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County approves furloughs, remodel may get revisited
January 13th, 2009, 5:30 pm · 142 Comments · posted by NORBERTO SANTANA JR.
Reacting to an unstable state budget crunch, county supervisors on Tuesday approved a furlough plan that would require all 4, 218 social service workers to take 80-hours of unpaid leave throughout the year.
The plan is part of the county’s bid to trim $32 million from the current fiscal year budget as it eyes shrinking dollars coming from Sacramento for pass through programs, such as social services and health care.
While union officials have battled for weeks, arguing that the county should simply use more than $300 million in reserves, officials have resisted saying they don’t know how deep the Sacramento budget mess runs and avoiding cuts is impractical.
Yet union officials continue to label the cost-cutting moves as heartless and hypocritical, especially because county supervisors and managers haven’t slashed one single perk while they are laying off workers and cutting services to the most vulnerable.
“Not one executive, not one, has been touched,” said Orange County Employees Association general manager Nick Berardino, who has been critical of a $326,000 remodel of the county supervisors’ lobby as well as executive perks such as car allowances, 401K plans and generous pension plans funded by taxpayers.
County CEO Tom Mauk said today that managers have indeed stepped up, noting a recent vote by administrative managers to defer a two-percent raise. He also said Berardino’s criticism of car allowances was unreasonable saying “it doesn’t do a bit of good to criticize the kinds of cars people drive.”
Yet Berardino countered saying it makes all the difference, and illustrates the “two Americas,” when the manager telling a worker there’s no money left is driving a BMW partly paid for by a $765 car allowance and the county supervisors are busy with lavish remodels of their lobby.
County officials began renovating their lobby during the Christmas holidays, just as layoff plans were finalized. Berardino stormed the fifth floor of the Hall of Administration to protest saying all cuts should be shared.
To date, Supervisors’ Pat Bates and Chris Norby also have criticized the remodel saying it should be looked at again. This week, Supervisor Bill Campbell also came out against the remodel saying, “I was never in favor of it.”
Despite the claims by Supervisor John Moorlach that the remodel was needed to comply with fire codes and security issues, Cambpell said he was unconvinced.
“I didn’t see the need to do it,” he said.
This month, Berardino suggested that the project be halted noting that security could be handled by simply placing a deputy sheriff on the fifth floor. He suggested that workers simply drywall the hallways and have high school students paint murals.
Now, Campbell seems to agree.
“Now, that we’re in the middle of the remodeling, if we can leave it where it’s at, we should leave it. It makes a statement about saving money.”
142 Comments
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DENA BUNIS, Washington bureau chief, 202-628-6381 or dbunis@ocregister.com
CHRIS KNAP, Politics team leader, 714-796-2240 or cknap@ocregister.com
BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento correspondent, 916-449-6046 or bjoseph@ocregister.com
JENNIFER MUIR, County government reporter, 714-796-7813 or jmuir@ocregister.com
MARTIN WISCKOL, Politics reporter, 714-285-2867 or mwisckol@ocregister.com twitter.com/MartinWisckol
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So is this “time off” county wide or JUST Social Services? KFI reported that “county workers will be required to take time off without pay” .
Crazy….layoffs….remodel…perks and not a single executive touched. The extreme right wingers on the Board don’t realize that this does not set well with the public. OC is changing with more democrats and strong moderate republicans, the question is why don’t the electeds reflect the demographics? Its a political science question but the answer is probably pretty simple, people don’t pay attention. That is the beauty of a crisis people start paying attention !!!! This board and Mauk are completely out-of-touch !!!
Mauk saying it doesn’t do a bit of good to criticize the kinds of cars these exec drive. Hey it matters when the taxpayers are paying for those cars and they are coming to meetings to lay off low paid workers and cut services to abused children. Anybody out there still think Mauk and the board are in touch with their constituents?????
I must tell you I am one of those furloughed! Right now it us Social Workers who are already overleaded and overworked! Oh well - we are the lowest on the totem pole right now but we are the worker bees. We are the ones that go into the stinky, filthy homes adn try to save people from neglect and abuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not “time off” as in vacation…this is unpaid-but-you-still-have-to-get-all-your-work-done-time-off…so basically less money, less time, fewer workers, more work. Those are some nice perks county workers have, eh?
I wish I still had my job so I could VOLUNTEER to take 80 hours off UNPAID per year.
Its unreal! Perks and car allowances? What a joke!
Keep up the good fight Nick. Once again the union is on the right page.
If the Union agrees to have some members come in on a Saturday and help remodel the lobby will the Board Of Supervisors agree to layoff a couple of less people?
So…Bates and Norby think the remodel should be looked at again? Gee, why now? Why not wait until more County employees are laid off and the remodel that is not needed is completed? And now Campbell says he was “never in favor of it?” Why didn’t Campbell step up and say something before it was started?
The whole BoS needs to be recalled or voted out.
And Mauk is still an idiot. He says the managers have voted to defer their 2% raise (big deal, they can always get it later). And by the way, you idiot, the criticism of the car allowance was for the car allowance that managers get, not about the type of car they drive.
He needs to pull his head out. According to him, everyone is picking on him and he’s doing the right thing. How did the BoS ever think it would be ok to renew his contract?
Hey MAUK I know it dosent matter to you of what car I drive; a TAX PAYER and VOTER in OC. But it matters to me what electeds and managers drive because we PAY FOR IT. Keep the comments coming MAUK im sure you got a milllion of them.
I don’t think everyone has really thought of how much this is going to reduce their pay. Just to get an idea of how much this is, I did it for myself. When you are the head of household, this is a great pay loss. I guess they think we should be happy to have a job and appreciate their decision. It hurts more because the “big” guys are not doing this. WHY NOT!!!!! and WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO!!!!
Tom Mauk doesn’t have a clue about anything that is going on around him. How can he say that managers have stepped up by deferring a two percent increase? That 2% pay increase deferment is only temporary, and then county management are set to get a another 3% by summer 2009!
Obviously, county managers are just money hungry idiots. They have no concern for those they are sending into unemployment. CHOP AT THE TOP! CHOP AT THE TOP! CHOP AT THE TOP!
An observation on Mauk’s squaking about managers stepping up:
That isn’t stepping up my friend. It’s a deferral, and a mighty weak one at that since alot of managers decided to take the “cash out” option of their “optional benefit” perk this year to the tune of $4.4 million.
A guy going by the name “HateYouAll” commented on this blog putting the value of the deferral at $ 2 million. He believes the managers did this “in order to assist in bridging the County’s funding gap and to save county jobs.” Nice try. Let’s see, the managers traded 2 mil for 4.4 mil, and they’re now less educated than before because that optional benefit was intended to be used for professional development programs, not extra cash. Sweet deal huh? Oh yea, and once the budget is balanced they’ll no doubt take their raise, it’s in their contract.
Why doesn’t the entire government from the feds to the states to the cities to the counties all take a 10% pay and benefit cut. That would dramatically help the budget problems and also bring the compensation for government employees closer in line with private sector workers who have no pensions for the most part and pay a much larger percentage of their health insurance premiums.
And what about the lost jobs created by not completing the work in the county lobby. I assume all those workers are legal residents. Right?
Wow, it amazes me how so many members of the BOS change their tune when it all blows up in the media? What a bunch of spineless lackeys. I think the Lobby should be left as is, so they can all be reminded daily of their inefficiency, and wasteful habits. Keep up the good fight OCEA!
this furlough is for the 4218 social services agency workers only it makes it hard to understand how the executives get a 765 per month “car allowance” to drive to their jobs and welfare recipients receive “mileage” (.27 per mile, round trip) to drive to their jobs, school, or seek employment. so basically our leaders and clients get paid to drive to work. while the workers who are paid less, mandated to take unpaid time off, and are now due to lay offs gets twice the amount of work do not get paid to drive to work. does it make sense
Does the 80 hr furlough apply to Mr. Mauk and those on the BoS? Oh…what’s that? You say they don’t believe in leading by example. What kind of leaders are they?
Sounds like a couple on the Board may finally be coming around. Mauk on the other hand will never get it. His sense of entitlement is beyond belief. Doesn’t impact him so it can’t be important. His attitude gives Managers a bad name. God help the employees of the County because Mauk sure as hell won’t.
It just doesn’t seem right to ask employees to take 80 hours of unpaid leave over a years timespan while the Board and Management’s life styles are not impacted in the least. I’m mystified why the Board doesn’t sacrifice something, even if it’s for the sake of publicity and future elections. This is an issue the taxpayers need to remember the next time they enter the voting booth.
This is really a sad day. What this says is that as a County employee who is the primary wage earner for my family, I can no longer afford to pay my mortgate. Not only have I lost a great deal of my income which was being earned through overtime, now I am losing my salary. With a $3,200 mortgage I can opt to pay my mortgage so my children will have a roof over their head, or put food on the table. Reading this I am now wraught with the loss of my income at a rate of 10 hours per week, 20 hours per payperid, while mangers, directors, deputy directors, board of supervisors and etc continue to sit high on the hog with their top end salaries. It is us the peons who are losing. Yet in still it is the 4218 SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY EMPLOYEES that are losing out. I am hearing nothing of furloughs for other county employees.
When all is said and done, and half of the social services agency is homeless because we will be unable to maintain our mortgages, will the County executives then say hey “ITS A RAINY DAY AND WE CAN USE SOME OF THAT 300MILLION plus reserve fund” to bail out the County!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well there might be one bit of good work here. Since county workers are paid bi-weekly they normally get 26 paychecks in a year. This year, a once in10 year occurance happens. There are 27 paychecks this year. So even with 2 weeks off without pay, overall year pay will not go down this year from last year!
It could be worse.
It is time for management to step up to the plate and show the voters who elected them that they are worth leading. The good book saids “Were much is given much is expected.” Everyone will suffer, the poor, the destitute, the sick and the employees. Obviously! The board doesn’t plan on runnung for office next time they are up to hit.
More2it ~ I see your glass is half full! Congratulations!
More2it-
Are you serious? Get real and look at the big picture. Whatever your glass is half full of…is making you loopy!
Again we see those at the top not willing to give up anything, but are quick to stick it to the regular guy. How will it help to add to our unemployment rolls when it’s not requiered? Who pays for that?? Get in line… there is a room that really needs a facelift!
I like how some people think a 10% cut accross the board(no pun intended) is the answer. 10% may not seem like alot to some people out there, but it does irreprable damage and causes loss of employment. Why? Because managers do not know how to be fiscally sound with their money. This could have been avoided with some reasonable financial planning, but unfortuantely our planners do the opposite of that. The county has a long history of being reactionary rather than proactive, and the employees are the ones to suffer from their inability to do the job they are paid alot of money to do. To all County Employees: Keep up the good work. You are valuable and needed. I know you didn’t take a county job to be rich, but to enrich the lives of others. God Bless you.
hhhmmm. necessary remodel for security? working with the most disenfranchised, mine and my coworkers lives are threatened on a daily basis. Do we have security in our lobby…NO. Do we have security in our staff meetings…NO. Do we have special safety exits…No. Fab5, time to put on the big boy / big girl pants and do what we do… deal with it. I believe it falls under the job description of… other duties as assigned.
Do the words “red herring” mean anything?
although this article says the furloughs are 80 hours for the year, workers were told that it is for this “fiscal year”, meaning, by the end of june. Then they will decide what happens for the next fiscal year, probably more furloughs and layoffs. We still don’t know how much money we will lose all together.
Not exactly moret2it. The county payday calendar does not work that way. There is no extra payday this year. First paycheck was on Jan. 9. It would have had to been on Jan 2 to give 27 paychecks.
OC Register is not clear. Is that furloughs for 80 hours until end of fiscal year in June 2009? Or is it end of calender year December 2009? I believe it is 80 hours from February until June. That is a good monthly car payment each month. 300-600 dollars each month depending on income.
Why is it that Social Services is making all the sacrifices? No other agency is being furloughed. The County refuses to divert money from other areas to help Social Services funding. Los Angeles County is still hiring and still has their services intact. This is a conscientious decision by the Board of Supervisors to cut services for the poor and abused.
This is just another example of the arrogance and the “we are a class above the workers” attitudes of the BoS and Mauk.
The perks about which union officials are asking be included in cost saving cuts are irrelevant???? These cuts won’t save enough jobs???? Let me tell you BOS and MAUK- if it save ONE job it is VERY relevant to that one job holder and their family.
Workers! Voters! REMEMBER THIS WHEN TIME TO RE-ELECT or rather NOT re-elect this BoS. And how do we remove MAUK?
OCEA members voted overwhelmingly to volunteer to participate in furloughs IF the county kept it’s word that ALL would share in the sacrifice AND it prevents more lay-offs. County? How good is your word?
Perhaps Total Buzz should poll the public to see if it matters to them that the County managers are driving luxury cars, paid for by their tax dollars, while services to threatened children are being cut and convicted, violent gang members are being released from custody early. Maybe Mr Mauk was mistaken….
Managers don’t get car allowances. They have the same mileage as all the other staff.
What a disconnect! Mandatory furloughs…a belief that taxpayers shouldn’t be told what kind of cars their dollars are providing for the personal use of public employees…a really botched (and lied about) remodel in the board offices…and Supervisor Bates’ response today to a County employee that she should be willing to put in a free hour or two (in response to the workload)….
We’re still in that Twilight Zone I complained about months ago.
Oh yeah let’s do a poll …..who knows maybe the Board and Mauk are right and the public has no problem with paying the $765.00 car allowance so the execs can go tell workers they are laid off and services to kids will be cut. At least they should be made to buy American luxuary cars to help bailout the Big 3 automakers who show up in private jets.
Didn’t the FAB5 vote to give the CEO a HUGE salary increase to stay in the OC and not be the CEO in another county?? I wonder if his and the other higher-ups decisions would be different if their son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister, family or friends were the recipients of services provided by those that do this work as a labour of love. We certainly don’t do this work for the money!!!!
I know we are in recession and need to address budget issues,but
how come Tom Mauk and O.C. Supervisors are only imposing hardship on the lowest paid workers without cutting their own FAT perks?
Cutting a few percent from high paying executive’s salaries can save the Ccunty the most money.
Big picture: times are tight, the economy is staggering. Fear and uncertainty abound. What do you do?
Personally, I protect what I care about. I care about my family, my neighbors and my countrymen, in that order. I don’t care about seniority, or job classification. If you are doing a good job, then you should keep that job. The CEO is not doing a good job… The Board is not doing a good job… The vast majority or County workers are doing a good job. They are the ones feeling the knife. The worst part is that there is no proof that the knife is needed.
Recall the BOS, fire Mauk, new ideas and approaches are needed in this County, before it sinks under ideological quicksand.
Nobody seems to be talking about the fact that Nick Bernadino, President of OCEA makes $208,000 a year. The is employee’s union dues paying his salary. Talk about fat cat!
The fact that the CEO doesn’t think it does a bit of good to criticize what kinds of cars people drive demonstrates how out of touch both the Board and County leadership are with what Orange County thinks and expects. This Board and this CEO should know that people do care how money is spent, especially when it is their money. The fact is, most taxpayers couldn’t afford the cars that County execs have as a result of taxpayer dollars paying for them. It is the taxpayers’ responsibility to keep a watch over expenditures, at least that’s what the Board and County leadership say about other expenditures other than those that benefit them. Maybe someone should do a poll to confirm the CEO’s assessment of the situation.
The arrogant presumption of the BOS continues to astound. Why now are they deciding to “take a look” at the remodel”? Could it be that they are now hearing the tax payers are getting fed up with their out of touch response to the handling of the financial crisis? The management perks, including the car allowances and remodel in a time of crisis, are a glaring example of the flagrant disregard for fiscal responsibility and again points to the out of touch reality the BOS lives in as opposed to those who are true public servants. (As a single mother, an extra 765.00 a month would go a long way in my household). They cannot hide behind Tom Mauks apron strings any longer, instead of cutting jobs, cut the perks.
Oh so now Campbell sees the light…pretty slow for a Harvard Business School Grad!
oc taxpayer…i’m sorry but are you completely daft?
“government (county) employees closer in line with private sector workers who have no pensions for the most part and pay a much larger percentage of their health insurance premiums.” i don’t know what planet you live on, but on planet reality, when i retire after 30 yrs of employment (god willing), my pension that I PAY FOR is the same if not less than social security. And health premiums…. obviously you are clueless and have no idea what you are talking about. Try talking to a county worker who pays for what you people call a county cadillac plan that doesn’t cover catastrophic illness. That’s right, I forgot the HUGE salaries make up the difference. byte me.
I side with Campbell, I think Moorelach was exagerating the need for the remodel. Register stay on them!
County management is acting just like the big wig crooks on wall street, always wanting someone else to pay for the problems without contributing themselves.
At least OCEA is standing up to the County management!
Wake up County management!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What really gets to me, is how the Board and all the elected and appointed officials haven’t cut a single perk for themselves.
They get $765 per month on top of their salary and other great perks. And what do we County employees get? A bill to pay for our coffee and drinking water at work. That’s right folks, you think all County employees get perks? Wrong! Only elected and appointed officials do, along with top executive managers.
The County employees volunteer after work and on the weekends to provided vital resources to the community. They are selfless giving individuals that rarely get recognition. Let’s not let their actions go unchecked like the Wall Street JACK HOLS!
I always listen to the bored meetings. I am concluding that each bored meeting seems to have the same common theme…..all the BoS kudo each other to the point of nausea, each like to give speeches that mean nothing, Bates like to pretend she understands, Norby likes to hear himself talk, Moorlack…please…….and Campbell’s new theme should be “I like to move it, move it” because that’s all that he does. The public comes to these bored meetings with gut wrenching stories about real life problems and concerns only to here Campbell say “I like to move it, move it”. Is it because all of you have decided what you are going to do before the meeting even starts.
Shame on all of you for pretending to have the employees best interest at heart. You don’t. The problem is not the union, the problem is you fat cats at the top who have no conscious, no morals and are to lazy to actually earn the big bucks by making sound decisions. In case you don’t know what that means, it means taking the time to look at all avenues before destroying peoples lives.
Nick is right! What is next? Are these guys going to buy a private plane?
I have to say Moorlach has bad hair, he should just buzz it.
I vote no to the board of supervisors remodeling
their waiting room when my tax pay dollars are
funding this unnecessary project as people are being laid off.
The total # of cars, the managers names and yes
the type of cars they are driving needs so be
published immediately!!!
The County employees volunteer after work and on the weekends to provided vital resources to the community. They are selfless giving individuals that rarely get recognition. Let’s not let their actions go unchecked like the Wall Street JACK H O ! # S !
Just how forthcoming are these Supervisors as they are NOW coming forward to say they disagree with the remodel? Where were they when they ALL voted to do it? This inconsistency could lead one to believe they are less than geniune in their comments today and probably just plain EMBARRASED! Now if being embarrased could only lead them to start making some sound and compassionate decisions regarding the people they are laying off and the children they are endangering, that could be a good thing.
Hey Mr. Mauk and Fab5. After I spend 50 hrs a week taking care of YOUR CONSTITUENTS…you know the people that elected you?? I spend my weekends volunteering. April 19-25 is National Volunteer Week. Why don’t you join me at the local food bank and help pass out food to the employees you fired / furloughed and the ones that are still employed but cannot afford to feed their families. I’ll even use my own gas and drive you there and back. Hope you don’t mind a 92 Camry with a non working radio and power windows that have no power windows albeit the drivers side.
Now they say lets rethink this and that they were never in favor of the remodel….what a bunch a baloney! These Board of Supervisors are full of it!
An Maulk/ Just keeps spewing the same crap about not talking about the cars people drive! Give me a break! In fact I want more that a break, I want them all fired or to resign!
One word…U n b e l i e v a b l e…Unfortunately I am not surprised that the BoS and Mauk are so arrogant that they really thought they could lay off the little guys and still retain all their ‘goodies’ and no one would notice. I say next time we vote its time for a change- a brand new BoS!
So its only Moorlach who wants the remodel?? and now that the public opinion is againt he remodelling you are getting these guys changing theire tune!! Keep up the good work Nick…Register needs to report this as they have done good so far! so they also change the tune on these manager perks!
Yeah, the only reason there are safety concerns for Moorlach is he is trying to undo past legal promises. He is trying to rip off people who have already made life decisions like selling their house and moving out of state based on those past legal promises.
He is trying to rip off people with guns.
The sheriff deputies have been remarkably retrained thus far.
That’s why Moorlach is so concerned with his safety, there’s no rest for someone messing with a constitutionally protected promise.
And that’s why Moorlach remains wedded to this stupid idea when the other Supes are not.
I bet people are taking pictures of the remodel so they can save them for future hit pieces, if they aren’t they should be. It is a lot easier to have them on hand than scrambling during election time.
So they think they can just back-peddle now and say,…oh yeah I never wanted that! What a crock! They have no intesgrity whatsoever! Cutting at the bottom, without any fortehought into where they SAVE money FIRST! They do not care about us taxpayers…they point fingers and blame everyone else, and when they are CAUGHT RED-HANDED, they deflect and pretend that is what they wanted all along! WOW! QUIT PLAYING GAMES WITH THE LIVES OF PEOPLE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT! They have repeated refused to look at those specifically in need…just like the womens shelter for abused women and children. face it………..THEY NEED TO GO!
I’m with PSURIFA and wakeup - hey Register, how about a poll? During these historically gruesome economic times, shouldn’t the County revisit its huge monthly car allowance for executives? Is this kind of Wall Street perk really appropriate at the same time the County is doling out pink slips and enforcing unpaid furloughs on its workers, facing reductions in County services, and putting abused and neglected children at risk based on economic “necessity?” Are the supervisors and their CEO 100% politically tone deaf, completely oblivious to both the appearance and the reality of this benefit? It’s not as though there isn’t any equitable alternative - just reimburse executives for the mileage they actually drive on County business, like any fiscally responsible business would. C’mon Register, let’s find out what your readers really think - give us a poll!
Why does Orange county need 1 social worker for every 739 residents?
This is absolutely ridiculous.
What do they do all day??
They should fire 3,000 of these gold-bricks and put the rest of the staff to work 40 hours a week like every taxpayer!
Morelack portrays his contemptuous views of employees as aesthetic and logical. Campbell, Bates and Norby have had an epiphany, have expressed a general concern, possibly advancing solutions to a special set of problems. Unlocking the doors on the 5th floor might have been a better solution than spending the peoples money on a remodel. Mauk champions the cause of the aristocrats. The union continues to put forward viable cost saving measures and the BOS’s and Mauk remain paralyzed to act for fear of their political futures while the public, especially children, and employees suffer from their mismanagement.
So Mr Monkey said the managers step up by DEFFERING and NOT rejecting the 2% raise ,and he does not know that $765.00 x month for then to drive a car it is not okey , Can someone tell then that as a taxpayers I am paying for the car he drives ,The board of stupids and the managers , gimme a break , i said jailed then at once , now.
They County officails seem to think they are KINGS OF THE WORLD and what they do does not affect others…NEWSLFLASH…us taxpayers are HUMAN BEINGS and WE ARE AFFECTED! You deny us help as a cimmunity when we ask, and they you turn around and cut the services our community needs because of the ecomonic situation.
These Social Workers work hard, doing welfare checks on abused children, and abused women! They put in countless hours because they care. How about instead of cutting over 200 social workers, we cut one management person for each employee cut!
I agree with the Union….CHOP AT THE TOP!
Yeh Keep the heat on OCEA and Nick! Cars perks, pension perks, these are the things that need to be exposed next, I think Mauk is feelign the heat and he is sending emails to employees….turn the heat up NICK! Turn the heat up!!
Mauk Lies as usual. Management has NOT agreed to defer any raises. They simply instructed their leaders to discuss it with the county. No vote on actual deferral of anything has occurred.
While OCEA has been urging the CEO and board to explore other cost cutting methods, Social Services workers voted two weeks ago to accept furloughs.
Mauk, as usual, fails to recognize the fact that he and hs executive managers have not been affected by the budget cuts at all. Not one executive manager has been laid off, and not one perk has been given up.
Workers are laid off, services are cut, but executives still have their perks.
O C look at the mess we’re in, how did we ever get here? Listen, please everyone…first, all 5 members of this current BOS must be voted out of office for the sake of every man, woman and child in this county. Second, we have to demand that Tom Mauk be removed from his position for incompetence. These 6 people have let each and every member of this county down by their lack of vision and foresight. Third, the ridiculous wages paid to these people has got to be reviewed. Tom Mauk makes $370k/yr and the BOS get a raise every time the Superior Court Judges get raises. How did we ever allow this? http://articles.latimes.com/2000/dec/06/local/me-61908
Now some of the Board want to look at it again!!! Come on shouldn’t they always think about how it will look to the taxpayors? Taxpayors wake up and look at what these people are doing with our hard earned money!!! Vote the BOS out of office ASAP!!
There is that word again! D-E-F-E-R which in management language seems to mean GIVE UP. For clarification purposes DEFER means to postpone to a later date. Some managers do a lot of grandstanding making everyone believe that they gave up something, raises. In reality, most gave up their dignity by buying into Mauk’s bullcrap.
As for the BOS backing out of the remodel, a case of too little - too late don’t you think? Everyone can see through the politics. Let’s face it, the public is kicking you in the teeth over your resemblance to the auto executives and wall street thieves. Nice cars, nice perks, hefty pay, two faces. The only good thing that came out of today’s board meeting was that king Moorlach went back to being the toad that he is and taking a backseat on the board. Hopefully he will be a good little toad and stay quiet.
I am happy to hear that Campbell is coming to his senses with Bates and Norby not far behind, but I wonder if they have the fortitude to stand up to Moorlach and make the RIGHT decisions. As for Mauk, well what can you say…if he doesn’t think what type of car an executive manager drives when it is being paid for by the taxpayer then he is clearly oaring the same boat with Moorlach!
Enough! What are the numbers? $765/mo car allowance–how many execs get this and how much is it a year? The matching 401K contributions on top of the county retirement–how many, and how much is it a year? Why don’t we have any numbers or amounts so we can see what is granted on top of salary and normal retirement? Could be an eyeopener!
Edward - what do I do all day as a social worker? Let’s see - I drive ALL over the county to find addresses and make surprise visits to people who might actually shoot me. I walk into rat infested, filthy homes with big dogs and bigger men with tattoos inside. I interview and investigate sexual abuse, neglect, physical abuse, isolation, wihholding of medications etc. and then coordinate with law enforcement, the DA’s office, Public Guardian, Mental Health, doctors, family members and other social workers and my supervisors who monitor my work. I make on average 20 to 50 calls A DAY and then I type up thousands of pages of paperwork each month that must be done with care since I may be subpoened. I also attend and present at meetings about my cases and ultimately try to keep your children or grandchildren ( mother or father if I work with seniors) from keeping killed, abused or taken advantage of. Edward - want to come along on my next case? Make sure a rat does not crawl up your leg and bite your knee - happened to a good social worker friend of mine. WAKE UP EDWARD - the dollar you save when paying me - I may save you and yours thousands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you think I deserve to get paid now Edward?????oh that’s right I have a Master’s degree too Edward that I am paying student loans on to offer you an educated and professional social worker.
What do you do Edward since I lay bricks? I will take on your job ANY day and beat you at it. Guess why I do my job?? Because I want to make this a better world for my elderly parents and young children Edward. I sure as hell don’t do it for the gobs of money I make. I hope to make this world a little more civil for your free market Edward!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s ridiculous that thousands of social workers are being forced to take two weeks or unpaid vacation or being laid off completely while money is still being spent on an unneccessary remodeling and executive perks. A $765 monthly car allowing is way more than is needed even in good financial times.
Mauk is insulting the taxpayers’ intelligence that they try to point to the fact that they didn’t give themselves a raise as proof that they’re “stepping up.” When everyone else is having to absorb pay cuts and job losses it’s completely relevant to point out that county executives should stop spending money on unneccessary perks like taxpayer funded BMWs.
It’s a 10% cut in my pay. Oh and the late night calls from foster kids, parents, and foster parents for free? Done…no more. Our furlough hours must be taken per pay period, no accumulation.
Thoughour Director had the nerve to ask us via email “anyone want to retire? go to school on unpaid leave? find yourself?”
Those were her words.
Mauk is a pompous idiot.
Wow Edward! You divided the population of Orange County, 3,000,000 + by the TOTAL number of employees in the Social Service Agency, 4,200 + and came up with a ratio of one social worker for ever 739 residents? You my friend may have a job in accounting or financial predictions for Lehman Brothers. Do you actually think that each of the SSA employees is a social worker? Haven’t you at least seen all of the stories about the top heavy administrative manager levels and executives?
Oh, sorry, out of town for the day so I didn’t get this until my good friend PSURIFA texted me.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say this is a good start. Late, but good. By now, we all know that the BoS and Tommy Boy are about as sharp as marbles and about as in tune with the county residents as the seven sirens are with each other.
The re-thinking on the remodel is good. That Campbell (and I am a Billy Bob fan) and Norby (not much of a Power Ranger fan) thought all along that it was a bad idea…… WAS I OUT OF THE ROOM????? LIARS!!!!! You thought it was a swell idea until you figured out you may want to run for another office some day (can’t see why as we will all hunt you down and poo-poo you). Great start. Now, how about making a real dent in the budget shortfall by giving up the $765 a month in car benefits. Yes, Tommy Boy, I know according to your math it won’t make much of a dent. But according to reality, it will make one heck of a slice. Then, make the managers give up that 4k a year they get in OBP. That was not negotiated for. Managers don’t have that kind of forethought. It was offered by you all and taken by the managers because they thought it was “gud”.
Remember my last post, Tommy Boy? $7,000,000. That’s seven million dollars. That’s 25 percent of the shortfall, you dolt. Your hiding behind your stupidity doesn’t go very far anymore. Anyone can count to 7 million.
Oh, heck, I gotta go,
Keep da Peace
When you know layoffs and furloughs are painful to those affected, how can you in good conscious continue not to help people in your community………
This is a great plan for government. It allows more people to keep their jobs and gives them a little less money and a little time off.
Good idea Arnold.
Don’t worry this BoS will not be reelected or eleceted anywhere else, unless they take some deductions to their own salary and perks and individually stand up to Mauk, and Moorlach.
Moorlach has no right to break contracts promised to County workers, it is illegal and he is not above the law.
Justice and karma will prevail.
A contract is a contract, quit breaking the law, wasting the taxpayers money trying to protect your lying hinquarters and suing over contracts already made, and not giving up your perks.
Get busy starting a new lower compensating tier of employees for future employees just as the County has done in the past, the legal and honest way, is always the right way. Cheaters never prosper!
Tom just does not get it. Nobody cares what kind of car anybody drives, just who pays for it. Managers can drive to work at their own expense like everyone else and get reimbursed for business mileage like everyone else. You would think his $376,000 salary could buy a bit more brain matter. Perhaps he is just “Mauking” us all.
I am a social worker and will be affected by the furloughs. We are required to lose 80 hrs in the span of 5 months, not over the years like it is being represented. Plus this does not guarantee that there will not be further layoffs in SSA once June comes around or who knows.
We need help. We are not safe.. This is not County wide, this is only for SSA. No other county agency has lost as many as we have. We are the ONLY ones being greatly and severely affected. We have no choice but to accept this and even then we have no idea where our leaders are heading for us.
We are not lazy. We are at the mercy of the judges and bench officers who expect us to do more than what we can within a normal work schedule, Yet we no longer can earn OT, our mileage reimbursement has decreased, and we have lost 210 colleagues and now must incorporate our colleagues’ caseload within our own. We go into the homes of families who have abused, neglected, and abandoned the children who are most at risk. Yet some bench officers can come back as extra help from retiring and make $$, retired officers can get hired at the DA’s office and earn a 2nd retirement, and what do we have, we get laid off, NO SEVERANCE.. where’s our car allowance, where’s our metal detectors? Where’s our help!!!!
F the Moorlack CLOWN. Typical “Suit”. Head that the Board Of Soap Sandwich sent their “YES” men/women to the OC Jail instead of stepping up to the plate and coming to see the REAL LIFE of the OC Jail. But also heard those YES men/women might have been “wired” to record the sounds of the escort and/or video of their tour.
Here’s another idea - why doesn’t someone, anyone, on the Board of Supervisors put a lid on their anger, temper their outrage, discard the rhetoric, and embrace a true leadership role? Why doesn’t someone, anyone, on the Board of Supervisors stand up to the bully who was their Chair for past year, refuse to play his sick game of political chicken, and model effective governance instead? Why doesn’t someone, anyone, on the Board of Supervisors discard the pretense of responsibility and actually assume responsibility by engaging in meaningful, bipartisan, cooperative dialogue with County employees, their representatives, and others who can help the County through this crisis? I’m afraid the true answer to the above questions goes something like this - “I’m too politically beholden, I’m too politically timid, I’m too enmeshed with my contributors and their lobbyists, I’m too afraid of being labeled a liberal, I’m too concerned Steve Greenhut will write a scathing editorial, I’m too intimidated by the Lincoln Club, I’m afraid people won’t like me, I’m too ambitious, there are too many risks, I have too fragile an ego, I’ve never really fought a bully, I’m too timid, I’m too political, I’m too scared.” So BOS, any one of you, prove me wrong. I won’t hold my breath, because you and everyone who’s reading this knows I’m right.
I keep hearing about remodeling and car allowance for executive managers. But can someone out there please explain to me why my department the Clerk-Recorder continue to waste county tax payer money. We are opening a satelite office in Fullerton and spending thousands of dollars for remodeling. We also purchased a building which cost over a million dollars for archives. The only records that will be stored are the layoff paperwork for all of the poor social services people that no longer have jobs. Why cant we stop the Fullerton project and sell the building which is empty this would save $$$ and in return save jobs. alot of the staff really hate coming to work. The environment at the clerk recorder is horrible and has been for a very long time. Tom Daly, when he does show up for work, walks right in and never acknowledges any of his employees. To have someone like him in charge is an absolute waste of tax payers money.
Let’s see if any of the BOS really lead by example and volunteer to give up their perks. If I was a member of the board, I’d give up my car allowance, take a firm stance against the remodeling, and make sure that the people who work for our County knew first hand that I was with them in this difficult time. So far we haven’t seen that, and that is truly a shame.
the salaries and benefits- including pensions- of ALL public employees should be posted by the local newspapers so that we- the public whose taxes pay their salaries- are made aware of them- why is this not done? I’ll tell you because the public would become outraged- thats why.. who the hell decides how much these people make? their salaries- benefits and pensions should be in line with the general publics– no higher- our state has a 38 billion dollar deficit
because the politicians have catered to the public employees and
their outlandish salaries and benefits that the majority of us in the
private sector dont get- its bullshit- theyre ALL overpaid- I work
with a girl whose boygriend is a “social worker”- she spends HOURS
everyday texting back and forth with him– HELLOOO- its time to
bring these people back to the real world with the rest of us– the
“supervisor” makes over 300k a year– GIVE ME A BREAK- that jerk
isnt worth more than 80 and thats being generous– calpers will
be broke within 10 years at this rate… dont believe me– read this
http://www.reason.com/news/show/130843.html
Child Abuse Registry- 24-hour hotline for reports of suspected child abuse 2,911 (monthly) 0.364% 1 in every 274 children
-Children in their Own Home 1,589 0.199% 1 in every 503 children
-CalWORKs Children who meet eligibility criteria, including legal residency, income and property limits and welfare-to-work requirements 36,245 4.538% 1 in every 22 children
-Food Stamps Low income children who meet legal residency, income and property limits, including CalWORKs recipients 56,331 7.053% 1 in every 14 children
-Medi-Cal Children who meet eligibility criteria for medical services, including those receiving other public assistance services 171,070 21.419% 1 in every 5 children
-In-Home Supportive Services Low income frail, disabled and blind children who require and receive assistance with activities of daily living 600 0.075% 1 in every 1331 children
-In-Home Supportive Services Low income frail, disabled and blind adults who require and receive assistance with activities of daily living 3,178 0.163% 1 in every 613 adults
-Adult Protective Services Number of reports of suspected abuse received for physically or mentally disabled adults 127 0.007% 1 in every 15,345 adults
-Food Stamps Low income seniors who meet legal residency, income and property limits, including CalWORKs recipients 924 0.299% 1 in every 334 seniors
-Medi-Cal Seniors who meet eligibility criteria for medical services, including those receiving other public assistance services 35,601 11.531% 1 in every 9 seniors
-In-Home Supportive Services Low income frail, disabled and blind elderly individuals who require and receive assistance with activities of daily living 7,285 2.360% 1 in every 42 seniors
- Adult Protective Services Number of reports of suspected abuse received for physically or mentally disabled adults 322 0.104% 1 in every 958 seniors
all these programs are mandated by state and federal govt. Edward-gather the stats and you will see what they do all day. They work.
At least Campbell is starting to see the light. Come on OC tax payers stand up and join the fight!
Don’t get me wrong, I know things are bad, but why is Orange County’s social services taking such a huge hit? I hear that LA County is actually hiring! Someone wasn’t watching their budget…
hey rant…. isn’t your co-worker texting back…. so I hope she doesn’t make $$$ either…. because it would appear that you too have too much time on your hands…. time enough to observe or talk to her about her texting…. not sure what her boyfriend does as a social worker…. but can’t judge a whole company by one employee now can we???
The managers of Orange County are getting caught in the cross hairs of all thisfrey. To make certain things perfectly clear managers in my department do not cars or car allowances. What we do get is Blackberries! That way the county can count on us not only to perform our 10 hour days, we also constantly check our messages on duty and off duty hours and were on call 24/7. 7 extra days a year but no overtime. Thats my work ethic.
I laughed today when the new Chairwomen of the BOS talked about her working history. I cannot even begin to count the number of grievances I would get if I asked an OCEA linestaff to “go the extra mile” work that extra hour out of a work ethic that said it needed to be done. Right now line staff and first line supervisors have the “8 and hit the gate” or you will pay me overtime slogan.
I also agree with Supervisor Campbell that we have given away to union contracts the very ability to share the burden. “Working out of Classification” another word for pay me extra and more or it won’t be done.
If you think the Exectivies drive expensive cars visit the parking lots at Lacy, MOB and see the kinds of cars line staff drive. As a manager I could not come close to being able to afford. Because I don’t get overtime and in the good days, when they had the county where it hurts (overtime) they bought whatever they could afford. It’s american style to drive the best you can afford even if you can’t.
I have always been proud of being a County of Orange employee, proud of serving my community. I was born and raised here and I pay taxes here like the rest of the loyal Orange Countians! I have to tell you, these days I am ashamed and embarrassed to acknowledge the fact that we elected such greedy, self serving people as the current BoS and Mauk is really bad joke. MOORLACH AND MAUK! WE’RE NOT LAUGHING!! Shame on you both for using and abusing the power and trust given to you by the voters, the good people of Orange County who elected you. If you had a shred of decency, you would resign and leave the job to to someone who really cares about the OC residents and tax payers. Give up the perks now!! Give up that $765 a month car allowance! Give up the $4500 a year “Self Improvement” benefit. It clearly hasn’t helped you other than to keep the Golf and Gym memberships up to date! Shame on you! Give up the 401K, Orange County cannot afford it. If you don’t like that, talk to a Social Services employee or Probation employee who is trying to figure out how to pay the rent next month and feed their kids. SHAME ON YOU! Get out of the OC. We don’t need any more self serving POLITICIANS!
Callers to the child abuse hotline can expect an increase in time waiting for a social worker to answer the phone. This will result in some people hanging up the phone and not reporting child abuse. There are 150 cases that need to be absorbed by the social workers in ICS that were not laid off. County contracted services for dependent children and families are now virtually nonexistent. Parents of dependent children now have an opportunity to petition Juvenile Court and overturn their dependency cases because services can’t be provided to them. These things are the results of the lay offs and furloughs. Can’t wait to see what the next fiscal year brings us.
Nick, keep up the good fight! I am proud to be a union worker in the 21st century and we OCEA members are so blessed to have you on our team. BoS and Mauk, the people of Orange County stand with Nick Berardino and OCEA!
What I wonder is whether Mauk was able to keep a straight face during some of his comments. If it’s a $765 monthly allowance for *vehicles*, I would think taxpayers would be interested in what kinds of vehicles the money is being used for. The people I know largey drive cheap, OLD cars.
One of the main things that has GALLED me about the layoffs is that it has been conducted so coldbloodedly. Preciado showed some compassion, but that’s the ONLY thing I have seen about any of the layoffs (as far as I can recall) where anyone in high-level management (or the Board of Supervisors) has showed anything like sharing the feeling of the impacted employees.
I hope the lobby issue gets resolved, because it makes the Board look as though it is sorely lacking in judgment. But the comments above make it clear that this furlough business is causing pain, and I just hope OCEA keeps pointing out the extravagant management and Board perks, as long as they continue to exist.
P.S.: One of the things that Moorlach and Mauk don’t seem realize is that the employees who have received layoff notices are mainly great people with a MAJOR concern for others. So far, most of them are SSA employees, and it’s highly ironic that the County is treating these caring employees with such an apparent lack of concern. I wonder whether Mauk or Moorlach has ever chatted with any of the employees who received the notices.
the sky is falling and it is falling on the hard working employees of this county. These 5 fools must also be working on solutions for our state budget. The only logical solution is 5 resignations. Do it today.
Time to Recall the Board of Supervisors…and ask for County CEO Tom Mauk resignation for the finacial fiasco created by his team of advisors.
RECALL!!!
I don’t get it. With over 300 million in reserves, it is just inconceiveable to not use a small portion of that money to have good employees that are keeping their departments running smoothly. You would lose a few thru attrition anyway. That’s what reserves are for…to use them when it’s necessary…and when the economy gets better…build up the County’s reserves later.
And make an effort to go thru all the suggestions that County employees are sending in as cost savings. I’m sure that if the County used some of those cost savings it would take care of a big chunk of the needed money.
With less time and more work from the caseloads of the fired workers, the public will receive less service. The first time a welfare mother doesn’t get her check on the first, there will be a cry heard around the county. Apparently the workers that are already overworked and underpaid don’t matter, but the welfare mamas will file a law suit and get action.
No. Do you hear me, Tom Mauk? You can kiss my hardworking, shelter volunteering after hours, underpaid A$$, big boy. I flat out REFUSE to lose one more dime, one more dollar, until you “share the pain” across the board with every other department and employee in Orange County. Take your overstuffed shirt, your paid pension that I don’t have, your car allowance and your arrogance, and shove it up that sphincter that you have your empty head up. You will have to drag me out of my office and throw me into the street before I take one day off to fund your perks and your outrageous salary. I will gather my fellow employees together and we will fight you with strikes and in the courts. “Let them eat Top Ramen” is the delusional whine of the board and top brass. Well, I warn you, you idiotic megalomanic pus bucket of wasted human space, if I’m going to lose everything I have and have worked my butt off for, you and your cabal of corruption are going down right next to me. You make Mike Carona look like a good leader, you miserable SOB.
RECALL! Put these overpaid idiots out, and save some real money! Let the people who actually work for a living stay and serve the people of this county!
RECALL, RECALL, RECALL! What are you waiting for? Short of bringing back the guillotine, what else can we do?
fedup and another social worker, your services are critical to the well being of our residents and the furlough days may aggravate neglect or abuse among our vulnerable populations. what angers me are the non essential, pet projects of our BOS and the dinosaur county agencies that drain tax payers’ money to replicate existing services. No one cares about the unions usual rant of chop from the top but we will care when your union leaders investigate and expose specific pet projects and dinosaur agencies/commissions
Typical, politicions can’t forsee or plan for anything. maybe except a remodel? This year is going to be bad. Wait till next year! State revenues will be dropping like a rock. Is the BoS going to take a furlough too? I doubt it. They need to look into the future to figure out How we are going to make it through the next couple of years! God help us if we have any natural disasters, Oh I forgot we still have checks! I want to grow up to be a politicion!
I learned the other day, why a piece of legilation is called a bill, they pass it we get to pay the”bill”
Can anyone say “reform”
Every full time employee of the county should be required to do this, top to bottom. It’s really not as bad as it sounds. I work for a large corporation that ran upon hard times in the 90’s. Every full time employee had to take one unpaid day off a month which amounts to 96 hours a year and we all survived. After one year the company recovered and things went back to normal.
Mauk agrees that managers need to step up… Norby, Bates and Campbell agree with Berdarino about remodel… Keep up good job OCEA!
Message for Mauk: I would care what car you drive if I didnt pay for it.
Norby, Bates, and Cambell all claim they were against the remodel from the beginning yet apparently still voted in favor since the 3 of them could have shot it down. Way to try and back pedal now and try to show like you have a heart, but the tax payers see through you.
Moorlach has control over the other Sups and frankly, it’s a little scary. Our County is practically being run by a dictatorship. Mauk and Moorlach are running around spending the County’s cash on whatever benefits themselves, while the employees are being laid off and the public is being punished with less services available.
Understand the frustration. It now effects those, who chose to work for the government, because they felt this could never happen? Why else would one choose as “fedup” says, to go into dirty, filthy homes? Think I would’ve chosen a different job to begin with, but, it seems the benefits outweighed the filth! Unfortunately, now that much of the private sector has no money to put into the state coffers, its trickling down hill.
Evan the Register article is false, saying all County employees ‘managers & grunts alike’ get the $3000 professional development benefit. Not true. Plus, Tom pats the managers on the back for ‘deferring their raise’, BIG DEAL. they will stil get their 2% raise & then another 5% later in the year, will our COLA be deferred? Nope, they already decided we will not get one, not deferred, but we wont get one. Same old BOS & County management.
How do we start the recall process? WE SERIOUSLY NEED TO, NOW! anyone?
The county office remodel is indeed not needed and a bone-head move at this time. But so is having over 4,000 social workers in our county! Whatever happened to people taking care of themselves? Over half the idiots that need these social workers are nothing more than losers, drunks, drug users, and the ever-popular “children at risk”. I think we could easily get by with way less than 1,000 social workers for the people that really need them.
Why ONLY Social Service Agency gets FURLOUGH ??????
Why NOT the rest of the county?????
OC Boards of Supervisors suck! Janet stinks. Moorlarch skunks. Mauk foulmouthes, Bates-Norby and Campbell are duckhead. OC residents should remember these names when their names appear again on the ballot at next election and when they come around asking for your vote and your donations to their campaigns.
Most county employees abuse overtime anyways.
furlough is better than no job at all.
Remember we have no money. Stop blaiming start cutting.
Why should one group of employees take furloughs and not everyone? Simple math says that if every employee for the county, from janitor to exec, took three days off without pay, then the county would not only save this budget, but the next one. This is fairness.
But Mauk is demanding that one group of employees (the one with the crappiest union) take the pain alone. How is that fair? Three days from everyone would have far more results than two weeks from one department. That’s fair, that is equitable.
The reason that Mauk doesn’t do that is he is in the pocket of those unions, and not AFSCME. Even OC taxpayer has to agree with this. Take three days from EVERY county employee, and balance the budget to 6/2009, instead of two weeks from one of the worst paid groups.
Can anyone say “Duh!”? Mauk, I dare you to respond, you coward.
Dina, if we don’t blame, then this will happen over and over. Fire Mauk, recall the board.
Morning Rush. That is what we have about 1000 social workers and probably less. The rest of the 4000 is made up of management, social worker supervisors, clerical, eligibility technicians.
Tom Mauk and John Moron are the worst BOS members. OC needs to wake up and see the waste they are doing with tax dollars. First they claim the remodel was do to a death threat. But then changed it to fix fire code violations. What is it? And the death threat wasn’t even a real thing, but something the MORONS created so that the people wouldn’t get pissed at them AGAIN wasting our money on stupid BS that is non important. This is not the first time and certainly not going to be the last time. Fire these fools!!!
Mauk is going to have a difficult time leading through this crisis….he has lost the confidence of his employees. Now the Board of Stupidvisors will circle the wagons around their CEO and support him. OK fine , but that will not regain the confidence of the employees. The executive managers (the big money guys) who he advocates so much for will also circle around him. The execs will not bite the hand that feeds them.
Hey, OC taxpayer, answer me this…
If every county employee, across the board, took three days off without pay in the next five months, we could prevent layoffs and completely balance the budget not just for 2008/9, but the next year as well. EVERY EMPLOYEE, EVERY DEPARTMENT. From janitors to execs. That is a fact.
But Mauk and the board won’t do that. Why? Because they know that the other unions are stronger and would fight. They want to balance the budget on the backs of one group, the lowest paid, who do the most direct work with the eldery and needy.
OCtaxpayer? Is this smart fiscal policy?
Three out of five Supes are against something, one is spearheading the thing and doesnt much care what anybody thinks, and one is too ignorant to have her own opinion…. but it goes forward anyway. What does that tell you about who is really running the show?
A few quotes on Leadership:
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS:
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
KENNETH BLANCHARD:
The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.
HERBERT B. SWOPE:
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.
While the BoS cannot please everybody, their “let them eat cake” attitude is discouraging and disappointing. In regards to the car issue, which apparently was dismissed as unimportant…I would venture to say it is not the type of car you are driving, but the mere fact you maintain that perk while others are furloughed. Poor leadership example at the most basic level. The BoS should begin to give up all their perks as a sign of leadership until this crisis has passed.
This comment is directed at EDWARD about his previous post.
My wife and I fostered and then adopted a child through OCSSA. During this process, we worked with many of the SSA employees. From our experience, we could see that they are overworked! How could you say that A typical social worker who handles up to 400 cases a month is not doing their job!
I’m a conservative Republican who’s lived in SOC for over half of my life, and do not agree with the BOS in the handling of this issue.
lets not forget that the DEFERED 2% raise will most likely be retroactive when they receive it. Smoke and Mirrors if you ask me.
what ever happened to lead by example?
oh wait - Mauk showed up to a meeting once with his notes written on paper napkins…he must have been saving $ by not using actual paper…right?
I’m in shock. So the Republicans are supposed to be the symbol of fiscal responsibility? The DEMOCRATS are the wasteful spenders, “throwing away” money into social programs? Talk about hypocracy.
What people who start these money pits need to realize is that all the fancy cars and plush offices won’t make their jobs any easier. Giving to the community will, and not just only for their feeling of fleeting altruism. I will laugh when the swarm of union workers who now have nothing better to do than spend their time making officials regret their decisions, and I hope I will be there to support them.
This is what happens when we put people like this in a leadership position. The BOS and Tom Mauk are no different than the executive from failed banks that filled their pockets with money while the hard working people lost millions. Voters have the power to put this people out of business. Lets vote them all out office, staring with Moorlach and his cronies.
I intend to spend my furlough gathering signatures on petitions to have the board recalled and Mauk fired.
Workers, public and private, who work hard for a living have to rise up against these fat cat failures and let them all know there is a price to be paid for using their employees for cannon fodder while they sip champagne on the taxpayer dime.
Mauk and the board must go.
This board needs to be removed out of office at once ,I hate to have my tax money used for perks.
Give me a break , get it over with recalled then now.
Why wasnt anyone complaining and crying
or even keeping an eye on these “PERKS” before?
Dont get me wrong im not siding with anyone…
but kinda sucks ill probably also be laid off…
I agree with GoodOnYa.
Lets put pressure on the managers to commit to forfeiture of their raise and not just deferral.
To bad we are not living in the Old Western days. The bad guy’s always got hung from a tree. But I think I am to the point that I would rather see them sleeping with the fish.
Time to cut the perks, 401k’s, car allowances, and pay of all County Supervisors, and executives. Why don’t we give them a permanent furlough! Recall all those pompous, self indulging bureaucrats! We’ve had enough of their foolishness!
Mauk is so busy congratulating himself and the bigwigs that they “stepped up to the plate” by manager’s DEFERRING their raise that he cannot hear or will not hear the voices of discord in and out of the SSA. Deferred does not mean gave up- the managers will get ALL of the raise retroactively at some point- maybe at the same time they get their June 09 raise! It would have been real stepping up if they gave up the raise as workers will be giving up furlough days of pay.
When do the salaries, benefits, perks and pensions of the BoS become public? Where is the shared sacrifice of the county “family” as Mauk so mockingly calls it!
What needs to be done to start a RECALL ON THE BoS? And then keep on until Mauk is released or held accountable or just get out: to L.A. or wherever else they are foolish enough to take him.
If we can recall a governor surely we can recall these poor examples of county leadership!?
We should recall all the BoS…they are so full of themselves they just don’t care what happens to the employees. When Ingrid and Dr. Riley sat right in our town hall meeting they told us that if we received pink slips we had the bumping rights but that is not what is going on now. You have to fill out applications for any job you would like to go back to. I don’t consider that the right way. It is amazing that our managers can just sit there with straight faces and tell lies about it. All they kept telling us was that they were sorry it was coming to this and they wanted suggestions on how we could cut money to save the jobs. When it came down to it they didn’t want to hear that either really. How can they expect the workforce to go above and beyond when they stand there and tell us lies and are not willing to do the things they are making us do..(they didn’t ask us they told us how it is going to be). I say we strip them of their jobs and hire someone that can fix our problems in a sane manner.
The economy sucks, people are laid off, the city/county/state/fed. employees still have jobs and you resent them. What happens when you work for the real estate and loan institutions for $100K a year, while those same city/county/state/fed employees work through their 35K a year and you say nothing about how little they make for serving YOUR needs in the community. When the economy is booming, you have no complaints about how little those public service employees make, and comment on how your taxes pay thier wages. You take home your bloated income for doing a notch less than cheating people into inflated loans that they cannot afford, and again say nothing about the 1/3 income these people make. Yet, when that same market you just pillaged out of $1M over the last 10 years goes bad, you are the first person to complain about the people who ‘ haven’t slashed one single perk’. As if there were any to begin with. Managers have job sites, branch locations, and off-site meeting they must attend to do thier jobs. It costs the TAX-PAYER about 15K a year to maintain/purchase/fuel a single city/county/state/fid vehicle every year. If managers prefer to use thier own vehicle for $765 a year, at a fraction of what it costs to use the provided vehicle, I would say THANK YOU, for saving me money on my taxes. These city/county/state/fed employees are not getting paid to drive into work. They are getting paid mileage to travel from their office, to their additionaly duties elsewhere. Before you read into some one-sided, half-wit retoric, do your research to see the facts.
There are over 16,000 employees who work for Orange County. Why is it only 4,000 of the Social Services are being asked to do the furlough? All county workers should be aksed to do this. Save a lot more money!
Janet Nguyen is the worst of them. I especially like the part where she said nothing. I guess if it doesn’t give her husband or Chief of Staff a financial boost than she is unwilling even to have an opinion about it. This is disgraceful. What is the purpose of government if it does not take care of it’s people?
The managers should forgo their perks (ie cars, raises). How can they say their perks are not a big deal, as hard working county employees are either being laid-off or asked to take 80 hrs off without pay. The managers should take 120 hrs off if employees are required to to take 80 hrs off.
Observatory 1969 got it right. The members of the BOS are not leaders.
The BOS has lost its sense of what is really important…….service to its constituents. I don’t see leadership happening from the Hall of Administration. I see lemings.
Mauk says managers have stepped up to the plate. Neither he, the BOS or managers have stepped up. Why can’t the BOS and Mauk participate in the furlough? That’s right, give up a paid work day.
Mauk you should be ashamed! How can the County justify earnings of over $300k annually?