Car registration has turned into ‘pension tax’
Does anyone find it ironic that the Christmas present from the California Highway Patrol to the California taxpayers is a new “pension tax?”
Car registration fees will go up $10 to cover the ever-increasing pension costs for the CHP underfunded retirement fund.
This is the same CHP that in 1999 convinced then Gov. Gray Davis to sign the disastrous legislation named SB 400, which increased CHP officers’ pensions by 50 percent, while being able to retire at 50.
As a result, the average CHP officer who retired in 1999 or earlier after at least 30 years on the job collected pensions averaging $62,218, according to CalPERS data.
For those who retired after 1999, the average pension was $96,270.
The average retirement age for CHP officers is 54. Someone that age without a pension who wanted to buy an annuity to generate the same income for life would have to pay more than $2.6 million, according to Fidelity Investments.
The prison guards, police and firefighters across the state made sure that they quickly got on the same gravy train.
This year, California will pay out $5.4 billion in pension costs, according to the Department of Finance. That is 30 times more than the state paid in retirement benefits in 2000, before SB 400 kicked in, according to CalPERS.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that 15.9 percent of the California labor force are union members. However, as you may have noticed, they control our Legislature in Sacramento.
It is important that we the taxpayers let our legislators in Sacramento know that we need urgent pension reform in 2017.
— Carsten Andersen, Kentfield
IJ column downplays the downsides of field lights
I read Danny Schmidt’s column in the Dec. 23 IJ, regarding his advocacy for adding stadium lights at Marin Catholic High School.
This column gives the impression that the lights would only have an impact on the surrounding neighborhood for 10 nights a year for varsity football games.
It fails to mention that the lights will be on from October until April five nights per week until 10 p.m. The fields would be used for football, soccer, lacrosse and possibly track events every night.
The column states that playing fields are at a premium in Marin; however, Marin Catholic admits that it will be using its fields exclusively 98 percent of the time.
This is hardly an addition to our community field issue.
Can you imagine the addition of four 80-foot light towers in the heart of Ross Valley?
This will light up this peaceful end of the valley and give the appearance of a Kmart parking lot.
If these lights are installed, it may create the same public outcry as the WinCup apartment complex in Corte Madera.
It is true that the surrounding neighborhoods are subject to the day-time noise from the fields all year round and this is not an issue with the neighbors. However, we did not bargain to have this field noise intrude on the peaceful enjoyment of our homes in the evening.
The Marin planning department has decided that these lights are not appropriate for this area of Marin.
— Dan Brady, Greenbrae
Leaf blowers are disturbing holiday peace in Larkspur
What is it going to take to get peace on earth at ground zero Larkspur?
On Monday, after two hours of 60-plus decibel noise pollution in the form of leaf blowers disturbing the peace from yard to yard, I finally called in the cavalry.
The cacophony recurs every Monday. On Dec. 26, the creche dropped the baum.
Is it really necessary to bust my neighbors to get this nuisance abated?
I challenge a dozen of my similarly situated, deafened denizens of once peaceful Palm Hill, to bring their leaf blowers to the next Larkspur City Council meeting and lobby loudly until the body politic turns over a new, ahem, leaf.
— John Bergman, Larkspur
Huffman likely won’t have much to do
Bravo to our Rep. Jared Huffman’s Marin Voice piece pointing out how shocked many Californians were and how fearful our youth are due to the election of a new president.
With this standard left-wing appraisal of the election, I hope Rep. Huffman will continue to be a bloviating minority member of the House for many years to come. I’m sure he will help his constituency get tours of the White House, should any not be fearful of its occupant.
Fortunately, he’ll have nothing else to do.
I also look forward to the mid-terms in 2018 to see if the Democrats are given the same short shrift the Republicans received in 2009. Let’s hope so.
— Jerry Suyderhoud, San Rafael
‘Real world’ science doesn’t back ‘climate denialists’
’Tis the season for lumps of coal in holiday stockings from climate denialists:
In their universe, a Marin IJ reader (Dec. 23) writes about “the fake science of climate change,” “no agreement on the matter” and “evidence points to a large cooling trend.”
But in the real world, we see headlines like “2016 Likely to Top 2015 as Hottest Year on Record, Scientists Say,” “Rapid Rise in Methane Emissions Surprises Scientists,” “Antarctic Ice Shelf Breaking from Inside Out,” “Arctic Ice Melt Could Trigger Uncontrollable Climate Change.”
Experts at NASA and the World Meteorological Organization project that 2016 will be the third year of record global heat — 16 of the 17 hottest years on record have been in the 21st century; the other one was 1998.
No “cooling trend” in our real world, unfortunately.
— Edward A. Mainland, Novato
