9/17/2009 Pension Election IP: 96.252.146.186 Posted on September 4, 2009 at 07:16:31 PM by Gary Kane
Rich, I’m not certain who the TFPRA is endorsing yet, but I wanted to respond to your letter seeking our support. I’ve got a few concerns and since you’ve been on the department some 5 years, you must be aware of the contentious behavior by some in leadership positions. 1) I’d like to know your philosophy regarding the pension board arbitrarily tapping into our cola for approximately $219 million prompting a huge court battle. 2) Your position on the “discriminatory” multiplier that only retirees after 2003 were eligible to receive. When we signed our pension contracts, the emphasis was unanimity; the contract could not be altered or modified unless every member agreed.. Unfortunately,a spineless judge would not interpret the law for fear of jeopardizing his political friendships. 3) The 13th check was originally designed to be an every year occurrence. Now there’s constraints with a certain percentage of profit to be made before it can be distributed. I’d appreciate your feedback on these issues and would only take time to contact you as I did with Patrick Lynch in the past, because you seem to have a genuine outlook for all members and went through the time and effort to campaign. Hopefully, you can restore some faith in the retirees and mend some of the acrimonious feelings towards the City and respective unions. For the first time anywhere, brotherhood disappeared from Tampa’s vocabulary the past few years and self-serving individuals have feathered their own bed at the expense of retirees. Best, Gary Kane TPD 1975-1996