PLAYING THE PENSION FIDDLE WHILE ROME BURNS!

The people in the City of Long Beach are suffering as are many in this country. According to 2008 Census figures, 28% of our children live below the federal poverty level, and an additional 21% live below 200% of the federal poverty level - a measure of true economic hardship. Many working families lack health insurance and the unemployment rate in this city is close to 14%. In addition, many of our residents, especially those who live in the downtown and central area are experiencing an increase of 15% in the rise of violent crime. (Statistics from an excerpt from City of Long Beach GRIP narrative)
Yet in the State of the City there was no mention of our residents who are most in need, no mention of any immediate or short term relief for those who find it hard to put food on the table or a roof over their families heads. Yes, we all agree that pension reform is needed to stem the rising costs of our unfunded liability, but if you ask anyone in the city who is a victim of the above mentioned statistic, it is doubtful that they will describe the solution to their problems as pension reform.
To throw out the political hot potato of pension reform as the #1 issue in this City and then use the forum of the State of the City to inflame and attempt to coheres employee representative groups to acquiesce, comes off as a pitiful attempt at a campaign to rally support for a candidate for statewide office. And more importantly it does nothing for the man on the street that is searching for a solution to the problems many in our city face.
Shall I remind our Mayor about Measure I and recently Measure GG? The public and City Hall sometime differ on not only what our priority issues are but how to fix them. And in the complex world of pension reform, there are many ways to skin the cat.
This pension mass hysteria and anti public servant sector attack is in fact now spread to other members of the city. One City Council person sent out an E mail blast stating “Pension Reform is our Top Priority”. This e mail came from a council district with a 15% increase in violent crime, failing infrastructure, and the highest poverty rate in the city. As one of his constituents put it, “You can fix your pensions, but first, please fix my potholes.”
As I stated, we all agree that we need to act now to deal with our unfunded liability but even the city acknowledges that reforming the pension system for the future does nothing to serve our current unfunded liability.
I only hope that our city does more than political rhetoric regarding pensions, but right now we just need gas money to get to a job we may be lucky enough to have, and enough money to keep food on our table and our children in college. That is the real state of many in this city.