The reality of life truly hit home on our recent trip to the annual Harvard-sponsored seminar on police labor issues. After hearing and sharing information regarding the current plight of the economy and the resulting effect that it has had on police officers, firefighters, and other public employees across the United States and Canada, we heard the wake-up call loud and clear.
The forecast for increased police compensation (and all public safety jobs) is bleak. Nearly every police union in the country is now or soon will be struggling to develop a negotiation strategy within the confined context and reality of our nationwide economic crisis. Even more problematic is the rapidly developing notion that public employee pensions serve as the root of all evil, and are almost solely to blame for all of our economic woes.
Opportunistic Wall Street insiders, politicians, and robber baron CEOs have manipulated and pilfered our country's financial well-being. They have unconscionably- if not also illegally -- lined their deep pockets with the hard-earned savings and pensions of the middle class working man and woman. Accountants from coast to coast have coached multi-millionaires on the art of avoiding paying their true tax obligations. Millions of people were allowed to qualify for mortgage loans by greedy bankers and mortgage brokers that led to trillions of dollars in bailout money. The result is a public incensed about fat cats taking advantage of them. Now, the backlash has set up public pensions and the unions that negotiated for them as the scapegoats for this anger.
Those of us who long ago made the decision to forgo large salaries in exchange for a life of public service, are now being portrayed as greedy and self-centered, taking unwarranted pensions and benefits after 30 years of service as firefighters, police officers, teachers, and nurses. These are shameful accusations, and utterly without merit.
Whether they know it or not, Americans are being hoodwinked into believing that public safety pensions are over-inflated. I often bemoan the days when I would be pulling out of my driveway at 10:00 pm and my neighbor would shout, "They couldn't pay me enough to do your job!" Those were the good old days. How many of your friends or neighbors have ever had to conduct a strip search on a suspect covered in vomit and urine at 3:00 am? How many of them have wrestled around on the ground with some guy that doesn't want to leave the bar at 2:00 am, or had to deliver the news to a grieving mother that her son has just been killed in a gangbanging foray? Unless your neighbors are cops, firefighters, paramedics, or ER nurses, I'd say not too many.
It appears as though some lawmakers and other public figures have arbitrarily placed a numeric value on what police officers do day in, and day out. They have decided that our job is the equivalent of that of a bus driver, or firefighter - both public service professions that I respect and appreciate. But one cannot compare our job with those, or of any other for that matter. Just ask any neighbor or family member of the four Oakland police officers who will be memorialized this month in Sacramento. It's just not the same job.
The hard reality is that at times we have become our own worst enemy. When one of our members walks out the door with $516,000, legitimate as that might be, it sends a horrible message to the public. When some police unions litigate over an issue like "Donning and Doffing" it sends a greedy message to the public. In the future we need to be smart about the way we do business. The public respects us and does acknowledge the difficult job we do. We can't afford to lose that trust through greed and avarice.
The vast majority of our citizens believe we should receive a fair and equitable wage - particularly here in labor-friendly San Francisco. They understand that most of us are entitled to a substantial pension after a career in public service. But in this day and age when all public sector employees are scrutinized, logical decisions based on fairness and public trust must be considered at all times in negotiations for wages and benefits.
The incredibly unfair press coverage will continue. A recent article that speaks to the number of employees earning over $100,000 is ludicrous. That threshold has now been used as an excessive number since 1990. How far does $100,000 per year go in San Francisco? Let's break it down.
Salary: $100,000
Taxes: $30,000
Retirement Contribution $7,500
Health Care $6,500
House Payment (approx) $30,000
Property Taxes (approx) $6,000
Remaining disposal income $20,000
I don't believe that having $20,000 after taxes to live your life and raise your family is excessive. Domestic violence is excessive. Drive-by shootings are excessive. Narcotics transactions are excessive. Traffic fatalities are excessive. Child abuse is excessive. But paying someone $100K per year to deal with all of that in an immediate and professional manner is not excessive. It is a bargain, and it is fair.
We have all freely chosen this profession, but we want to be treated fairly. We don't believe that our profession should be lumped in with so many others that do not equal our training, professionalism, or responsibility. We understand the economic crisis that faces this country and will continue to look for ways to help the city as we did last year by making almost $17 million in contract concessions.
However, as long as this city continues to misspend money at an alarming rate (nearly a billion dollars on non-profits alone), while they refuse to take a look at our 12B compliance policies that force us to pay millions of additional dollars on city services to comply with domestic partner laws, I cannot in good conscience continue to ask our members to forfeit hard earned raises and benefits fairly negotiated at the table.
And make no mistake about this. While we may not return to the bargaining table at the beck and call of City Hall, there is not a man or woman among us who will not respond immediately to that next 9-1-1 call.
