Posted by Mark, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 14, 2009 at 7:40 pm

This is impressive, but not necessarily in a good way. These guys are doing well enough now, but wait until you see their pensions when they retire at age 50, and all this while we have classrooms with 40 students?

I understand that for every civil service job in California, there are 30 people waiting in line to apply. Not so in the private sector, though. The culture must change from one of entitlement and working for a pension, to a culture where people work to create profits and build value.

Posted by George, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Sep 14, 2009 at 10:59 pm

Everyone's gotta make a living, but I never would've guessed that being a deputy sheriff paid so well. What SORT of pension do they get?

Posted by anon, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 14, 2009 at 11:14 pm

Pension:

Probably 3 at 50. Multiply the years of service by 3. Then multiply by the highest yearly salary to get the annual retirement benefit. Example - start at age 20, retire at age 50. 30 years time 3 gives them 90 percent of their highest year's salary for the rest of their life.

Posted by Mark, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 10:47 am

Thank you, Anon. IMHO, a pension like that is excessive and an inappropriate use of taxpayers' money. Why are these people guaranteed such a rich package when people in private industry, people who actually add value to build our country's economy, are losing THEIR 401(k)s and pensions. This just ain't right...

I guess that being a civil servant is more about looking after #1 than about service.

Posted by Hans, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 1:36 pm

I wonder how many of these guys would be "serving" the community if it weren't for those pensions. You have to admit, it's pretty hard to refuse retiring at 50 and collecting 90% of your maximum salary for the rest of your life. I'll bet that if the pensions were scaled back significantly there'd still be plenty of community service minded folks who'd love to have those jobs.

Posted by Hedley, a resident of another community, on Sep 15, 2009 at 2:07 pm

I hear they get a lifetime supply of doughnuts from Wnchells

Posted by J, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 6:17 pm

I wish I could retire at 50... why should they get to retire so early ? They could put in another 5 or ten years..

Posted by Larry, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 10:06 pm

I agree with you, J. These people have little to do except drink coffee, and when the boredom becomes too great, they cruise around Danville at night looking for the odd tail-light that's out, or a ding in one's windshield to use as "probable cause" to detain a citizen who is otherwise minding his own business. You need look no further than the "Danville Weekly" to see these reports.

I say, let's divert some of the funding that's used to ensure a long and comfortable retirement for these people, and instead use the money for the betterment of the community. What say you??

Posted by Mary, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 1:19 am

Yes!

Posted by Bill, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 9:51 am

It's hard to take back something (pensions) once it's been granted.

Posted by Al, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 11:13 am

I think that the pensions are not generous enough. Hooray for the men in uniform!

Posted by Sam C., a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 1:10 pm

This topic has been miscategorized as "Around Town." It should be under "Crimes and Incidents."

Posted by askidoo, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Sep 29, 2009 at 8:20 pm

For his meritorious work, base plus overtime plus other, Elmer Glasser is awarded Alamo Citizen of the Year. Wake up Alamo Rotary.

Posted by Mark, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Sep 30, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Interesting point, askidoo. I truly hope that you're wrong, though. Accolades such as "Alamo Citizen of the Year" should be based on volunteerism, not on someone doing his job, even if he performs beyond his/her job description.

To the point made earlier, I think that their compensation including pension should be reviewed and better aligned with the value that's created. If this was actually done, I think that we'd see significant reductions in base, and the pensions would much less lucrative.

Posted by Jay, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Oct 2, 2009 at 6:00 pm

I wish I could retire at 50 with a pension like their's. I was laid-off...

Posted by Tyrone, a resident of another community, on Oct 3, 2009 at 10:38 am

Stop your whining. You shoulda got a civil service job. Gettin a job at a company is for suckas.

Posted by you don't know what you're talking about, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2009 at 8:07 pm

These men and women risk their lives for you. Do you want to try to apprehend or even walk on the same side of the street of the people they have to deal with everyday? NO! Don't be so ridiculous! They've earned this because each day they go to work, their families don't know if they've said good-bye for the last time! Citizen of the Year? He should have citizen of the earth for the good that he's done!

Posted by Hector, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2009 at 8:28 pm

To "you don't know what you're talking about":

yeah...right.