago.If you are not in a management position you best be watching your back, dont say anything and really kiss up to your boss! Its a shame! Someone or some group needs to take a closer look,dig a little deeper to find out really how this county is being run and treating their BELOW management employees (laborers).People need to be held accountable for their actions!Nuff said!

Here we go again - "these people have better benefits than us, so let's cut them and bring them down to our level." How about thinking out of the box for a change and saying "these people have better benefits than us, let's work to get ours up to their level"? Why does everyone have to be leveled downwards, rather than up?

Leaperman621: You hit the nail on the head. This County also hires back retirees at their highest ending salary while they recieve their retirement benefits. Would it be prudent to hire entry level unemployed workers ? This would be a win /win for everyone except for the double dippers, by the way you are only invited back as a retiree if you have an in with management

perhaps middle and upper county management should accept no more than 10% above the highest rank and file employees salary, How could the Grand Jury overlook that recommendation?
How can I get on the Grand Jury?

I have to smile at Just's comment above. Not because I disagree with the basis of what he is saying, but because Tuolumne County Firefighter's are all volunteers. The only paid firefighter's in the county system are contracted Cal Fire employees - and that is a whole other spending consideration that isn't talked about much. Not that I have anything against Cal Fire. I should note that the several of the local fire departments other than Tuolumne County Fire do have some career paid staff that regularly assist the county fire department.

. . .How do all the County Work(?)ers explain this: http://www.fixpensionsfirst.com/calpers2012/?first_name=&last_name=juhl&employer= Is the Grand Jury lying? Or maybe the county employees????? ( And probably on OUR TAXPAYER $$$$ ). . .As Obama said "TIME FOR A CHANGE". Look at Stockton as a governmunt run debacle. . .Or how about Social Security?

Sonora Resident1

A lot of people AREN'T making ends meet, and are having to make choices that are sad.

Three kids? Try the family who, at the end of the month, are living off ramen, macaroni, chili and charity.

You aren't livin' large, but by no means is a lot of people, and there are MANY who are worse off.

We are not talking about the regular people who work in govt, but the vampires.

That's what we are talking about.

To all of you who are county, city employees. You have my admiration, but most of your superiors have my unadorned scorn and contempt.

County benefits are very generous to who? Certainly not the average county worker who pays through the nose for their health benefits. And as far as retirement benefits, I will make only 40 percent of my base salary. Thank goodness I'm not depending on just that. Would have had to work to age 85 to collect the maximum. If you don't have benefits in your job, maybe you chose the wrong job.