a flock of seagulls

beats working for a living...

Travis's buddies line up like a flock of seagulls splat... looking for some crumbs from Wendy...
SPLAT....first guest editorial we get Terry Tyler, an oft-times letter writer to the News-Press and anti-City Haller..he and his wife used to head a local nonprofit that provided weird services to the homeless like etiquette lessons..I swear to God! Tyler used to work for the City of SB and is mad that he didn't stick around to long enough to be able to retire comfortably! He's a bald-headed goon... SPLAT.. next up we get Lanny Ebenstein, another Wendy suckup. Lanny is president of the shady nonprofit Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association..Lanny has never held a real job in his life instead he mooches off inheritance, the University system, and nonprofits it appears. He also was behind the Measure B fiasco and canyonization fears in town. He and Travis used to sit and discuss this on the radio like two inbred seagulls at an eagles convention!
Lanny says a there's a "political sea change" at city hall, whatever that means.... Dale lost, and the liberals get the majority with Grant House getting the most councilmember votes! What election are you talking about, Lanny...well, they are excited because Frank and Mike won and that somehow translates to a conservative majority..what, they're gonna have Tea Parties at City Hall now?? The reality is the council will work the same as it's always worked..to provide services to the citizens. Some jobs and services will go and some will stay..it's not that complicated!
But ol' Lanny says he wants to go after the salaries and benefits of working class families..according to him, the city pays too well..more than the private sector..the salaries are unfair and unjust and employees can retire at age fifty with 100% of their salaries..well, that's partly true for cops due to the nature of job burnout after 30 years with the force... but most don't retire with 100% of their salary..Lanny will use some exaggerations to try to bust the union..the News-Press has been trying for years to bust the unions, unsuccessfully. What's really unfair and unjust is people like Wendy McCaw getting rich by divorcing her husband..do you people even understand the concept of work or how a city workforce operates..you need to FIND OUT before writing another opinion, shit-fer-brains! Work is more than getting a paycheck and a kick in the ass..the private sector needs to learn this!!!
Another issue is the lies the News-Press continues to tell. First, most city workers are service workers and work all hours of the day... on shifts, on call to make sure the city facilities are working properly 24 hours per day. Many jobs require state certification...from electricians to maintenance to lab techs to water treatment operators...you can't just go pull people off the street and get them to work a city job, as Lanny threatens if the benefits and salaries of present workers don't decrease..he's just being silly.
Many employees started in the 1970s and1980s, some were military veterans, they paid their dues and retired after 25 or 35 years of service, ie, WORK! The union has been negotiating contracts for 30 years, so the claim that all of a sudden the contracts are unsustainable is nonsense. What is unsustainable is the trees the News-Press uses to print its drivel!
A good labor contract covers safety equipment, leave, discrimination issues and much more...all the NewsPress wants to do is point out a few top heavy administrative salaries and try to claim every employee makes the same! The likely scenerio is if you start work in 1980 at 27 years old making $30000/year and retire in 2005 at 52 years old making $68000 year, you will get about $38000/year to live on..and that money is a part of the retirement account you've been paying into for 25 years plus any other investments you've made over the years. Of course in the private sector, there's always an ENRON ready to rob you of your savings!!
...there are many variables here, but when you start work at a municipality, you put part of your salary into a PERS account and you can't touch it until you leave the city or retire at a fixed income..this is the way most EVERY PRIVATE BUSINESS should operate..but that won't happen due to the profit motive and short amount of time most people work in the private sector..I mean, are you going to wash dishes (I washed many dishes in my youth and I was damn good at it!)) at the Chase restaurant for the rest of your life or are you going to look for a career? or are you going to divorce rich like Wendy?
Now, Lanny needs to look at the whole picture, 8 years of Bushnomics, Wall Street fraud and the mess that Obama is trying to clean up now..and stop blaming city workers and unions for the present day fiscal issues. I don't expect facts to get in the way of future guest editorials from these jokers...

A blonde, brunette and redhead were walking along the beach, when a seagull flies over and craps all over the blonde. The brunette says in a disgusted voice "hang on, the bathroom is just up the hill, I'll go get some toilet paper." After she leaves the blonde begins to laugh. The redhead asks "what's so funny ?" The blonde says "well, blondes are suppose to be so dumb and look at her, by the time she gets back with the toilet paper that seagull will be miles away!"