I'm so, so embarrassed and ashamed of my home state, a state I used to be so very proud.
:-(
Never again.
"Revere city council makes the most of retirement; Pensions brim with rich rewards" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | March 29, 2009
REVERE - A group of elected officials in this working-class city, which struggles daily to provide services under the threat of severe budget cuts, is reaping some extraordinary rewards for public service.
Through deft exploitation of state laws and local ordinances, a majority of Revere's 11 part-time city councilors are collecting full city pensions while remaining on the city payroll and receiving up to $25,000 a year in council compensation, according to a Globe review of public records.
Also see: Mass. Teachers On the Take
And they are ALL HAPPY to be LOOTING US, folks!!
I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but YOU LYING LOOTERS better SHAPE UP!!
Don't you KNOW HISTORY? THIS STATE is KNOWN for a TEA PARTY and REBELLION (over debt with a guy named SHAYS leading it if I'm not mistaken, leading the aristocrats to draw up the privilege-protecting constitution for themselves -- which would then be perverted in ways even they couldn't begin to comprehend in their day)!!!
Can I make it any clearer?
There are those around here not as forgiving as little old nonviolent me.
One councilor began collecting his city pension without retiring. Two others left the council, began collecting their retirement benefits, and returned to the council with no interruption or reduction of their pensions. Some have tacked extra years onto pensions with just a few days' work. They also have used annual bonuses that accumulate for multiple years of service, called "longevity pay," to pad their pensions and council salaries simultaneously.
In many ways, the Revere council provides a case study in the myriad tactics employed by some public officials in Massachusetts to maximize retirement benefits. But it also is an extreme case, according to the Globe review. The use of so many different retirement provisions - by retirees still on a public payroll - is rare if not unique, compensation specialists said....
The pensions are an example of the kind of nest-feathering that has infuriated the public and recently prompted Governor Deval Patrick and some lawmakers to call for an overhaul of the pension system. The Globe has published stories about town moderators and a library trustee who counted their volunteer service toward pensions, and public officials who began collecting early, enhanced pensions after they were fired from state government.
Please see: Moderate Massachusetts Looters
Ssssshhhhhh!: Pension Being Drawn
Revere officials say they are doing nothing improper, and that the provisions they have used to increase their pensions are part of state and local codes. "I take what is given to me - that's my stand on it," said Councilor George V. Colella, a former Revere mayor.
Yeah, GIVEN TO YOU by YOURSELVES (keep reading)!!!!!! The ARROGANCE is SO ASTONISHING that YOU GUYS BETTER WATCH YOUR HEADS!!!!
Seven of the 11 Revere councilors receive pensions, ranging up to $57,000 a year. In addition, they receive base city council pay of $14,650, plus automatic expense stipends of $7,200 (recently reduced by 20 percent, in a nod to the budget crisis), plus the accumulating bonuses for years worked, called longevity bonuses.
(The LOOTING of the TAXPAYER is ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING! Why is City Hall still standing, Revere?)
The combined take for some councilors is more than $85,000 a year, in a city of 55,000 people where the median income hovers around $45,000 annually. By comparison, Malden, with about the same population and demographics, pays councilors $17,500. Only one Malden councilor receives a city pension.
Some of the Revere councilors built up pensions while serving as full-time city employees; others earned pensions based largely on serving as council and School Committee members. Two of the retirees served the city as both mayor and councilor; one as only a councilor; one as a firefighter; one as a police officer; and one served in the state's employment training department.
"Revere may be unique in electing so many retirees to the city council," said Anthony T. Zambuto, one of the few councilors who does not receive a public pension. Councilor Arthur Guinasso, for example, retired as a councilor in 2002 at age 62, began receiving a $10,000 annual pension, and then returned to the council two years later, collecting both his pension and the councilor compensation package, which together equals a combined $31,700. Guinasso did not return telephone calls.
Councilor Robert J. Haas Jr. "retired" from his career as a mayor and councilor in 2005 at age 62, and just kept going, never breaking his service on the council. The only change for Haas was that he began drawing his $47,500 pension on top of his councilor's pay and expenses of about $25,000.
These moves are legal because city councilors and other elected officials in Massachusetts are exempt from the restrictions and financial penalties the law imposes on most government retirees who want to continuing working and drawing paychecks beyond their retirement. The law imposes no such restrictions on retirees who hold elected office.
And WHO MADE those SELF-SERVING LAWS, 'eh?
This BREAKS MY HEART to POST ITEMS like this AD INFINITUM, readers!
The LOOTING has BROKEN ME MORE than the LYING, can you believe it?
The state rules also allow City Council members to count their part-time, elected jobs as full years of pension credit. The council usually meets three times a month, for as long as five hours per session. On average, that is about four hours a week throughout the year. They also spend various amounts of time on constituent work.
Also see: The Pension Pilferers of Massachusetts
Councilors bristled at the suggestion they are taking advantage of the system.
Yeah, well, GUILT at getting CAUGHT will do that to you.
"Everybody says it's part-time work," said Ira Novoselsky, a councilor who combined state employment and a stint on the city planning board to retire at age 55 with an annual pension of about $30,000, on top of his council compensation of more than $26,500. "But you don't get calls at two o'clock in the morning from [angry] constituents."
WHO DOES, you lying sack of s***!!!!!
Revere City Council members have also used the so-called one-day rule to boost their pensions, in a fashion similar to other officials around the state. It allows public officials to collect a full year of credit toward a pension for as little as one day of work in a calendar year.
And WHO PUT in THAT RULE?
The SELF-SERVING LOOTERS, that's who!
Tar, feather, harbor, dunk!
The rule was devised by the state Legislature, whose departing members typically gain an extra year of credit when they remain in office for a few days in January while awaiting the swearing-in of their successors....
Pffffft!
State is BANKRUPT and BORROWING into OBLIVION, and THESE GUYS are STUFFING MONEY in their pockets as they go out the door!!!
But another key benefit was established by the council. The council voted in 2000 to boost members' pay - and their eventual pensions - by giving themselves automatic annual longevity bonuses based on the length of their public employment. Longevity pay is practically unheard of for city councilors and other elected officials in surrounding municipalities, according to a survey of those cities.
Yeah, YOU READ THAT RIGHT!
THEY VOTED THEMSELVES INCREASED PENSIONS!!!
What would YOU VOTE YOURSELF if YOU HAD the CHANCE, huh, TAXPAYER?
The Revere city council also then further enhanced the benefits of longevity. Councilors voted, in the same year, to allow longevity payments they receive to be used in calculating their pensions....
Have you PUKED UP that BREAKFAST yet?
--more--"
The State Budget Swindle
Governor Guts State Services
Pigs at the State Trough
A Slow Saturday Special: Statehouse Slush Fund
Hollywood S***s on Massachusetts
