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It’s the health insurance, stupid!
November 5th, 2009, 5:00 am · 48 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
Read the mayor’s response here
Why do people run for local office? Why are they willing to perch on those daises hour after hour, year after year, decade after decade, pondering sewer systems, street repairs, budget shortfalls and zoning updates?
Is it altruism at its purest? Is it a form of masochism?!
Certainly there’s great satisfaction in public service. And the prestige attendant to being a democratically elected representative is certainly nothing to sneeze at. But stipends for city councilmembers are notoriously low (especially when compared to, say, water districts), with the highest-paid city councilmembers getting just $1,500 a month or so, and most getting much less.
So it can’t be about the money. Or, can it?
Public documents obtained by a challenger in the Laguna Hills council race tell a very interesting story:
- Yes, the annual council stipend is low: just $7,484 per member.
- But the city pays nearly three times that much on insurance - health, medical, dental, vision, etc. - to the tune of $23,902, for a single councilmember, for a single year. (One Laguna Hills councilmember gets less - see details below.)
- The city also pays into the California Public Employees Retirement System for councilmembers - $1,324 per councilmember last year.
Some of them also get travel and meeting expenses of several hundred dollars per year…. Not bad for a part-time job!
Let’s look at Joel Lautenschleger (right), who has been on the council since 1991. In 2008-09, his medical insurance cost $22,164; dental, $1,360; vision, $301; life and disability, $77. The PERS contribution was $1,324, and he got $898 for travel and meeting expenses.
You can see figures for previous years for him, and the rest of the council, below.
Now, lest you think we are picking on Laguna Hills, let us say for the record that we will be requesting this identical information from every city, school and special district in Orange County, in precisely the format you’ll see it below. We kick off with Laguna Hills because, well, these documents fell into our lap via council challenger Barbara Kogerman, and we will not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Here are the details, per councilmember (and we note here that Randal Bresette’s health insurance cost $8,497 last year - less than half what was spent on other council members):
1. joel-lautenschleger; 2. r-craig-scott; 3. allan-songstad; 4. melody-carruth and 5.randal-bressette.
More Watchdog:
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Teri, excellent work. I can’t wait until you air the ‘dirty laundry’ in our city. These officials and their gang always try to exhaust you when you request public information, so you will go away. Thanks for waking people up with Laguna Hills. And kudos to Barbara Kogerman for being an ‘active’ citizen. Enough already.
The real gold is in the special district seats they also occupy, you should look there, and start adding it all up for all electeds.
Kudos, Teri, for lifting the cloak of secrecy off these people.
The relatively low pay tells only part of the story. You think, like all politicians, that they don’t have special interests lurking in the background that depend upon their votes and influence who feed them bones with lot of meat on them???
And city council positions are stepping stones to other political offices, commissions or gobblement jobs that pay $125,000 for sitting around and shuffling papers that lead to nowhere.
And what medical insurance has a premium of over $22000??? Does Lautenschleger have a brood of 15 or does the coverage include tummy tucks, face lifts and botox treatments for the wife??? Really, I have never heard of such expensive healthcare premiums! You should look into the particulars of the coverage and why it costs so darned much. Is Mr. Lautenschleger too elite to go to Kaiser where the premiums would be half has much???
I don’t even live in LH but after reading your pieces I have an urge to get involved in their elections so people know what the heck they are dealing with there. The biggest enemy of the people is ignorance. If the electorate only knew……
The relatively low pay tells only part of the story. You think, like all politicians, that they don’t have special interests lurking in the background that depend upon their votes and influence who feed them bones with lot of meat on them???
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spot on OCOB. And they are criminal pros at covering their trail. This country sure isn’t like the books you read in elementary school. LOL
JR wrote,
“This country sure isn’t like the books you read in elementary school. LOL”
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feel free to leave whenever you want JR………..lol…
Whether you want to admit the truth or not, JR is totally spot-on, ntheoc.
Everything we were taught in grade and high school about how the gobblement worked was one big lie. All of it. And those who speak the truth shouldn’t leave the country. They are doing what our founding fathers would promote and admire. Nope. The ones who should leave the country are the ones who have turned gobblement in a harlot house and folks like yourself who benefit from their lies. Like I said before, even though YOU purport to be a patriot in reality you aren’t. You’re just another trough feeder with his hand in the pie grabbing for the biggest piece possible without reservation. You are part of the problem whether you want to recognize it or not. I am here to remind you.
ntheoc says:
“This country sure isn’t like the books you read in elementary school. LOL”
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feel free to leave whenever you want JR………..lol…
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Now, now ntheoc, is that anyway to treat the public that pays your $200K per year FF compensation?
Thanks, Teri!Here’s some other gold: the Rancho Santa Margarita councilmen who get full medical benefits but who wrote a letter to President Obama in opposition to medical coverage for their citizens.
And the San Juan Capistrano city councilMEN who go on the Portola Ride each year — an all-male event at which connections are made and business is transacted. No women need apply. Few people complain about the female exclusion — I wonder how it would go over if blacks or Jews were left out?
Don’t they take any female lobbyists with them on their ‘Portola Ride”? Or are arrangements made for the lobbyists to meet them at an undisclosed location? Mike Duvall should be included in the group as a ‘consultant’ for the city. He know the ropes. The only weakness he had was flapping his gums too much.
Starbucks and Ikea pay health insurance for part time workers as well. Yet, they are profitable companies with happy employees. Do we really expect our public servants to work for less than a warehouse worker at Ikea?
exactly HBmom, it’s nice to read a post from someone who seems to have a brain. these council members do so much more than show up at meetings and try to help run their cities the best they can. some of these comments are from the same old people venting out in jealousy! keep up the good comments HBmom.
$22000 for health insurance is absurd unless you’re a cancer survivor. And in that case you would be uninsurable and blackballed in this country anyway.
I can’t stop laughing! wow… NOW… THEY want to compare themselves to companies that make a PROFIT. LMAO
Exactly, JR.
Thanks for catching that!
The gobblement workers forget that they don’t generate a dime of GDP and only live off of recycled tax dollars.
They have deluded themselves into believing that they actually contribute to national wealth. hah!
The emperor is fully clothed!
ntheoc says:
exactly HBmom, it’s nice to read a post from someone who seems to have a brain. these council members do so much more than show up at meetings and try to help run their cities the best they can. some of these comments are from the same old people venting out in jealousy! keep up the good comments HBmom.
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ntheoc, you two need to get a ROOM and have a lovefest with each other
I choose to buy Starbucks coffee or not. I rarely do, I have my own grinder and espresso maker at home. And I buy Jose’s coffee beans from Costco - better than Starbucks, also available at Costco. A month’s worth of lattes at Starbucks will buy you a grinder and espresso maker.
I have no choice in funding my local government’s excesses.
Yes you do. Move to a different city.
Yes…but Starbucks and Ikea do not pay those benefits FOR THE REST OF THEIR EMPLOYEE’S LIVES!!!! JUST WAIT TILL YOU GET TO NEWPORT BEACH…THOSE BENI’S ARE FOREVER.
I bet they don’t have Cadillac policies like those described here. Except for the life and disability–that sounds like maybe its really Accidental death and dismemberment for that low of a premium at his age which really doesn’t cover much.
happyHBmom says:
Starbucks and Ikea pay health insurance for part time workers as well. Yet, they are profitable companies with happy employees. Do we really expect our public servants to work for less than a warehouse worker at Ikea?
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These two pay a BARE BONES medical insurance policy-and it does NOT include dental or vision or anything else besides medical.
The cost may be $2-$4K per year for the plan SB’s offers. The plan the Clowncil has is $35K per year-so stop comparing apples to apples. BTW-UPS also offers PT workers a medical plan AFTER you have worked there 1 FULL year-I am sure the wait period at SB and Ikea is similar.
So your notion that warehouse workers make the more than these clowns is another whooper lie coming from the public empoyee unions.
“And what medical insurance has a premium of over $22000???”
Well, I pay a whole lot more than that myself for a high-deductible Blue Cross plan for me and 2 dependents.
If what you claim is true you are getting ripped off, howard. Go check Kaiser rates. Their healthplans are more than adequate. I cannot imagine paying well over $10,000 more for health insurance than a Kaiser patient who gets excellent care with low deductibles. You need to shop around friend. So does the City of LH.
I used to think that, but some people have to pay $800/month b/c they are high risk. Example being someone that is obese with diabetes.
do the water districts give similar benefits to board members? i imagine that medical insurance and a state pension would be a great incentive to get elected to a 4 days per month job.
Great question and they probably get better incentives.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THESE LAZY FAT-S WHO DON”T LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR ADVICES. THEY WANT TO WAIT FOR A MIRACLE. THESE BABY SHAMOO ARE THE ONE THAT COST MEDICAL INSURANCE BILLS TO INCREASE EVERY YEAR
OMG!!! City council members make $30,000 a year in salary and benefits!!! I’m amazed they don’t just work one term and retire… This is an outrage!!!
But really people, get over it. Being upset that the city bought a $60,000 SUV for the city controller (I think that was his position) is one thing. These people are hardly raking it in. If they didn’t get some reasonable compensation it would be hard to find people willing to run for office.
observer wrote,
“Like I said before, even though YOU purport to be a patriot in reality you aren’t. You’re just another trough feeder with his hand in the pie grabbing for the biggest piece possible without reservation. You are part of the problem whether you want to recognize it or not.”
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wow ocb tell me how ya really feel…… so because i support govt workers and chose a public safety job as a ff i am an evil trough feeding enemy,wow!!
Nope. It’s because you promote these public swindles that give city managers of a town of 34k a brand new shiny $60000 ride, a big fat bonus and a hefty salary increase while they cut the city workforce by 8% and lay off 2 contracted deputies!!! You encourage the bezzle making YOU one of THEM. You stand side by side with the swindlers simply because you know you are in the same camp. hah! Deal with it. I’m just here to remind you.
$8,000.00 a year for working a couple hours, one day a month, is not too shabby.
If you think that’s all the time they work your wrong!
Like the saying goes, “All politics are local.” That’s where we get screwed directly. Just like Congress, these elected officials get the best health care. Public SERVANT is no longer appropriate. We’re the servants, they’re on the gravy train. Don’t vote for a single incumbent! We need to stop being sheep voting along party lines or nothing will ever change. Politicians at all levels need to know their jobs are on the line so they will make decisions that actually benefit their constitutents rather than their wallets.
Public SERVANT is no longer appropriate. We’re the servants, they’re on the gravy train
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EXACTLY! Just look at the ‘mindset’ some of these posters have. It’s like we OWE them, instead of the other way around.
how ignorant of a comment JR!!! you do not have to bunch all public employees together over your dissapointment of a few,cmon now…..
I said SOME. Good morning sunshine. Sorry, if you can’t see HOW BAD it is. You are like the parent who says their child is innocent after they murdered someone.
ntheoc is the CONDUCTOR of the gravy train.
In the story - Full Benefits for Part-Time Elected Officials are Reasonable, The Laguna Hills Mayor said - The City Council conducts all of its business in an open and transparent manner in which the public is invited to participate. All expenditures are available for public review.
With all that Transparency from the Laguna Hills City Council, why did the citizens have to wait 20 years to hear this very significant information from OC Watchdog reporter Teri Sorza? This is information that should be on the city web site and readily available to the city residents/tax payers. All of these part time city council members except Randy Bressette have a more than $20,000 Medical Insurance Plan in addition to their other benefits and retirement plans. These are the same council members who refused to contribute a dime to the Florence Sylvester Senior Center in Laguna Hills, for 18 years, toward the needs of their Laguna Hills Seniors. Only in 2008 did they finally, under pressure from Seniors, apply for a Grant for Seniors and they have still done nothing to assist the seniors and the disabled with transportation.
These benefit, which are present in every city, were always there. It’s just that now your part one of three people trying to use known facts for your sad poltical mouth piece. This is sad! Your turning the environment into a political hack stage!
So council members should not be paid anything? Is that what you people think? What kind of officials would we get if you paid them nothing at all. And for the record, they don’t work a couple hours a month. If everyone is so altruistic, why don’t you all donate your time and do it for free.
Now other areas of the government are a different story. They get paid well into six figures. But city councilmembers? Why do you think we get such crummy councilmembers?
JR says,
“I said SOME. Good morning sunshine. Sorry, if you can’t see HOW BAD it is.”
======================================================
ok JR you did say some,i mis-read. i could respond to the 2nd part of your post and really make you cry but i’ll let ya off for that one!!!!! your not ocobserver skilled yet…hah
That right, ntheoc. I read you and your ilk like a book. I sniffed out your scam several years ago. The masses are starting to catch on tho. You are in for some rough years ahead for biting the hand that feeds you. The people are fed up. The feeding trough is running low. It will be amusing when they start laying off at the FD and their brothers refuse to take a pay cut to save jobs. hah. We call that ‘eating your own’ in the private sector.
sorry to ruin your little wet dream ocobserver but my dept is doing just fine! hah. you are on the outside and looking in ocb and you have no idea what cuts were made except the ones you make up in your fantasyland brain. “THE SKY IS FALLING RIGHT CHICKEN LITTLE”!!!HAH. but keep up the good spin and twisting of facts with your tim mcveigh ideology and unibomber mentality. well my trough is full today with some o.t for desert,hah… time to go do a drill cya!!!!!
jblaze says,
“ntheoc is the CONDUCTOR of the gravy train.”
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lol, what is this blaze pick on ntheoc day!!!
No surprise at all, but there is ANOTHER HUGH reason ….
They get a year of service credit into the pension system. If (or should I say WHEN) they accumulate significant service years, they can get a regular full-time high-paying gov’t job (using their political connections of course), and retire after 3 years with a pension NO DIFFERENT than if their WHOLE CAREER was in Civil Service.
This is one of the BIGGEST TAXPAYERS ripoffs going on.
Just read your 11/7 article about council benefits: That’s not ture about Medicare not taking on a working person for health care. My husband worked for a compnay in Costa Mesa for 30 yrs. when he turned 65, they asked him to go on Medicare, so they wouldn’t have to pay for his health insurance. The problem was, when he went on Medicare that left me out in the cold. After 30 yrs of excellant insurance, I now had to buy my own, which ended up costing $900.00 a month. After my husband passed away I couldn’t afford to pay that much for insurance, now I have bargin insurance and pay $450.00 a month, but can’t afford to go to the doctor. Hopefully I won’t get sick before I turn 65!
Do you know if the premiums were for the counsel members or for the counsel members and their families as well? Why was one member’s rates so much lower than the others?
Is it standard in industry to pay for the “employee” or “the employee and family”?
I am strongly anti-tax and small government and agree we always need to look for less expensive solutions for governmental healthcare and retirement options.
However, being a long time Laguna Hills resident and active in city functions, there is a misinformation in the blogs.
I personally know several of the council members.
Their time and efforts have made Laguna Hills a great place to raise a family. The city has thirteen parks and a Community Service Program that is award winning and utilized by citizens throughout South Orange County.
City Hall is only one third utilized by the city, generating a positive cash flow.
The city also has a significant surplus to help alleviate the Sacramento debacle.
Also lets not forget, our city leaders lead the effort to kill the El Toro Airport.
I don’t know many mayors like Joel that are AYSO referees with no kids in the program. Also, I have seen Joel pick up litter when walking throughout the city. I am thankful that Joel has been on the council since the inception of Laguna Hlls.
Opinions are not facts.
Also, I have seen Joel pick up litter when walking throughout the city. I am thankful that Joel has been on the council
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LOL I pick up litter for free!