Bad journalism is STILL happening in plain sight in South Florida: Why are Herald and Sun-Sentinel beat reporters ignoring campaign finance disclosure violations story re Broward County PBA in Hollywood? Violations that appear quite deliberate. On this, as with so many other dozens of stories that the public wants to know MORE about, these reporters and their editors are sleepwalking

Bad journalism is STILL happening in plain sight in South Florida: Why are the Herald and Sun-Sentinel beat reporters ignoring campaign finance disclosure violations story re Broward County PBA in Hollywood? Violations that appear quite deliberate. On this, as with so many other dozens of stories that the public wants to know MORE about, these reporters and their editors are sleepwalking

Once again, for about the millionth time since they've had the Hollywood and Hallandale Beach reporting beats for their newspapers, the Miami Herald's Carli Teproff and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Tonya Alanez are NOT reporting news they know about.

Why in the world is there a time-delay in reporting news to readers that happened WEEKS ago?

In most large cities not located in Florida, especially Northeastern and Midwestern cities that still have pretensions to being 'newspaper towns,' the information would've been in the newspaper the very next day, and the local TV stations, as per usual, would've suddenly gotten interested in the story, too, and gone to work that day in either ferreting out some real answers, or at least making their viewers know what the basic facts were and who the parties involved were. 
But here, it's weeks later and there's still nothing about it.

What are they, reporters, publicists or spin doctors?

It's a very familiar refrain to news-hungry residents of this part of Broward County.

My fact-filled blog post on this matter is coming this week, and I'll very likely take aim at some of the most egregious apologists for both the union and the reporters.
And I'll have some of the questions that we should've already seen posed weeks ago to the people involved at the PBA.

Dear oblivious Jane Doe, Chip & Andy, defenders of Hollywood union deals that'd cripple city's financial future: You lost, common sense actually won

Above and below, looking east at the City of Hollywood Fire Rescue station #105 on U.S.-1/Federal Highway, one block north of Pembroke Road, one of the ten busiest fire stations in the entire U.S. and which responds to some calls in Hallandale Beach, too. August 30, 2011 photos by South Beach Hoosier

August 30, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

August 30, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Dear oblivious Jane Doe, Chip & Andy, et al, defenders of Hollywood union deals that'd cripple city's financial future: You lost, common sense actually won.

Rather than see the two comments I received today run at the bottom of my Saturday post, where only people who never saw it in the first place would see them, I've chosen instead to put them right out front today where everyone can see them for the nonsense they are.

Let's look at the self-serving comments, shall we?

Which, as was true during the abbreviated referendum 'campaign,' as usual, didn't and don't answer the simple reasonable questions that the residents of Hollywood were entitled to know before they actually voted.

Not the failure of the City of Hollywood to anticipate and deliver straightforward answers to, but rather the side that the 'Jane Does', DWS and labor acolytes of the Hollywood area supported.

The side that lost and which is still bitterly complaining.

Those questions can be boiled down to one: IF X, with X being maintaining current labor deals, then Y, with Y being job cuts and program and service interruptions if not outright elimination,

what will Y be like if the status quo with the city employees was maintained and no changes were made?

The unions could NEVER answer that simple question to enough Hollywood residents' satisfaction.

The very beleaguered people who already knew that their taxes were going to be going up substantially even if the city's position won out this past Tuesday.

How did the unions and their employees ever think they could win if they couldn't answer that simple question?

Exactly.

As stated previously, I'd have been perfectly fine with firing a lot more City of Hollywood employees than even the numbers contemplated by the city if the referendum had lost.

A lot more!

My own personal experience over the past seven years being all over Hollywood is that there are, indeed, far too many city employees who DON'T pull their weight and don't deliver a dollar's worth of service or labor for a dollar's pay.

Just as is even MORE TRUE in the City of Hallandale Beach, starting with the City Manager's Office and DPW.

City of Hallandale Beach City Hall and Police Dept. HQ, September 9, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

(Did you know that despite being about 350% smaller in physical size and population than Hollywood, as recently as two years ago, the City of HB's City Manger's Office was actually spending MORE taxpayers money on its personnel costs than Hollywood was?

Well, if you read this blog or read my friend Michael Butler's Change Hallandale you would, but other than Comm. Keith London, none of the other other four HB commissioners seemed the least bit troubled by this absurd and troubling fact.

Cooper, Ross, Julian & Sanders were their usual Rubber Stamp selves and allowed it to go on and on, with predictable results, and yet they were the very ones who were unwilling to bite the bullet and actually take Mike Good to court last year when he wasn't even coming to City Hall to do his job.

How do you get any more insubordinate than that?

And Julian, typically, as if on cue, foolishly saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, made a motion to end the city manger search even before it could get going in earnest and the public could participate and give their input.

Just another one of the 1,001 reasons that William "Bill" Julian deserves to be kept off the commission dais PERMANENTLY.)

Now, back to the matter at hand.

Even prior to receiving this anonymous comment, I've been shocked at the relative ease with which the Hollywood Police union (Jeff Marano) and the Fire union (Daniel Martinez) were able to skate with South Florida's local media without answering questions in depth about what the logical results would be if their side had won the referendum.

The only time that this was NOT true was when Mayor Peter Bober and Jeff Marano both appeared on Channel 10's This Week in South Florida (TWISF) with host Michael Putney.

You can see that program here: http://www.local10.com/video/26511111/index.html

Jane Doe has left a new comment on your post "Shining a light on a sanctimoni​ous -and anonymous...":

I do not feel your comment on the Hollywood Whistle Blower all that accurate. The person may have used someone else's picture but alot of what was written is accurate.

First off, it's not "someone else's picture" but mine.

Second, someone who purports to be a serious person with something to say doesn't do something as stupid and lazy as pilfer other people's photos on a blog as if they were a catalog to take what they like. Period.

There has been alot of mismanagement in the City of Hollywood and that needs to be brought to people's attention. It is not fair to blame the employees for the problems the city is in. The mayor and commissioners have agreed to union contracts and when the city was in trouble the unions agreed to pay cuts for employees.

No one disputes that there has, indeed, been financial under-performance and very poor choices.

But no matter how many times it is mentioned no matter how many times the numbers come up in a graph or pie chart, you and your cohorts seem to be oblivious to the fact that since Public Safety personnel/pension costs are by far the largest portion of the city's budget, they are the first on the chopping block.

Look at the current budget proposed by the City of Hollywood, below.

http://www.hollywoodfl.org/budget/pdf/FY2012TentativeBudget.pdf

$113,461,70 of the $ 166,274,13 General Fund in the budget is for Public Safety.

Jeff Marano and Daniel Martinez did a piss-poor job of telling Hollywood residents what programs and services would have to reduced, largely be eliminated or zeroed-out in order to continue the fiction that they and you want to believe.

Because they didn't.

The voters made their choice.

The city chose to go way over budget building Arts Park, to agree on a vendor who could not provide a fully functioning WiFi system, gave millions through the CRA to developers who did not build a thing and walked away with the money and now one is suing. They have a downtown CRA that has not accomplished anything yet they keep getting taxpayers dollars while the west end of the city is going down hill. They could have shut down the downtown CRA and saved money but they won't. There has been advice given to the city but the mayor and commissioners have their own agenda. They chose to play bully and tell taxpayers if you do not vote yes for pension reform we will raise your taxes even higher. Now they are cutting pensions while relying on developers to save the city and will continue to give them money the city does not have. Is that the direction you want to see the city go?

I knew about these myriad problems before you did, attended the often-ponderous Hollywood City Commission meetings and knew more about what had and hadn't been discussed than you did.

I am all-too aware of the shortcomings of the City of Hollywood and their employees and elected officials.

I've actually written about them here, remember?

When nobody else was, I complained about what I saw that didn't seem logical or reasonable or make sense and still was done anyway because that's what the city or its condescending employees wanted, even if was wrong.

The City Commission passed the Margaritaville project on Johnson Street and the Broadwalk unanimously, and while I didn't like all aspects of it, I MUCH preferred the Hard Rock proposal because you'd get more buzz and reach a much more diverse demographic who'd spend money.

Margaritaville? I will never go there -it's not at all appealing to me.

And neither will anyone I know who'd come to visit.

I also don't think it will be appealing to out-of-town/foreign visitors who are African-American or Latino.

It's a one-trick pony.

A very tiresome one-trick pony in my opinion.

If the Super Bowl came back to Joe Robbie Stadium, do you think most fans with a choice would prefer staying at The Hard Rock located on the beach, or Margaritaville, where they can never escape that music?

Well, many of the fans of the latter are fishing on Sunday afternoons on their boats, right?

Asked and answered.

But when you finally found out about the decision-making problems in Hollywood, what did you do about them?

Exactly.

Nothing.

The unions were content to let bad decisions be made in Hollywood so long as it didn't affect their Golden Goose.

Conveniently, the so-called "Whistle Blower' blog didn't show-up until last month, and yet still does not disclose who is behind it, just like your comment to me, Jane, Chip & Andy.

That lack of transparency and honesty makes you and them not worth believing, especially when your arguments are so lacking in facts and context.

for whatever reasons, you and your pals continue to NOT understand the purpose and function of a CRA as they operate in Florida.

By now, I think it's because you'd rather not know and would just prefer to have the issue to complain about it.

That's your choice, but as I remarked previously, simply repeating something doesn't make it true, and is unconvincing among people who know the facts.

So very many unpersuasive arguments.

That's why I was not at all surprised the unions lost.

Chip and Andy has left a new comment on your post "Shining a light on a sanctimoni​ous -and anonymous...":

"...There's one over-riding fact: a majority of the Hollywood residents actually voting chose to support the City of Hollywood's P.O.V."

I disagree.

With only 14% voter turnout and the 'winning side' winning by a 55/45 split, majority is hardly the way to describe the results.

I know that by the very definition of the word the majority is the winning side of the vote, but with over 80% of the voters deciding to sit this one out, the 'majority' made their voice heard by not saying anything at all.

Honestly, criticizing the results of the vote based on the number of people who voted is the worst of sour grapes since it proves that the Police union and Jeff Marano and the Fire union and Daniel Martinez, were utterly unable to persuade even a small number of people to vote who hadn't planned on voting, even though everyone knew going in that a small percentage would actually turn out.

Personally, I hate apathetic people, which is part of what makes living in South Florida so frustrating to me, even when I was a kid.

Hearing a pathetic excuse like the one above that someone or some group of people "made their voice heard by not saying anything at all" is honey for elected officials, lobbyists and the status quo, all of whom already have too much influence in Broward County and south Florida than they do in most other parts of the country with a higher civic-participation level and different attitude.

That said, here's what I know for a fact: There was a public election held this past Tuesday in the City of Hollywood, and among those legal residents who actually voted, one side got more than the other.

Apparently, it was not your side.

While I usually prefer to have as many legitimate people vote as possible, there's absolutely no evidence that if 25%, 50% or even 100% of the city's residents had participated, the results would have been any different.

If anything, I personally suspect the percentage of voters supporting the city's position on the referendum would have been even larger, since conversations I've had the past few days among people who are registered voters but who blew-off the vote because they were so sure it would pass, 90% of them were for it.

They opted out because their intuition was that it would pass and their vote wouldn't change much; they were right.

The universe of people who think it's more important for City of Hollywood employees to retire with a pension when they are near age 50 or 55, than to have a fairly-normal city offering various programs and services (of varying quality) to city taxpayers is much less than you think.

The unions reached their universe of supporters.

It's just that they are a minority of actual legal voters in the City of Hollywood.

No sale.

That's the end of the issue.

====

http://www.changehallandale.com/

http://www.local10.com/index.html

On the eve of Hollywood's referendum on city pensions, everyone thinks they're entitled to their own facts, esp. the city's Union employees

On the eve of Hollywood's referendum on city employee pensions, contrary to what former diplomat, Harvard professor and U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, everyone around here really DOES think that they're entitled to their own facts, and that's no more so the case then with the City of Hollywood's many embittered Police and Fire employees.

Yes, the very same folks who've nursed a variety of petty grudges for years and who firmly believe that Hollywood's beleaguered taxpayers DON'T properly understand them or appreciate them enough -or pay them enough.

And if you didn't already know it, not only are many of them high-maintenance, but a sizable percentage of them have a grand sense of entitlement, or, alternatively, live in a warped version of reality that borders on over-the-top.

Sorry, you're NOT Pullman train porters getting the shaft from the big-wigs!

Speaking of over-the-top, to say nothing of creepy, one policewoman in particular, Hollywood Police Detective Stephanie Szeto, shows very clear signs of suffering a persecution complex.
That is, if we can believe what SHE SAYS HERSELF.

But not every taxpayer in this part of southeast Broward County is rolling-over for the Hollywood cops and firemen and their tales of financial woe.
Some people can STILL distinguish fact and fiction.

That is, if this excerpt of a communication I had with an upset Hollywood resident and blog reader a week ago is any guide.
As if speaking to these very same City of Hollywood employees, he stated,

"My wife and I don't go to work in the morning so that Hollywood city employees like you can retire before you're age 50, and leave us on the hook for another 30 years. Sorry, we're just not.
You're going to have to work longer and harder before you buy that second home in North Carolina. Or, start making better investments..."

A few weeks ago in one of her articles on the upcoming referendum -actually, to be factual, I believe it was written before it was a definite thing- the Miami Herald's Carli Teproff made what I thought at the time was a real blunder, the sort of blunder that is not uncommon after reporters take over new beats, and want to give the impression they are up to to speed on what's going on, and sometimes, that includes their repeating what they have heard elsewhere, assuming it's true.

Teproff took over the City of Hollywood beat after largely but not exclusively covering K-12 education.

(Teproff previously covered North Miami Beach -NMB- the city my two younger sisters and I largely grew-up in. As I've written here previously, she wrote some pretty devastating pieces on the rampant corruption and ethical minefield there on N.E. 19th Avenue/Victory Park, a place I lived just south of in 1969, age eight, when that part of NMB was very different then now. That was one year pre-Don Shula for those of you who need a better time approximation.)

In that article, without citing any specifics or sources, she stated that because the percentage of voters participating was likely to be low -which is true- Hollywood city employees living in the city could very well tip the final vote.
But she did so in a way that seemed to imply that Hollywood actually has more city employees living there than the average South Florida city does, even while providing no hard numbers or percentages.

It was stated as if it was just common knowledge, but among people I know and trust in Hollywood, who know the city's political history and context better than me, they also found that an odd thing to say without any support.

But is Hollywood really the home of city employees to a larger extent than other Broward cities, save perhaps Ft. Lauderdale, the largest city?
I think not.

For your edification on the employee pension issue being decided Tuesday, I'd like you to compare and contrast the difference in tone between two recent Hollywood-based blog postings I've read. It's rather instructive.
Some, like me, would even say "Night-and-Day" as Hoosier-native Cole Porter might as well -and did.

The first blog post, at Balance Sheet Blog, http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/, written and edited by Sara Case and Laurie Schecter, gets the benefit of the doubt from most well-informed people in the community -including myself- because it's been observing the goings-on at Hollywood City Hall in-person for years, writing about what's going on there -good and bad- appropriately critiquing/complaining long-and-loud when it was necessary, and doing so with great specificity and a reliance on facts about bad public policy, insular thinking, questionable votes, et al.

Last Monday, they posted this:

Balance Sheet Online
Pension Referendum – Sept. 13
September 5, 2011, 9:24 PM

HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL ELECTION – IMPORTANT – SAVE JOBS!

WHAT: Pension Referendum
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011

This is no time for voter apathy. Our city has a budget crisis that could lead to bankruptcy. As a partial solution, the referendum proposes reducing future pension benefits for members of each of the three unions in city government: General Employees, Police, and Firefighters. These reductions would save the City some $8.5 million and set the City on a more sustainable course for the future.

Note: the referendum would not touch any pension benefits employees
have earned to date; only future benefits would be subject to new
rules if the referendum passes.

The second post on Tuesday's referendum appeared Monday morning at a newer blog that never existed until last month called City of Hollywood Whistle Blower, subtitled, "Drawing a line in the sand."
I have no idea who or what is behind it because they never identify themselves.

I draw your attention to the fact that many of the reader comments are directed against the one elected official in the city who was sounding an alarm many years ago for city taxpayers about Police and Fire pensions eating up a disproportionate share of city spending, spending that would only increase unless modified: Hollywood Comm. Beam Furr, a high school teacher.

It's hardly a secret that the Hollywood Police and Fire unions -i.e Jeff Marano and Daniel Martinez respectively- have had it out for Comm. Furr for many years, seemingly, since I moved back to South Florida from the D.C. area in 2003.

This animus by the Police and Fire unions against Furr is so well-known that, well, yes, even the Miami Herald has been forced to publicly mention the subject time-after-time on the front page of their awful State & Local section, including mentioning the unions' attempts to embarrass school teacher Furr on the issue of ethics.

If I recall correctly, and I could be slightly off, they were upset that Furr used one of his school sick days or vacation days on an Election Day campaigning.
Yeah, not exactly scintillating, hard-boiled film noir material.

As IF no union employee in Hollywood had ever taken advantage of his or her accrued days for a reason like going to a Miami Heat playoff game or Miami Dolphin Monday Night Football game or a day-trip to The Bahamas.
Please!

Yes, this call for an investigation came from the same union crews that have long defended and tolerated the tactics and hot-headed behavior of some of the worst rogue cops in all of Florida, whose nefarious and mendacious exploits the people in Hollywood and South Florida have all seen and read about in the newspaper and on TV newscasts after they were finally arrested.

Or, in case you forgot, tried to frame an innocent woman for something that was actually the fault of one of their fellow officers.
Oh, you thought I forgot that?
Hardly.

http://cohblwr.blogspot.com/2011/09/we-would-like-to-thank-our-residents.html#comments

In particular, I draw your attention to the absurd comments of Stephanie Szeto, a Hollywood Police detective -a fact not mentioned in her comments but easily discovered- who manges to show what an insensitive dumb-ass she is by comparing herself to a victim of physical abuse.
This, despite our forever hearing and reading about and being lectured by the news media on the dangers of fanciful exaggerations diminishing the real meaning of certain words and phrases.

(You know, like Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper foolishly saying that she felt like her privacy was "raped" because someone -my friend Michael Butler of Change Hallandale- did a public records request on her email records, which was the story behind this November 2009 column by the Sun-Sentinel's Michael Mayo.)

For your consideration, from the upside-down mind of Hollywood Police Detective Stephanie Szeto:

I am sorry that we residents have had to accept this outright intimidation from these people. They have met the criminal definitions of thieves and blackmailers. I hate to ask what is next. Sadly I have to take the cuts as an employee and the tax hikes as a resident.

I feel like a victim in a violent and abusive relationship...

Then, as if she realizes that her example is as over-the-line as it sounds on its face, Szeto allows as how "I've investigated many domestic violence cases."

Oh, then I guess it's okay for you to equate your status as a city employee in the year 2011 to a woman who has been beaten black-and-blue in a criminal act.

Hey, Keystone Kop Szeto, didn't you understand the part where you could always just quit your job?

Do whatever the hell you wanted?
Quit without being hunted down?

Note to self: if Szeto is fired as a result of this referendum going down, make sure that the City of Hallandale Beach Police Dept. does NOT hire her.
They already have more than enough morale and management problems of their own -and how!- without adding someone with a persecution complex.

And I end this blog post of mine with more sheer nonsense from Szesto, who concluded her dalliance in public therapy-cum-political theater in that blog today:

I think I must begin to find a way out of this abusive relationship and
seek shelter and a way to end this relationship for my own health and well being.

To which I simply say, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out the door!

City of Hollywood presents its side Monday night re Hollywood's Sept. 13th referendum re Police & Fire pension costs

Hollywood civic activist and blogger extraordinaire Sara Case recently sent the following note out to folks to remind everyone in SE Broward about Monday night's HCCA meeting on the referendum taking place in two weeks.

From: Sara Case

Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 4:23 PM

Subject: HCCA's Public Education Meeting on Pension Referendum

Hi All,

Here are the details of HCCA's public education meeting on the Sept. 13 pension referendum election. Please notify your all your association members and friends as this meeting will provide a good opportunity for voters to learn the implications of this special election.

Date: Monday, August 29, 7 PM

Place: Fred Lippman Multi-purpose Center, 2030 Polk Street (large meeting room)

Purpose of Meeting: To provide fact-based information on how the referendum will affect city operations, city services and employees, and city taxpayers -- both if it passes and if it is defeated.

The Interim City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark will make the presentation.

The exact ballot language can be found at this link on the city website:

http://www.hollywoodfl.org/election/2011/2011referendum_questions.htm

Sara

See Sara's July 20th Balance Sheet Blog post titled Financial problems in Hollywood

http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/financial-troubles-in-hollywood/

-----

Why-oh-why can't the union officials who represent the individual members of the City of Hollywood Police and Fire Dept., Jeff Marano and Dan Martinez respectively, accept the fact that no matter how many times they say it to reporters or their members, the City of Hollywood CRA funds are not "found" money for the Hollywood City Commission to do with as they choose for whatever purpose?

(For that, you have to go to where I live, Hallandale Beach, There, things are so upside-down in the logic and common sense dept., that a perfectly preposterous idea for putting TVs/monitors -that run nothing but local ads- in HB businesses and public areas of condos NOT even in the CRA zone, got approved 4-1, with little to show for it but money down a rat hole. Money that the city is NOT trying very hard to get back from some of the individuals involved, once it went kerplunk.)

Over-and-over for years I have heard whining from them and Hollywood beat cops about there being this magic pot of gold over the rainbow.

But showing in many cases the very poor value of a Florida public school education, many persist in ignoring the facts and constructing arguments that result in them getting more, more, more.

It's NOT your money!

Given that taxes in Hollywood will still go up 11% even if this is approved, I believe that if it is rejected, the City Commission should fire about 300 City of Hollywood employees, not the 170 or so suggested in the Herald article below by Carli Teproff that appeared in this morning's newspaper.

Consider the extra people fired both a margin of error and a shot across the broadside that there are far too many people in the city's employ who are NOT earning their paycheck.

I know, I see it every week with my own eyes and have experienced it many times.

The condescension is the worst part.

People with Masters Degrees who think they know everything and are NOT interested in what you say about something, even when you have photographs that show that THEY are doing something that is NOT appropriate or safe, and even likely to lead to injuries to the public.

Nope, they just can't be bothered with your facts, they have workshops to go to.

-----

Miami Herald

HOLLYWOOD

With YouTube video and city mailings, Hollywood residents are learning about upcoming pension referendum

The gloves are off and both sides are coming out swinging with their campaigns to educate Hollywood voters on why they should or shouldn’t vote to change the city’s pension system

By Carli Teproff

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/28/2376781/with-youtube-video-and-city-mailings.html

-----

Please be sure to read this excellent overview of the government employee pension situation by the Tallahasse Democrat's Senior Political Writer and Columnist Bill Cotterell.

I meant to mention it here weeks ago when the controversy over whether or not the City of Hollywood and the Police and Fire unions would work things out without a referendum being necessary.

Tallahassee Democrat

Things are tough all over

Government employees everywhere feel the pinch

Bill Cotterell

July 25, 2011

http://floridacapitalnews.com/article/20110725/COLUMNIST03/107250305

------

Here's an interesting article from a year ago that I circulated at the time via an email.

New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/you_pay_the_price_hNooJsBk9MtO67HvinglHP

City taxpayers foot 90% of municipal pensions

By Susan Edelman

Last Updated: 10:31 AM, July 11, 2010

Posted: 2:10 AM, July 11, 2010

Taxpayers kick in an average $8.60 for every dollar that city employees contribute to their pensions, a sweet deal costing the Big Apple a bundle.

Even though their own retirements are less secure, as private businesses have shifted from traditional pensions to riskier savings plans like 401(k)s, taxpayers' support for rock-solid public employee pension plans is growing. That's because pension funds are guaranteed to grow 8 percent a year -- and taxpayers have to make up the difference if they don't.

Taxpayers' share of city pension costs has skyrocketed more than 900 percent in the last decade -- from $703.1 million in 2000 to $6.5 billion in 2009, according to the city comptroller's annual reports.

The cost is expected to hit $7.6 billion this fiscal year and $8.7 billion next year.

"It's a double-whammy for taxpayers," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

"If they're privately employed, they shoulder the risks of saving for their own retirement. At the same time, they have to pay a steadily mounting cost of guaranteed pensions for government workers."

Teachers get the biggest bang for their pension contributions -- the city puts in $15.50 for every $1 they contribute.

Taxpayers pay $10 for every $1 firefighters put in, $9 for every $1 from cops and $5.60 for every $1 from transit, sanitation and other civil servants, the 2009 report shows.

"The cost has risen because employee benefits were dramatically increased in 2000, just as the [stock] market began to collapse," said John Murphy, former executive director of the New York City Employee Retirement System, NYCERS, the largest city pension fund.

"In retrospect, it was one of the most irresponsible things to have done," he said.

Many private companies cut back or suspended matching contributions to employee 401(k) plans after the most recent dramatic market downturn in 2008. Some have begun to restore contributions, depending on profits.

Teachers hired after 2008 contribute 4.85 percent of their salaries for their first 10 years, then 1.85 percent a year thereafter.

Cops and firefighters make annual pension contributions depending on their age at swearing in, at most 8 percent at age 20. But in a benefit called "Increased Take Home Pay," the city subsidizes 5 percent of that.

Cops and firefighters are guaranteed an 8.25 percent return on their contributions, and can take loans from the plans up to twice a year, interest-free.

It's only fair, said Anthony Garvey, who recently retired as executive director of the Police Pension Fund.

He said the benefits befit the Finest and Bravest who risk "getting shot or running into burning buildings."

Retire it's on us

Taxpayers kicked in $7.35 billion to the city pension funds last fiscal year, while employees contributed $853.5 million.

An average of: $8.60 to $1

TEACHERS

Average pension: $54,268

Taxpayer contribution: $15.50 to $1

FIREFIGHTERS

Average pension: $53,347

Taxpayer contribution: $10 to $1

POLICE

Average pension: $41,319

Taxpayer contribution: $9.13 to $1

SANIT., TRANSIT, OTHER

Average pension: $24,889

Taxpayer contribution: $5.60 to $1

Source: Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the NYC Comptroller for fiscal year 2009.

Rising pension costs increase odds of BSO replacing Hollywood Police; South Florida's "excessively generous" benefits kill taxpayers

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-042409-hollywood-outsourcing,0,7689927.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Hollywood considering BSO for police, fire

By Ihosvani Rodriguez

April 24, 2009

HOLLYWOOD

Those blue police uniforms and black-and-white cruisers soon could change colors because of the bad economy.

Facing a $17.9 million deficit in next year's budget, city officials may hire the Broward Sheriff's Office to take over the police and fire services.

City Manager Cameron Benson sent a letter this week to Sheriff Al Lamberti, essentially asking him to make a proposal. The city has hired a consulting group to analyze what type of savings outsourcing would bring.

"The City of Hollywood has authorized [consultants] to begin the groundwork to determine what, if any, arrangements would make sense for both the city and BSO," Benson wrote.

"The public is not going to stand for this," police union representative Jeff Marano said. "If you look at other cities that have done this, there's a savings at first, but in the long run the cities fall hostage to the sheriff over what you can and can't do.''

A private company took over the city's sanitation department in January.

Reader comments at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TANULA3N7LD0FT4VE

-----------------------------

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-hollywood-union-bn042909,0,3427722.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Memorial for Hollywood officer draws union fire

Police union says those who attend support outsourcing their department

By Ihosvani Rodriguez

April 29, 2009

HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood A memorial service for Hollywood Police Officer Alex Del Rio, killed last year in a fiery wreck, is scheduled for Friday, but the police union isn't welcoming everyone.

Union leaders are upset the city is studying the possibility of outsourcing the police department to the Broward Sheriff's Office as a cost-cutting measure. The city recently hired a consultant to analyze what type of savings outsourcing the police and other city departments would yield.

Del Rio, 31, died Nov. 22 after his cruiser hit a tree on Sheridan Street and erupted into flames.

In a letter sent to the mayor and commissioners on Monday, the union asked that anyone supporting the initiative not attend the fallen officer's ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday in front of the police station.

"You will be perceived as just another hypocritical politician hiding behind another consultant," wrote police union leader Jeff Marano.

Marano said the proposal has dampened department morale. The thought of "being split up and sent to one of the four corners of Broward County has infuriated the rank and file," he said.

Union leaders got mad last week when they learned City Manager Cameron Benson sent a letter about the outsourcing proposal to Sheriff Al Lamberti. Benson said the city is facing a $17.9 million deficit in next year's budget.

Most commissioners contacted this week expressed disappointment at the union's letter. They emphasized there is a general consensus to look into outsourcing all city departments, not just police.

"The [union] leadership had an opportunity to say, 'You are all invited and we want you to attend [the memorial] to show your solidarity," said Commissioner Richard Blattner.

Commissioner Beam Furr, a previous union target for his vocal stance against high pension funds, said he will also attend. "I pay my final respects to whoever I want, when I want and where I want," said Furr.

In an attempt to restore morale and calm fears, Police Chief Chad Wagner this week e-mailed all his officers his thoughts on the outsourcing talks.

"It's no secret that the city is facing difficult financial times," he wrote in the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by the Sun Sentinel. "I feel confident that we, as a city, will be able to resolve our budget issues without dissolving an entire police department."

Meanwhile, Hollywood police are not the only ones upset with their city leaders. This week, members of the Hallandale Police Department's union voted down the city's latest contract offer by a vote of 56-7.

Marano, who also represents Hallandale, said the turndown was part of a protest over the city's hiring practices. The union takes issue with rehiring high-ranking brass who have retired and continue drawing a pension, like Police Chief Thomas Magill.

"This double-dipping is creating animosity among the ranks because it hampers officers' ability to advance their careers," said Marano.

Related links

• Letter from union leader Jeff Marano to the mayor and city commissioners (PDF)

• E-mail from Police Chief Chad Wagner to his troops regarding outsourcing (PDF)

Reader comments at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/T5P03031TSN44E540

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-accrued-time-p050309pnmay03,0,6588290.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Cashing out: Unused sick time and vacations turning costly in South Florida

Palm Beach County and some of its municipalities let workers roll over unused sick time and vacations from year to year. But now that times are tough and many are facing layoffs, payday is coming so

By Patty Pensa and Andy Reid

May 3, 2009

A high-level county employee built up almost $130,000 in unused sick and vacation time during his 30-year government career, logging the highest county payout in the past five years.

The former police chief in Delray Beach retired last year with $109,000 in accrued time from city taxpayers.

In Boca Raton and Boynton Beach, top fire-rescue officials each left their posts recently with more than $50,000 from saved-up vacation and sick days.

Taxpayers in Palm Beach County and the three south county cities are responsible for almost $80 million of rolled over vacation and sick time for about 10,000 employees, records show. It's improbable the money would be requested en masse, but the policies could mean pricey payouts as budget cuts trigger more government layoffs.

"It can be quite a hit if it is somebody who has been around for a long time," said Janis Brunell, county human resources director.

Converting sick days into cash has been scaled back since the "massive payouts" to top county managers in the mid-1990s, Brunell said. County officials changed the rules in 1994 but still pay employees a percentage of their unused sick time. More than 7,000 county employees have racked up about $50 million of sick and vacation time, records show.

Policies in Palm Beach County mirror those in most municipalities, which pay employees for unused sick and vacation time at varying rates based on years of service and union contracts.

Broward County and most of its municipalities owed roughly 19,000 of their staffers more than $191 million for unused sick and vacation days as of Sept. 30, 2008, the latest records available. The bill for some of them may come due much sooner than anticipated if the economic crisis forces local governments to lay off workers.

An eye-popping payout came in Sunrise last year when City Manager Patrick Salerno resigned after 18 years with about $467,000 in accrued time, records show. Salerno could not be reached to comment despite messages left at his home.

One payment in Palm Beach County reached as high as about $130,000, records show. Earl Mixon, the former executive director of Palm Beach County's Housing Finance Authority, retired in 2008 with more than $122,000 in sick time and $7,000 in vacation time. He died the same year.

With cuts expected again as cities and counties crunch their 2009-10 budgets, some warn governments may have to go the way of the private sector, which generally imposes a use-it-or-lose-it policy.

If governments continue to allow employees to accrue unused time, "more taxes will be passed on to pay for the deficits," said Kim Stattner, an expert on absence management for Hewitt Associates, an Illinois-based human resources consulting service.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan government watchdog group in Tallahassee, called the benefits "excessively generous."

"We are paying them millions of dollars when we can't provide teachers with more competitive wages or provide care for low-income citizens. It is so out of touch with the way taxpayers have to live," he said.

Government officials defend the payouts as tied to union contracts that cannot be nullified. The policies may be remnants of a time when government pay wasn't on par with the private sector, but officials say they still must offer competitive benefits to recruit.

What's more, officials say the payouts are an ever-changing liability, not a line item in the budget that can be neatly cut. In Boca Raton, payouts come from the city's general fund reserves so there is little impact on the money it takes to run the city, said Mike Woika, assistant city manager.

"From a cash-flow standpoint, it's not really an issue," Woika said. "Though it's a high amount, we're able within the personnel budget to make those payments. It's certainly something that can be handled by our funds."

Boca Raton taxpayers owe almost 1,200 employees $12.3 million in accrued time. That's almost the amount budgeted to run the city's financial and development services departments and the city manager's office combined. Changing sick and vacation time policies likely won't come up during upcoming budget meetings but officials may reconsider the perk during union contract negotiations.

Palm Beach County has no similar plans.

"It's not as big a factor as it used to be," said County Administrator Bob Weisman.

Staff Writers Jennifer Gollan, Susannah Bryan, Maria Herrera and Erika Pesantes contributed to this report.

Find out

Who gets the largest payouts? What does your city owe? Go to sunsentinel.com/payouts

Reader comments at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TR6LH04P60VIBPS8I

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-accrued-time-b050309pnmay03,0,4500257.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Sun Sentinel Exclusive

Cashing out: Unused sick time and vacations turning costly in South Florida

Broward County and most of its municipalities let workers roll over unused sick time and vacations from year to year. But now that times are tough and many are facing layoffs, payday is coming soone

By Jennifer Gollan Staff Writer

May 3, 2009

A former military man with a strong work ethic, C. William Hargett Jr. seldom took a sick or vacation day in more than 12 years as Pompano Beach city manager. When he retired in 2007, the city had to pay him $144,611.85 for 1,540 hours in unused time.

Hargett defended the city's accrued time policy as a way to encourage good attendance and attract top talent.

Although Pompano Beach now faces a $4 million revenue shortfall, "when we did this deal, it was not 2009 and an economic recession," he said. "That was what we agreed to."

Broward County and most of its municipalities owed roughly 19,000 of their staffers more than $191 million for unused sick and vacation days as of Sept. 30, 2008, the latest records available, a Sun Sentinel investigation has found. The bill for some of them may come due much sooner than anticipated if the economic crisis forces local governments to lay off workers.

"If we have to lay people off, they will all cash out their leaves and you will have more payouts," said John Pryor, Broward County's accounting division director. That will further strain budgets at a time when governments can ill afford it, local officials say.

These payouts are a ballooning expense for taxpayers because the sums build from year to year, with some local governments paying their workers in today's dollars for vacation time they actually accrued when they earned less.

The sums can be hefty. For example, former Sunrise City Manager Patrick Salerno last year received $466,708 for his unused time when he resigned after nearly 18 years on the job. It was the largest payout in the county in the past five years. Salerno could not be reached to comment, despite three messages left at his home.

Southwest Ranches and Lazy Lake are the only two local governments that do not allow workers to roll over any time from year to year, primarily to save money. Hillsboro Beach allows workers to carry over sick time, but not vacation days.

By contrast, the private sector generally imposes a use-it-or-lose-it policy and some warn that cities need to follow suit.

If governments continue to allow employees to accrue unused time, "more taxes will be passed on to pay for the deficits," said Kim Stattner, an expert on absence management for Hewitt Associates, an Illiniois-based human resources consulting service.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan government watchdog group based in Tallahassee, called the benefits "excessively generous."

"We are paying them millions of dollars when we can't provide teachers with more competitive wages or provide care for low-income citizens. It is so out of touch with the way taxpayers have to live," he said.

Some cities are starting to rethink the benefits for new hires.

"To keep [costs] from spiraling in the future, we need to talk with the unions," said Phil Rosenberg, director of human resources in Miramar, which owes about 830 workers nearly $13 million in accrued pay.

Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Pembroke Pines said they may also consider it.

"Everything is up for discussion because we are looking at potential revenue shortfalls," said Matt Little, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale, which owed more than 2,300 workers about $16 million. That is nearly equivalent to this year's budget for the city's parks division, which totals $17.2 million.

Local governments vary as to how many hours they allow workers to accumulate. Payouts are based on a formula that takes into account years of service, pay and various union contracts.

Broward County allows most of its employees to roll over up to 280 vacation hours from year to year and cash out at full pay. There is no limit on sick time — which is paid out at half the rate of an employees' most recent salary when they leave.

Yet the Broward County Property Appraiser's office has a more stringent policy, which allows employees to carry over about 113 hours of vacation from year to year. The maximum they may cash out when they leave is 225 hours. There is no limit on the amount of sick time they can accrue and cash out, but for the employees who qualify, it is generally paid out at 25 percent of their current rate of pay.

"Vacation. You're supposed to use it. You're not supposed to hoard it for a second retirement," said Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish, who tightened accrual policies when she took up her post in 2005. "For sick days, everybody catches an occasional cold. But it's not the government's job to fund benefits that exceed the public's. I also don't want to book that kind of debt in tight budget times."

Jeff Marano, senior vice president of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, defends the benefits as just reward for public servants.

"If an officer called in sick, and someone was called in to replace him, the city would be paying time and a half," he said. "It is the industry standard [in the public sector] that people are allowed to accrue vacation time. The private sector probably has a much better package and they are not shot at."

But compensation analysts disagree over whether civil servants earn less than their counterparts in the private sector, especially when retirement benefits are considered. While few private companies still offer traditional pensions, they are widely used in the public sector. Under these plans, retirees receive monthly payments, instead of payouts subject to market fluctuations.

Even some city leaders acknowledge the benefits are a legacy from a different era.

"Previously, government employees' salaries were less, now they are more competitive," said Pembroke Pines City Manager Charles Dodge. "They were benefits that the bargaining units negotiated years ago. In the last three or four years, we haven't been recruiting employees, in fact we have been downsizing. We have never had a problem retaining employees."

Susannah Bryan contributed to this report.

Reader comments: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TJ1LUG70B5VAOC5KA

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For more on the police pension angle, see Michael Mayo's blog post of May 28, 2008 titled Police pensions strike a nerve

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2008/05/police_pensions_strike_a_nerve.html

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Per the comment made at the end of the first article, according to

a very reliable source that that Hallandale Beach Fire Chief Daniel

Sullivan also "retired" and was instantly "rehired" a few months ago.

Don't recall seeing that in the local newspapers.

That's the same process employed by HB Police Chief Thomas Magill,

as alluded to in the second article.

Most of you who come to this blog regularly already know that I think

he ought to be in prison because of his unethical behavior, wherein he

tried to frame not one but two innocent people, using city resources

and funds to accomplish this, in an apparent attempt to ingratiate

himself with City Manager Mike Good.

And isn't that the same exact process that HB City Manager Mike

Good went thru in December during a HB City Commission meeting

where the issue was never properly noticed to the public, didn't

appear on the printed agenda and where the vote took place away

from the city's own cable channel TV cameras?

Yes.

H-m-m-m... do you see a pattern?

But wouldn't the city have been legally required to publicly

advertise for those jobs if these individuals had, in fact, legally

retired?

Also a big yes.

It's yet another in a very long line of cases where HB City

Attorney David Jove has winked at the law rather than actually

performing the job that taxpayers pay his salary for:

making sure the city is following the letter and spirit

of the law.

But though you may think he works for you and other Hallandale

Beach citizens and taxpayers, the truth is, in his mind, he works

for Mike Good, and as long as that's the case, he's going to

continue to be oblivious to all the self-evident ethical mis-behavior

taking place around here.