Student Still Asking Elected Officials to Join With Public Employees

Some of you may remember an opinion piece that appeared in the Patch a while back, where I said, and I quote:

"Currently, roughly half of the Council's pay and benefits comes from Redevelopment. Should that go away, the General Fund would have to absorb the additional cost. Might I suggest that the Council take a cut in pay and start to pay into their health benefits, to show solidarity with the City staff who are experiencing the same, and the citizens of Pinole who are also under tight financial times? It would cause my esteem, and I'm sure many citizens, to go up even further."

Now, there wasn't a response from the Council (that I am aware of), but it is with a distinct amount of personal pride that I find that the Contra Costa Times (a publication that I don't always agree with) took on "my" point, which is: Health benefits cost public agencies quite a bit of money.

Allow me to explain the cost to Pinoleans:

Right now, the total amount of money the Council makes (all five council members combined) is about $18,000 (I believe, and I apologize if I have the figure incorrect).

The total amount of their benefits is $50,000. (That I am confident is the correct figure).

Half of each is paid for out of Redevelopment. When (no longer "if") the RDA goes away, the $9,000 of the Council's pay and the $25,000 in benefits that came out of Redevelopment gets absorbed by the General Fund, which means that $34,000 a year will have to be found, either in new revenue or cuts from somewhere to pay for it.

So, citizens, here is my question: Are you willing to either provide $34,000 more in taxes, or  would you like to choose where the $34,000 gets cut?

Or, would you rather the Council start paying towards their own benefits (or even give them up altogether) and take a cut in pay?

When public employees are asked to do the same, isn't it fair that those doing the asking do the same?