RECENTLY ON TOL:
TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
TAGS:
Horseofcourse's comments:
on Day After the Debate
Dudley seems like a nice enough guy, and sincere in wanting to do good things for Oregon. But it appears terribly arrogant to me that he has zero government experience, demonstrated no prior interest in politics, has a questionable voting record -- and out of the blue decides to go directly to the top by running for Governor.
Um, don't most NBA players have some basketball experience prior to getting a contract?
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
view in context
on Day After the Debate
I heard a lot of vague generalities in Dudley's responses, and more specifics from Kitzhaber.
Kitzhaber was up against a Republican legislature while serving as governor. If Dudley wants to claim that Kitzhaber didn't accomplish anything, it could be because the Republicans blocked his proposals.
Dudley can say all he wants about "cooperation" but if he's elected governor and faces a Democratic legislature, he'll be in the same boat that Kitzhaber was in. Dudley, being a government newbie, lacks the connections and relationships within the capitol that Kitzhaber developed after years of service in the legislature. How does he intend to produce different results if he ends up in similar circumstances?
How will Dudley guarantee that a reduced tax on capital gains (and other tax breaks for upper income Oregonians) will directly translate to a new livable-wage job instead of a new luxury car or tropical vacation? Can the Dudley camp demonstrate how "trickle down economics" has actually reached me?
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
view in context
on Measure 73
Certainly I would like to see repeat sex offenders and drunk drivers removed from the population. However, as Bluewater42 points out, Measure 73 has several shortcomings.
The more the statutes require us to spend on prisons, the fewer funds there are to spend on education and other important programs. Just as mandatory sentencing limits judicial discretion, it also limits the Oregon Legislature's budgetary discretion.
Frankly, I would rather see the funds spent in preventing these crimes. Ask the victim of a rapist. Would she rather have her offender jailed? Or never to have been attacked at all?
My grandparents were killed by a drunk driver. Incarcerating the man wouldn't have brought back my grandparents. Preventing his behavior may have given us a few more years with my grandparents. In this case the drunk driver was so badly injured in the accident that he removed himself from Oregon's roads.
Once again Kevin Mannix has given us an unfunded measure that stirs an emotional response without solving the problem. I'll likely vote against Measure 73 for budgetary reasons.
posted 2 years, 8 months ago
view in context
on What Are Workers Worth?
My experience was the state uses Microsoft Office where it can.
However, proprietary software is often necessary to implement statutes and rules. The statutes change after every legislative session, and the patchwork of additions and revisions can be way too convoluted for generic off-the-shelf software.
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on What Are Workers Worth?
During my 30 years of state employment, modest salaries were generally offset by benefits. Base salary cost-of-living-adjustments were usually below the inflation rate, but health insurance coverage, retirement benefits some 30 years out, and additional paid holidays were granted in compensation.
Please recall that the 6% retirement contribution used to be the employee's responsibility. At the end of the six-month probationary period, the new employee was given a one-step pay increase to offset the initiation of retirement contributions. During salary negotiations in the mid-1970s, employees agreed to freezing their base salaries while employers agreed to pick up the retirement contribution -- in essence, putting more money in the hands of the employees without increasing payroll taxes. At the time, it was a win-win situation.
Also consider that state employee compensation is generally two years behind real world circumstances. Salaries and benefits negotiated during a flush period will be in effect for the biennium, regardless of economic downturns. Conversely, salaries and benefits negotiated during tough economic times will remain modest for the biennium despite an economic rebound. Anyone remember the "Dot Com Boom" of the 1990s? I do -- my salary was frozen while the economy soared.
My suggestion for the governor and legislature is to eliminate the income tax "kicker" and place the money into a rainy day fund. Employees should once again make their own 6% contribution to their retirement accounts after a one-time 6% base salary increase (turn back the clock to the 1970s). State employees will have to bite the bullet and pick up more of their medical insurance premiums.
Just because the recession has put private sector employees out of work doesn't mean work loads have lightened for state employees. The state statutes haven't gone away. Demand for public services has exploded for some agencies. Furlough days only create taller stacks of work on desks.
State employees will have to make concessions during tough economic times, but they shouldn't be political scapegoats to assuage the frustrations of the private sector.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context
on What Are Workers Worth?
During my 30 years of state employment I did not experience rampant fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer money by my fellow employees. Perhaps it was the agency culture where you worked, but it was not the norm at the agencies where I was employed. I would venture to say that the occurrence of employee fraud is pretty much the same in public employment as it is in the private sector.
Now that I am retired, I am paying the entire PEBB medical and dental insurance premiums out of pocket. OUCH!
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
view in context
