CFFR has won another court victory on disclosure of public employee pension information.

On Wednesday, the judge in the case California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility v. Orange County Retirement System entered an order concluding that OCERS must provide to CFFR the retiree names, gross retirement amounts, and an identification of the prior public employer of each retiree. 

The order by Orange County Superior Court Judge Luis Rodriquez is similar to orders entered in previous lawsuits on this issue in Contra Costa County and Stanislaus County.  All three have concluded that the requested records are public.

CFFR was represented in the case by Tim Bittle, Director of Legal Affairs for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

To read or download the court order click here, and for more background on the Orange County case click here. To read about the Contra Costa County case, click here or here.

Editorial writer and columnist Steven Greenhut of The Orange County Register has debunked one of the most prevelent myths promoted by California’s public safety employees over the years — that they die earlier than the rest of us and therefore deserve to retire earlier (at 55, or even at 50), and thus also deserve better pensions (3% at 50, for example).  They don’t.

Read his column “Cops don’t die early after all”and his earlier blog post ”Debunking cop pension mortality myths.”

CFFR vice president Marcia Fritz appeared on Southern California Public Radio station KPPC on Tuesday. She was discussing Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposal to overhaul California’s public employee pension funds which he says are “financially unsustainable.”

The governor’s plan would create a two-tiered system that would give lower benefits to newly-hired public employees, including state workers, firefighters, police officers, and teachers. The show’s host  is Larry Mantle. Other guests are David Crane, special advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for jobs and economic growth, and Scott Adams, pension and investment analyst with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Listen to the show or download it here (mp3). Get more information on the show, read listener comments or make comments online yourself here.

The third and final installment of Marcia Fritz’s point/counterpoint “Dust Up” in the Los Angeles Times appeared yesterday: 401(k) plans for everyone? Over the weekend, several folks reported problems posting comments on the site, but it appears that the technical issues have been resolved and you are now able to express your opinion on any of the three parts in the series.

Today is the second day of Marcia Fritz’s point/counterpoint “Dust Up” in the Los Angeles Times with AFSCME’s Scott Adams regarding public employee pensions in California: CalPERS: a looming disaster?  After reading it, please consider posting a comment.

Don’t miss today’s Los Angeles Times online point/counterpoint feature called “Dust-Up” in which CFFR’s vice president Marcia Fritz takes on AFSCME’s Scott Adams: Why did Schwarzenegger bail on pension reform?

Last week a Contra Costa Superior Court judge dismissed a retired county deputy sheriff’s legal challenge to the release of names and pension amounts of former county employees. CFFR had requested the data from the Contra Costa County Employees Retirement Association as part of its ongoing statewide effort to publicize names and pension amounts of former public employees who receive pensions of $100,000 or more per year.

CFFR was represented in court by Timothy Bittle, director of legal affairs for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association — California’s largest taxpayer organization. Also joining in the lawsuit on the side of disclosure were the Contra Costa Times, the Los Angeles Times and the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

“I am very pleased with this ruling. It confirms the right of taxpayers to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” said CFFR president and founder Keith Richman.

“We finally have sunshine on generous pensions negotiated in closed sessions away from public view,” added CFFR vice president Marcia Fritz.

Both Richman and Fritz expressed appreciation to the Jarvis Taxpayers Association for representing CFFR in the proceedings.

Here’s the article by reporter Chris Rizo that appeared on the Legal Newsline website on July 4, 2009:

Calif. judge orders release of public pension data

California’s leading taxpayers’ rights group says the public scored a major legal victory this week when a judge ruled that a county’s pension records are not entirely confidential.

The judge ruled that the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a public pension watchdog group, are entitled to a list of names and total retirement benefits for all Contra Costa County employees receiving an annual pension of at least $100,000.

Retired Contra Costa County Deputy Sheriff Donna Irwin sued the county retirement board, claiming that releasing her pension amount was an invasion of privacy.

Attorneys for the taxpayers’ group intervened in the case, arguing that unlike the IRA and 401k plans of private citizens, public employee defined benefit plans pay a guaranteed amount that are funded by taxpayers.

“The public interest in knowing how public money is spent, outweighs any embarrassment public employees might feel from the disclosure of their retirement benefits,” said Tim Bittle, director of legal affairs for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

In his ruling Wednesday, Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Barry Baskin ordered the records released, saying a “transparent government is the cornerstone of our democracy.”

In addition to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, the Contra Costa Times, the Los Angeles Times and the California Newspaper Publishers Association also joined the lawsuit.

Baskin was appointed to the bench by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2002. He currently serves as a civil fast track trial judge.

CFFR’s $100,000 Pension Club lists were the focus of an editorial in yesterday’s Modesto Bee  :

The generous — and unsustainable — level of public employee pensions in California is finally getting some long-overdue attention … a statewide group advocating pension reform has posted on the Internet lists of PERS (Public Employees’ Retirement System) and CalSTRS (State Teachers’ Retirement System) retirees receiving more than $100,000 a year and is pressing county retirement associations for the same information.

More than 5,000 PERS retirees get more than $100,000 annually. Many are retired public safety workers eligible for “3 at 50″ — 3 percent of their salary for each year worked, starting at age 50. Many other workers get 2.5 or 2.7 percent at age 55. The STRS list contains more than 3,000 names.  … Californians for Fiscal Responsibility, the pension reform group that published the PERS and STRS lists, is getting mixed reactions as it pushes for public release of the over-$100,000 recipients from county associations.

Read the entire editorial here.

Marcia Fritz was a guest this morning on Doug McIntyre’s show on KABC Radio in Los Angeles. To listen to the archived show, go to Doug McIntyre’s page on the KABC website, and in the box headlined “McIntyre in the Morning On Demand” scroll down to item #48 and click on it. OR you can just click on this link and listen to (or download) the MP3 podcast version.

From a news story by Jim Sanders in The Sacramento Bee:

Marcia Fritz of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, which seeks change in the state’s pension system, said golden handshakes add pressure to an already strained pension system and taxpayers will be left holding the bag if returns fall short of expectations in the future.

“As folks in the private sector are clinging onto their jobs with their fingernails, to see these kinds of raises in the public sector is probably Exhibit A why the Legislature is held in such low regard,” said Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.