Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach sent out this e-mail update to his subscribers today regarding yesterday’s post on double-dippers by reporter Jennifer Muir on the Orange County Register’s “OC Watchdog” blog:

In my long battle against public defined benefit pension plan abuses, I have been frustrated that the system allows for egregious double-dipping opportunities. In fact, the Sacramento Bee also pointed out that some retirees were even triple-dipping-by also filing for unemployment benefits!

But, in my efforts to address this issue, I’ve been more focused on a system that encourages good people to retire at such a young age. We see people retiring in the public sector at 55 years of age. Why not? Stay at work, earn 100% of salary. Stay at home, earn 80% of salary. So they put in 40-plus hours for that additional 20%? No wonder they say, “Why work for free?”

Many retire and realize that they still want to work. Why develop all the experience and knowledge, only to let it sit on a shelf?

After all, some of us Type-A people don’t do well sitting around the house. I also know that many love their careers. We literally force Police Chiefs out because they can’t explain to their spouses that for the long hours they put in, they are only earning an additional 10 to 20 percent in wages. Of course they retire. And, of course they work for another city. After all, that city just lost their Police Chief for the same reason. Are the Chiefs bad people? Of course not.

The answer? Raise retirement ages. This is low hanging fruit. This is what the County of Orange just did with its largest employee bargaining unit. New hires will not automatically go into a “2.7% @ 55″ formula. They will adopt a “1.62% @ 65.” They will be able to adopt the higher benefit, but they will be paying the higher withholdings in order to do so. Senate Bill 752 also lets those employees currently in the higher tier drop down to the lower one. This will be tempting as it provides the elimination of the related withholdings, thus providing an increase in their net paycheck. For many, this may be a raise opportunity they cannot turn down.

The big news? This was a strategy that was negotiated and approved by our largest bargaining unit. And the enabling legislation (co-drafted by our office) passed almost unanimously through a labor-dominated state legislature. This is an amazing story. This is a good first step. And we’re at the forefront of addressing legacy costs. These pension and other post employee benefit costs are boat anchors dragging every municipality in the state down the path of insolvency.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association — California’s largest and most influential taxpayer organization — has launched a campaign to stop the Metropolitan Water District from increasing its employee pensions by 25%. The pension hike is scheduled for a vote at the MWD’s board meeting next Tuesday. You can read about the campaign here and sign the online petition here.

Council member Denis Bilodeau of Orange says that the city will face bankruptcy if no action is taken to stem the rising cost of pension benefits for its public employees. His remarks were reported in a news story in the September 8th edition of the Foothills Sentry. The publication doesn’t post articles online, so we’re providing you with this PFD version.

By Jack Dean

It’s not quite as momentous an anniversary to celebrate as the Apollo 11 moon landing, perhaps, but today marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of this project.

First came the PensionWatch e-mail list, which I began by occasionally forwarding news items and editorials to a handful of friends in Fullerton regarding the unsustainable cost of public employee pensions and benefits. I also started building a separate e-mail list of reporters, editors, columnists and bloggers who were covering the issue.

About a year later we launched the website, shamelessly swiping its name from an excellent editorial in the Orange County Register titled, “The pension tsunami is just offshore” which had been published — very appropriately — on July 20, 2004.

At times it has felt like the task of turning back the tide of public pension debt has indeed been comparable to putting a man on the moon, but after five years of hard work we’re beginning to see some small successes, and we’re definitely more optimistic than we were when we started.

And it’s all because of a growing army of aware, concerned citizens like you who visit the site regularly and forward links to your family, friends and elected officials. Thank you.

Jack Dean is editor and publisher of PensionTsunami.com, president of the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers, and a member of the board of directors of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.

Watch Marcia Fritz, vice president of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, explain why the state faces a growing financial problem due to lavish public employee pensions during her appearance today on Stuart Varney’s show on the Fox Business Network.

Keith Richman and the work of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility were profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Marcia Fritz appeared on not just one but two Fox TV shows, and the Los Angeles Times carried an article about Ventura County considering a ballot initiative that would require voter approval to increase pensions or benefits (similar to Orange County’s successful Measure J).

It doesn’t get any better!

Jack Dean, editor and publisher of PensionTsunami.com, will be a guest this afternoon at 3:30 pm on The Andy Caldwell Show on KUHL-AM in Santa Maria, California. Andy and Jack will talk about how the pension crisis is effecting city, county and the state’s budgets.

You can listen online.

Kris Hunt, Executive Director of the Contra Costa County Taxpayers Association, did a great job on Channel 5 in San Francisco this evening in a news report on California’s huge public employee pension and health care costs. The segment was titled “State Worker Obligations Dwarf California Deficit” and it can be viewed online. The report also aired on the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles — Channel 9.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility (CFFR) has obtained and posted “The CalSTRS $100,000 Pension Club” — a list of more than 3,000 retired educators who are receiving pensions of $100,000 or more per year. You can access the list in PDF here.

Marcia will be discussing the list on KABC Radio this morning on Doug McIntyre’s show at 7:30 am. You can listen online at the KABC website or you can skip the extra steps and go directly to the streaming audio player.

Jack Dean is president of the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers, editor of PensionTsunami.com, and a CFFR board member.

Californians for Pension Reform has launched a Facebook group and you are invited to join. With little promotion the group has already attracted over 300 members. Join today!