PPOA Retiree Representative
LASD retired
jschallert@ppoa.com
Quite the summer so far, and once again as I watch the news, I say, “It’s good to be retired.” I feel terrible for the men and women working so hard today on the Department, and it seems County leadership has failed them at almost every level.
We have all lived through the years of wage battles, too much overtime and what seem like insane new policies that make the job nearly impossible, not to mention legislation that largely favors the criminal. However, looking at what we have today, I think it’s never been worse on all fronts for the men and women on the job. My hat goes off to them for what they are dealing with. They are the new heroes, just by virtue of coming to work each day and not switching careers to computer science!
My hope for the future is that our personnel again get the support they need from the Department, the County and the public to make their job less stressful. We have seen far too many suicides in our profession. The Department needs to ensure its outreach is the best in the world to prevent our members from taking their own lives. Every time I see a deputy working the field, I don’t ID myself; I just thank them for their service. They need to hear it now more than ever.
PPOA is watching a few legislative bills travel their course that would positively impact taxation of our pensions in California. Any measure with a cash cost component will likely be an uphill struggle, as the budget is many, many billions in the red. Any attempt to recalculate pensions for the PEPRA folks would also be subject to increased scrutiny based on the cost. It is always good to see this stuff pop up. I never, ever thought that the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) issue would be a “win” for us, and sure enough, it was. So, never say never.
As many of you have read, PPOA is moving to “electronic voting” soon. For retirees, this simply means the election for your representative Board member (currently me) will be held electronically when the time comes. There may be other instances in which PPOA solicits opinions from retirees, and these will make use of online balloting as well. This is an important technological upgrade, and the good news is that more than 100 PPOA retired members have already registered online, so good job!
I want to thank those of you who sent comments about the passing of Art Reddy. He was an amazing guy and a huge loss to PPOA and to all of his friends. Please keep Art and Judy in your thoughts and prayers as you think about those we have lost over the years.
Until next month, keep safe and healthy, schedule your skin cancer screenings and colonoscopies and dentist appointments, wear approved sunblock, exercise, eat right, tell family and friends how much they mean to you and enjoy retirement.