The life of a background/extra actor means I really should not be seen or recognized. I like to think I am the garnish on a plate, rather than food of any real substance.
I had a good conversation with an RPV resident who favors having individual workers allowed to control more of their retirement funds, through things like larger 401(k) contributions instead of 'regular' pensions.
The individual related that he lost quite a bit of his retirement when funds he used to provide greater self-controlled pension savings, were lost in 2008-2009.
I related to him that when I started work with 'the phone company', at the age of 25, I had absolutely no real clue about investing to provide for a more secure retirement.
When I was 25, I was just out of the U.S.A.F., with a wife and two very young sons. I was more worried about medical benefits and paying a mortgage than even considering when I would retire or how I could save more for retirement.
I was able to begin a company savings plan, but that was years after I started my long-term job.
It is my feeling that I am not very supportive of much of the 'pension reform' we have seen in our city, although I understand why many in our city want more reforms to happen.
I feel if our city was in greater financial dire or we didn't have the incredible brain trust we have in R.P.V., there might be more reasons to make more 'reforms' to our staff's pension plans.
It is also something I am pondering towards a more positive position concerning a two tier type of reform, but my conversation with the gentleman and my own knowledge, or lack thereof, of the best financial planning possible, make me still feel that allowing workers to have a greater control of their pension funds, especially when they are young or less informed about financial matters, is an overall negative thing.
I also have little to no trust in much of the Wall Street financial products and operations these days and voting to provide less regulation at a time when we are all feeling like victims of Wall Street, is also cause for caution, I think.
Many of us suspect that when the new Council is seated, there will be attempts to revisit pension 'reform' but I do not feel it is the correct time in our nations financial arena to change much of anything, except POSSIBLY for the two-tier system. I can live with that.
Yes, CalPers is a real problem, but I feel Bank of America, Chase, Citi Group, and the rest of Wall Street helped contribute to problems with CalPers and I feel our city's financials are well enough, with regards to what was recently voted on with pension reform, to be what is best, for the next few years.
Let's wait until we have higher employment, lower foreclosures and greater national and state financial bearings before we do much more changing.
As bad as the problems with San Ramon Canyon are, I continue to watch the problems with Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro as they might just be watching the birth of something akin to a minor version of our Portuguese Bend slide area.
Those good folks are going to have a real devil of a time attempting to reroute the roadbed through any portion of the White Point Nature Preserve and where the monies will come to even attempt that, is something I really don't want to imagine.
No matter what anyone feels about what our city is doing concerning the permanent repairs to San Ramon Canyon and the Terrapaca landslide, we are in a better position today than what I can think of what some former Councils would have placed us, had they been seated during these last few years.
I remember eight years ago when those campaigning for seats on the Council claimed time and time again that previous Councils ignored infrastructure issues.
I feel the fact that many of us pay a Storm Drain User Fee, we might have to take on a Sewer Maintenance Fee, and San Ramon Canyon finally has at least an emergency temporary strategy, almost shovel-ready, adds more reasons to claim that former Councils did, in fact, ignore infrastructure issues.
I hope we will find ALL of our Council members willing to continue to take on infrastructure issues because time marches, the earth keeps moving, and old things just get older.
Please be safe everyday and especially this coming MONDAY. I drove by the orange tank at the Conoco-Phillips refinery and the faces painted on it means it's Halloween time.
Chadwick School is about ready to have their Fall production. They cannot advertise it because of C.U.P guidelines in their local area, but I can.
I'll post more information about it after I get home from 'loading in' the production.
Every production I have seen or helped with, at that school, has been outstanding, FREE, and wonderful!
I'm still watching for the new Environmental Impact Report for Ponte Vista at San Pedro to be published for the public to use to make comment on.
Many of us are leery about the Traffic Study already published and if we all feel that R.P.V. should remain a 'low density' city, then having a 'medium density' project directly across the street from a 600-home HOA and one of the largest businesses in R.P.V. we should all support, demand and comment to keep Ponte Vista a 'low density' project, as well.
The developers of Ponte Vista can march down to L.A. City Hall on Monday and pull permits to build up to 429, single-family, detached houses, on lots of not less than 5,000 square feet. For a project site that is 61.53 acres in size, that makes it a 'low density' opportunity that we all need to recognize.
The 'Proposed Project' will be for 1,135 condominiums and apartments and what the developers don't want you to know is that the 'single-family', detached housing they are planning are still considered to be 'condominiums' on very small lots.
Have a safe and not too chocolaty Halloween!
No comments:
Post a Comment