Board of Supervisors’ 40% OPEB solution not good enough; defeat Piepho and Glover
May 28, 2008
At a recent CoCo Tax meeting, Daniel Borenstein of the Contra Costa Times, presented a summary of his detailed OPEB research. Even if the BOS makes good on its promise to prefund $20 million; Even if it ever gets around to adding a $588 million chunk by 2022-23; Even if it can pay $100 million dollars a year thereafter; Even if the County implements the proposed benefits changes to unrepresented workers, the County would still be $54 million short of 40-percent funding and still leave a 60 percent or $1.042 Billion balance due. Furthermore, even if the BOS added the same benefits changes to unionized employees, the County would still owe $705 million after 30 years. This is simply not acceptable.
On June 3rd, we recommend that voters defeat the reelection bids of incumbent Supervisors Federal Glover (District 5) and Mary Piepho (District 3).
We reject Piepho’s claims that she is a newcomer and not responsible for the debt, and that one must move slowly to initiate change. Contra Costa cannot afford Ms. Piepho’s stalling and excuses.
For three years Supervisor Piepho knew a fiscal day of reckoning was coming and did nothing about it and was put to sleep by John “Igor” Gioia. For three years, Ms. Piepho has played paddycake with the incumbent forces working against any change and fiscal restraint in Martinez. And now, with huge Independent Expenditure outlays on her behalf (wink-wink) —plus her open solicitation of support from the gang that has helped create the fiscal mess here in Contra Costa as well as Sacramento— Piepho has openly joined forces with opponents of fiscal sanity, unaccountable union interests, and those working behind the scenes toward the piecemeal dismantling of the Urban Limit Line on behalf of powerful campaign contributors.
If that weren’t enough, she has picked pointless fights with local constituents and Sheriff Rupf, and pursued her appointment to LAFCO despite myriad warnings from knowledgeable colleagues and insiders concerning potential conflicts of interest in serving on the same board with her husband.
Meanwhile Supervisor Glover claims that the County cannot solve the OPEB problem but must rely on some single-payer health insurance program to bail out the County. Such a statement is simply insane, irresponsible blather. There’s just no other way to say this, but, despite well wishers all around, it’s painfully obvious Glover is not at the top of his game. Unfortunately, most of his opponents are on record as accepting the 40%-solution as a “good start.” Such timid dissembling is comical. Hopefully, one of Glover’s opponents can force a November runoff and grow a pair.
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3 Responses to “Board of Supervisors’ 40% OPEB solution not good enough; defeat Piepho and Glover”
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So, let me get this straight - you want Guy Houston (who takes a much bigger salary than Mary Piepho, and oversees a big deficit at the state level) to run our county? Ha
EDITOR REPLIES - Realpeople stop using the county ISP to do your political propogandizing.
It’s one thing to be an anonymous coward that doesn’t make sense or can’t speak to the facts, but to do it on the taxpayer’s dime is beyond the pale.
And don’t think we can’t trace it back to the exact desk you were sitting at instead of working.
Maybe no nonsense can explain this away as the right of Piepho backers to be county deadbeats but I’m not buying
Perhaps the Theme for Houston should be “Save Contra Costa County” from Mary Piepho. For Glover and Piepho to sit on the same Board and ignore the accumulating debt for 3 1/2 years should be a criminal offense. Piepho’s down and dirty political propaganda will hopefully blow up in her and her husbands face. There’s that High School education showing up again.
Our Supervisor who does ot accept money from developers and has her signs pasted all over thiers is not resorting to campaign smearing in a big way. She has sent out the Deputy Sheriffs Assn (in trade for the big raises the County can’t afford) Our Supervisor has enlisted the Deputy Sheriffs Assn to put up smear campaign signs against Houston. I am feeling tactics like that will blow up in her face. Piepho is trying to bring up something that happend 6-7 years ago. That should tell you how current the Supervisor is. For weeks I have been seeing comments from various people asking just what is it that the Supervisor has accomplished. For some strange reason no one is capable of finding anything. I will continue to ask the question for the many writers that keep asking “What is it that the Supervisor has been doing for the past 3 1/2 years?