Contra Costa County has reached a critical juncture regarding its escalating retiree health care benefit costs. The unfunded financial liability is now estimated to be approximately $1.74 billion. That figure is more than Contra Costa County’s total annual operating budget, and nearly equal to the unfunded liabilities for Alameda, Orange, and San Diego Counties combined.
The latest estimate is lower than the $2.57 billion calculated two years ago. The reduction results primarily from the use of new actuarial assumptions, and secondarily, from recent board of supervisors’ action to modify the health care benefits for unrepresented county employees.
The liability is still staggering, because the board of supervisors has yet to make any meaningful changes to the generous health care benefit plans available to county employees and retirees covered by union contracts, despite three opportunities to do so in the past several months.
The county’s predicament did not develop overnight. It has been nurtured for decades by past boards that repeatedly agreed to increasingly expensive health care benefits in a labor-friendly environment, without any consideration of future costs. But in light of today’s clear understanding of the crushing impact that the obligation will have on the county’s ability to provide services, it is worrisome to see the current board appears to be continuing this trend.
Most of the county’s 39 union contracts expire in September of 2008. In the past several months, three new labor contracts have been approved. None includes changes to health care benefit plans that would begin to seriously address the county’s imminent financial crisis. This does not bode well for the outcome of future negotiations unless the supervisors take as realistic and tough a position with labor unions as it has with the County’s unrepresented employees.
If the Board of Supervisors either collectively, or any of its members individually, squander this opportunity to substantially improve the county’s financial situation in the name of political expediency or labor peace, out-of-control retiree health care costs will surely and painfully impact the county’s ability to deliver basic services to its more than one million citizens.
The complete report is available on the Contra Costa County Grand Jury web site: www.cc-courts.org/grandjury
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Kind of scary that you guys have been stalking the neighborhood. Maybe we should get a gate like you fancy high-end guys have to keep the riff-raff out.
I wish you would quit bringing the no-tow issue up. But it does have play in the supervisors race so now you have coerced me to opine.
IMO the lies, manipulation and misjudgment involved with the no-tow fiasco go straight to piepho’s lack of judgment and lack of character. I firmly believe not telling the truth is worse than being uneducated. That is two strikes. The third is bowing to the unions.
More than once she lied on the public record by saying that waterskiers had been killed or seriously injured near DB (I have this documented). Per the CA DBW that is blatantly false.
Clearly the piepho tag team had no clue as to what was important to the community they purport to represent. They made no effort to make their intentions known and when folks found out team piepho was hit with a significant onslaught of public outcry. In fact it was Supervisor Glover who called for public forum that ultimately caused the piepho’s to lose the battle.
I could go on for pages regarding the true safety issue (s) of the Delta because unlike the nonsense crew and the others who pushed the no-tow ban I actually studied the matter and I am on the water weekly if not daily.
You made the stupid and regrettable statement about the next of kin of the next accident. I am truly sorry to have to remind you but a DB resident has already tragically lost their life in a boating accident since the no-tow issue arose. I’m also sorry to say the blood is on team piepho’s hands because the death involved a personal water craft being driven recklessly and throughout the no-tow debate myself and others (who by the way are more pro-boating safety than any of the no-tow proponents) continued to pound the fact that personal water craft were the primary cause of the accidents, injures and deaths proximate to DB if not state wide. During the debate at a CSD meeting it was loudly stated that the statistics clearly indicated the next tragedy would involve a personal water craft. Had all the no-tow energy and effort gone into dealing with the true biggest risk, just maybe DB would not have lost a resident. IMO the piephos did NO research, showed a lack of judgment and poor character throughout their quest. IMO their blatant stupidity blew a great opportunity to make the Delta safer. IMO instead they clearly showed everyone their MO of lies, deceit and manipulation to further a personal agenda.
I hope you are happy you brought this up as it truly is important in the context of who is and IS NOT qualified to be a county supervisor.
For the record this communication was prepared on my own time and not while being paid by any public agency.
David, I could not be there due to family commitments. As for the no tow zone you must have missed the point!!
Being part of LAFCO and the DBCSD you have seperate responsibilities and only so much jurisdiction. Check with your counsel.
The point here was that you have been operating out of your area and you should have used the same judgement regarding the growth issue.
Just you responding to the blog alone tells me that you don’t have the community in our best interest and you were flushed out into the open. (accomplished) You have bigger goals.
I won’t continue to use this blog, so I will expect a call from you so we can meet as gentlemen and discuss the topics without getting personal. If you can’t meet I will understand.
Make certain that you bring the documents that I discussed in the blog.
You don’t want to get my “next of kin involved”!
So what were we talking about ?
Oh ya, The Grand Jury Critisizing the CURRENT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS for thier LACK OF MANAGEMENT……..
Hey Mark, so how many folks did you share this with at the CSD meeting last night? What was the feedback?
Sorry Bud, the suggestion of conflict boat already sailed and you just stepped right off the dock. Your effort was not nearly as convoluted as previous efforts by Mr. Barber to make something of nothing and that explanation was not nearly as twighlight zone as some of his. But aren’t you guys neighbors? I’m sure he could offer some lessons!
I was riveted to that first post until I realized you weren’t going to make a point. A CSD is bascially a MAC on steroids, with the water and sewer responsbilities also linked with the advisory role to the Supervisors in our case.
Still pretty surprised that you guys are actually going to attack the no tow deal again, an ordinance that was done in the interest of public safety on a waterway the Marine Patrol calls the most dangerous in the Delta. Repealing that is akin to approving human carnage and human sacrifice, which is precisely what you’re encouraging by leaving it a free-for-all. But go right ahead and get your name at the top of that appeal so we know who to credit when it goes to hell. The next of kin will surely want to know where to address the hate mail.
You guys planning to bring this back on topic anytime soon or when launching the propaganda you just don’t bother?
All the documents are public record and I would be happy to share.
“No time for nonsense” is hiding from many truths and taking cheap shots at Jeff Barber who we should thank for waking up the community and looking into the actions of the board.
I believe that David has used his political influence wrongly. Mary is on the BOS that influences LAFCO that directs DBCSD. Who voted him into LAFCO? WHY? What would your employer do if you were working on other things while you were on the clock?
Does the department look the other way?
If so then he has exposed the department to a potential discrimination case that we would end up paying for?
Mark,
Can this really be true ? Mary says she does not take money from developers because that would demean her ability to be objective.
Maybe there is more bedroom talk without a money exchange than we realize….
This is the first time on this site and WOW I am truly impressed with the responses from the Peipho camp “no time for nonsense”!
Did David have time to write these responses while on the clock at the lab?
A few months back I sent David and Mary a couple of emails asking for some clarity.
The first subject was the jurisdiction of the DBCSD and if David felt that there could be a potential conflict of interest with Mary or the BOS.
After a couple hour conversation with David (on the clock) being paid I believe with tax payers funds, he gave me some areas to look into including the codes that would explain the Brown act etc.
It was not until I dug deeper into the “formation documents of the DBCSD”( that he did not direct me to) that I found specfics that would answer several of my questions.
The BOS approved the LAFCO findings on June 10 1997 on the Discovery Bay Municipal Advisory Council (DBMAC) that transitioned into the DBCSD in July 1998.
This “Office Memorandum” is very clear that the MAC was terminated on Dec1 1998. The document states clearly that “We are left now with the DBCSD, organized only for the purposes of providing water and sewer service, but with the MANDATE FROM LAFCO and BOS regarding assuming the advisory responsibilities of the MAC.
Just for reference and on record that the Peiphos are anti growth folks!
Mary is on the BOS and has influence to LAFCO that DAVID serves on along with the DBCSD.
No conflict of interest here?
What we all missed in DB was not the “no tow zone” but the way it came about and what other impact it had on the community. Was it in the jurisdiction of the CSD?
While this was going on a potential developer was and is trying to add several hundred holmes on the water. Part of that process is a Environmental Impact Report that looks at all aspects of such development.
What do you think would have happened to that report if the “no tow zone” had not been created?
In my opinion there is a huge conflict, unspoken influence and people operating outside the specific language in the formation documents.
I would be happy to provide any and all copies at our next CSD meeting so you could read yourself.
It is time for a change in our local people that best represent “our community” and not somebody’s political ambitions.
Mark
Huff and puff? Sounds like some delusional flashback to a bedtime story you were told.
I don’t want the report to “go away” as you put it. In its entirety I believe it’s a fair assessment. Some people(present company excluded) can read objectively and see progress has been made, but much work is still to be done. That, IMO, is the summary of the report. You read it differently with that kool-aid overdose spin. So be it.
Don’t flatter yourself by suggesting it’s about you. It’s about what’s best for the community, which in my opinion for this topic is the incumbent Piepho. One of these days you might actually present something more substantive than a bumper sticker slogan for your candidate, but I’m not holding my breath.
Why does this continue to be about me? I suggest you use your time more productively if you truly care about your candidate as the GJ report is not going to go away no matter how much you huff and puff.
For the record I only post under my own name so I take no credit for another persons assumption that Mankin who has exhibited public disdain for the Sheriff is involved with the no-nonsense crew. Please check off-line with this blog’s administrator to confirm that I only use my actual identity. And hey if identity is such a big deal, show some guts and post under your real name(s)….whats wrong are you ashamed to be associated with the piepho camp? Or is it that you can dish it out but you can’t take it?
Mr. Barber, not your smartest move trashing someone’s name when you don’t know who you’re sparring with. You keep speculating on my identity and we’ll keep upsizing the Dunce cap.
The facts get stacked against your opinions and you have no rebuttals except for the same, tired ad hominem crap. A definitive sign of the weakness in your candidate and your knowledge of the issues. That coupled with a heaping gulp from the Houston kool-aid factory here, and it all goes to hell in a hand basket.
“Hugs and kisses you silly little guy.”
Bob Mankin’s No Nonsense sounds like Tattoo on Mary Piepho’s Fantasy Island where everything is fine and the truth does not matter. He welcomes all to his insanity.
Too bad Bob can’t think for himself and has been reduced to posting whatever drivel and twisted half-truths his handler David writes for him— who else would know the trivialities that Nonsense brings up.
Now David has Bob spinning the Grand Jury report as if they love Mary, and the brave Mary Piepho has courageously stood up against County politics, when in fact, Piepho has hid behind the corruption for three years and depends on it now for her political life.
But, Bob’s posts are entertaining, I can say that much. It’s always interesting to watch people like Mankin prostitute themselves.
old school, I’m no Psychologist, but that repeated reference and fixation to insertion of things in anal cavities can’t be healthy. I’ll leave it as you’re in the glass half empty crowd with Mr. Barber.
The GJ also acknowledges progress on OPEB and you can’t see it…….check. The OPEB liability has been reduced by 1/3 in the latest budget report and you won’t acknowledge that…….check. The OPEB liability was NOT resolved overnight as some here would appear to expect…..check.
You folks are well rooted in reality and realistic expectations I see.
Mr. Barber, I would suggest to you that you expand your horizons a bit and get your facts via some other source that the crap you’re being spoon fed via the DB SMAC. Your shameless shilling and covering for the Sheriff on this issue is at the detriment to this community and all of your neighbors. Your usefulness to him will wear out shortly and there will no tears shed when he throws you under the bus.
The Neighborhood Watch Deputy was previously used as “an out” for not putting another Deputy in a car out here. Now he was pulled before the current budget cycle is even completed. More of the Sheriff putting his finger in the eye of our community while you wear the blinders. Notice he didn’t leave the Department, he was moved laterally. How does one do that if they didn’t get funding as you claim?? How many office staff were relieved before removing that position if funding is as tight as we are told, but public safety is paramount?
You can only run around in that circle jerk for so long before you just look stupid for not wising up.
In a response to an earlier post piepho’s nonsense boys called me paranoid. Gosh if only I would have been listing to these guys a long time ago I could have saved myself a lot of time and money in therapy. Thanks guys for the ongoing physiological analysis but try to keep in mind this is not about me so stop diverting away from the fact that your beloved Grand Jury just hung piepho’s hinney from the flagpole. Read every detail you want in the report…the overwhelming result is the same, this BoS has failed the citizens and keeping them in place maintains the outlook for continued failure.
For me the most telling aspect is the well established fact that this was a problem on the day piepho took office yet she has folded right in with the rest of them and failed to do anything to set herself apart or deliver a plan to solve the problem in a truly meaningful way.
As for the Sheriff comments and the statement that the Sheriff had money to hire deputies and chose not to do so. That is ludicrous. Please tell us why he would purposefully make his job harder and the SO less effective. Lets hear some rational reasons. What exactly are you accusing the Sheriff of?
BOS cannot change, Nonsense. There is no reason to believe they can. There is no evidence that you or they have the courage to stand up to do the right thing. In fact, every shred of evidence suggests the BOS—most especially Piepho—will continue to avoid the tough decisions in violation of the BOS trust to taxpayers of this county.
You can cherry pick all you want, Nonsense as you live up to your name, but I believe the Grand Jury summary of its finding is more aacurate than your wishful thinking when it states:
“Supervisors have said that they have learned their lesson, that they will do better, and that they are on the road to fiscal sanity. Their record says otherwise.”
WHY WOULD IT SAY THIS instead of play along with your head up your ass thinking?
- The Board was briefed about the retiree health problem as far back as 1994, but delayed taking any action until recently. Page 4.
- Individual supervisors are individually communicating with labor leaders undermining the negotiation process. Page 4
- The Board has continued to approve labor contracts through the last couple of months that “…in each case, the Supervisors as a group have failed to take any meaningful steps to address out-of-control health benefit costs, attributable largely to the generous union agreements.” Page 8
- The Board has targeted only 40% of the OPEB debt, the Grand Jury recommends raising the target to 85% of the debt. They say the Board should come up with a plan in the next six months as to how this will be achieved. Page 9
- The current annual “gap between the required and planned contributions” for OPEB is estimated to be $54 million. The Board is not required to actually “fund” that amount, but it must fund it, reduce it in some manner, or disclose the $54 million as a liability on the financial statements. Currently, the plan is to report the liability. Page 7
I wonder what B.S. the Supervisors will come up with to discredit the Grand Jury.
Pretty soon we will join Vallejo in bankruptsy unless the unions take some concessions. After all, it is the unions that are in control of bankrupting this county. I hope they jump in and assist in a recovery method before it’s too late.
Did anyone actually read the whole report? It’s not all that long and the summary doesn’t quite match the content.
Some highlights I noted:
- First brought to the Supervisor’s attention in 1994
- Nothing done for a decade.
- Considerable effort in the last year
- 39 or more than 90% of union contracts set to expire this year and still to be negotiated.
Some accomplishments noted in the report:
- Hiring freeze since February and all new hires are reviewed on case-by-case
- Second tier benefits group(non-union)
- Several Jan ‘08 report recommendations were adopted in the latest budget from two weeks ago including a new task force, news terms for retirees going forward, locking of subsidies beginning in Jan. ‘10 at ‘09 levels, and the list goes on.
The summary either doesn’t quite jive with the findings or someone has some unrealistic expectations. It’s only 9 pages long and I would encourage everyone to read the whole thing. Then ask yourself if the cut and pasted summary gives the whole picture. Just how quickly is/was the GJ and some vocal people in this readership expecting the problem to be fixed? You say it’s not good enough, so what is “good enough”?
No spin, just a call for objective reading.
Notably missing in the report is any mention of skyrocketing health care costs and the impact, which is beyond the reach or control of anyone within the County or the negotiating teams.
Just ask Mark DeSaulnier… the Grand Jury is a bunch of ineffectual fuddy-duddies and this report means nothing. The Times won’t say a word. Hell they have already endorsed Piepho and Glover. Game is over.
This is such a Blue County the dems will rob taxpayers blind for as long as they want. This County is so Blue there are no consequences whatsoever for Piepho, Gioia, and Glover, or Torlakson and DeSaulnier, or for Tauscher or Miller. So conservatives should just relax and enjoy the rape.
Ole Mary keeps movin left I noticed that she is endorsed by National Women’s Political Caucus of Contra Costa County. I wonder what her far right friends think of this endorsement. This group is closely affiliated with NARAL.
Mary let me know when you do the DeSaulnier change to Democrat. I want to attend the party after you lose the election.
It looks like our Supervisors are wearing their blinders again. I just received a news flash from Piepho that trys to tell the public how many things she’s done. I guess she forgot to put in in the news flash that the County really is in debt, The Grand Jury pretty much tells them they haven’t a clue about what they have been doing all along. I guess that taxpayer President, (forgot her name) was pretty much correct when she wrote the article about the mindless group running our County and refusing to admit the budget isn’t really balanced. And we must not forget Piepho writing, sending and claiming she has balanced the budget. Not sure what Budget she was working on, it must of not been the County’s.
So on what was the CC Times basing its endorsement of Piepho and Glover?
Mary’s brains and Federal’s good looks?
The Times has its head up its ass; no wonder it’s losing readership.
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