Editor:
Riddle me this. Why is DOGE causing loss of jobs and services such a tremendous concern for California politicians, while PERS causing loss of jobs and services is not a huge concern (NCJ Daily, March 6)?
Congressmember Jared Huffman talks of how government exists to serve the people and how DOGE is slashing staff and cutting vital spending. Local governments are cutting staff and vital spending on services, because they believe their constitutional guarantee of retirement income (PERS) gives them the right to live beyond their means and run up big debts. Debt payments lead to loss of services, with increased taxes and fees placing an increased economic burden on a debilitated private sector.
Riddle yourself this. Do the following actions of local governments meet Congressman Huffman’s narrative that government exists to serve the people?
In early 2020, in Eureka, four people were brutally assaulted in four separate, violent attacks: Two people survived, two were murdered. Eureka City Hall’s response was to cut $1.1 million and six positions, including four officers, from the Eureka Police Department as it spent $5.7 million on pension debt.
In 2024, state Sen. Mike McGuire was in town for the Christmas Food Drive, saying the need is even greater, as the Food Bank is now serving 21,000 individuals every month, 5,000 more than just two years ago. Yet earlier in 2024, Arcata House Partnership’s safe parking program was cut due to lack of $477,000 in funding as Arcata City Hall spent $7.5 million on pension debt.
Humboldt County’s pension debt increased from $220 million in 2015 to $330 million in 2021.
DOGE can be changed in four years at the next presidential election, if public outrage does not end it sooner. The debilitating effects of ongoing PERS debt payments will be with us for decades.
Patrick Cloney, Eureka
This article appears in Youngest North Coast Condor Dies of Lead Poisoning.