Sunday, September 20, 2009

SOCCCD's six-figure pension club

Runyan and Heffernan take home the big bucks
Perhaps you saw it: the article in Friday’s Reg about the thousands of “educators” who receive six-figure pensions (3,000 retired educators take home six-figure pensions).
I guess we’re supposed to be horrified.

Naturally, the Reg zeroes in on former Capistrano Unified School District Superintendent James A. Fleming, who will be going to court soon concerning all sorts of alleged misconduct. Fleming, we’re told, “collects $141,331 a year in California state teacher retirement funds, on top of the $64,068 pension he collects from working 27 years in Florida.”

Even if convicted, he’ll be getting those checks.

Turns out Fleming is “one of 3,090 educators in the California State Teachers' Retirement System who make at least $100,000 a year in taxpayer-guaranteed public pensions….”

Meanwhile, the “average STRS pension is just $36,252….” Fewer than 1.6 percent receive six-figure money, but “they account for 5 percent of the $8 billion yearly payout.”

Why is this a problem? Because
Like the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the teachers’ retirement system is running into trouble as workers retire to larger pensions that are increasingly difficult to fund. … Officials calculate that the system will face a $23 billion funding gap by 2039.
Well, you can read all about it, if you like. Prepare to get pissed off.

The Reg provides a link to the list of $100K club members per district: Which educators are in the $100k pension club?

I looked up the SOCCCD and found 18 names, including various retired administrators and some retired faculty.

Here’s the list:
WHITE, DENNIS W - $193,129.92
MCCULLOUGH, RICHARD D - $188,592.96
MACDOUGALL, ALLAN B - $156,314.16
BREWER, EVERETT L - $151,722.24
BUSCHE, DONALD L - $132,634.56
CORUM, SUSAN L - $130,564.08
BULLOCK, DIXIE L - $122,747.76
RUNYAN, MICHAEL G - $118,759.56
BRUMMEL, WILLIAM C - $116,683.44
ARNTSON, LEONA J - $112,998.60
CUNERTY, WILLIAM J - $112,701.36
HEFFERNAN, WILLIAM A - $110,381.40
MEYER, THOMAS S - $109,684.92
YATES, JAMES D - $107,233.44
NELSON, CALVIN L - $106,680.72
LOMBARDI, ROBERT A - $104,901.00
OTTA, WILLIAM E - $103,367.76
CALKINS, KEITH D - $100,601.76

Some of these people are known for their excellence. Some, however, are known for their incompetence or worse. Sheesh.


Note: I couldn't find a picture of Mike Runyan, so I searched the internet for someone who looks just like him. Runyan was a major player, along with the likes of IVC's Raghu Mathur, in the secretive and unscrupulous union "old guard" group that brought us the 1996 "board majority" of Frogue, Williams, Fortune, and Lorch. (The union had supported Frogue and Williams in '92; Lorch, with union support, was appointed a year or two later to replace a trustee who had died.)

In the election of '96, the union had supplied the notorious homophobic "same sex" fliers that secured the victory of Republicans Frogue, Williams, and Fortune (Lorch was not yet up for reelection).

This was one among several outrageous actions performed by union leadership at the time, including very misleading charges of misconduct against retiring trustee Harriett Walther.

After the '96 election, many faculty sought to reform the union, but Mr. Heffernan (see above) steadfastly defended Runyan and his group. If you see Bill, be sure to thank him for me.

Not long after the '96 election, some of the key old guard players secured administrative positions. Mathur, of course, became IVC's President. Ken Woodward became the dean of Saddleback's Liberal Arts division. Runyan became a Vice Chancellor.

Interestingly, during the election, Old Guard leadership repeatedly accused their faculty foes (including me) of hating teaching and seeking administrative positions.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...