The Mayor Wants Confrontation, Not Cooperation

Editor's note: While there appears to be a step by the pension board and State Pension Committee Chairman Dan Flynn to try and come up with a workable solution to this pension mess, it's not time to sit around, hold hands and sing Kumbaya--at least not yet. We all know that the city of Dallas is quick to promise, but rarely delivers. So here is another story about a first responder that Mayor Rawlings and the city of Dallas want you to believe is greedy, self-serving and overpaid.

In the 34 years Tom worked for the Dallas Police Department, he said 36 officers were killed in the line of duty, countless were injured and some were paralyzed.

Before the creation of the city’s DROP retirement program, virtually all officers left at age 50 because they had maxed out their pension, Tom said.

“When it came time, I went into DROP at age 48 and took a reduced pension to do that. I didn't invent DROP, I didn't steal anything, I am not a thief,” he said. “I only did what the city and department wanted—for me to stay longer.”

DROP worked well for the city, he said.  It kept hundreds of officers past what would have been the normal age to retire.

“In my case, I stayed until age 56.  The city got at least six more years of service and a reduced pension amount because of DROP,” he said.

Now, Mayor Mike Rawlings and the city want to seize retiree’s pension accounts and garnish their pension checks for money already earned.

“The city and the Mayor want confrontation, not cooperation,” Tom said. “The problem is the city doesn’t want to do its part.  Had the Mayor said some time ago, ‘The police officers and firefighters of this city have always taken care of us, we will take care of them’ much of this situation could have been avoided. The Mayor wanted a crisis and spoke of bankruptcy to create it.”

“I believe that my benefits are protected by a State Constitutional agreement and by common sense,” he said. “I want to help fix the crisis. I want to be part of the solution. The city has never been concerned about the pension until it got to this point. The city needs to step up.”

#PoundOfFlesh, #savethepension, #backtheblue

And Now The Scary Part

Editor's note: Meet David who served the citizens of Dallas for 39 years. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, the city of Dallas and the bogus group called Taxpayers For A Fair Pension want you to believe he is greedy, self-serving and overpaid. Here is David's story.

In his 39 years serving the city of Dallas, David was injured twice, his lockermate was killed on duty by a burglary suspect and his partner was shot in the face with a shotgun.

He was one of the first officers who rolled up on the scene when two officers were shot trying to arrest an armed robber.

“We took one of the officers to the hospital in the back seat of my police car wondering if he would survive. His partner was killed at the scene,” David said.

Throughout the years, he worked a steady stream of extra duty jobs to provide for his family.

“Once upon reflection, I figured I had worked an average of 52 hours a week for my first 30 years on the department,” he said. “After hours and many vacation days were devoted to extra jobs instead of my home life and vacations. I thought I was helping my family get the things they wanted and deserved. But when you work extra hours, even when you’re home, you don't have the energy to properly participate in normal family activities.”

David believes the long hours, extra jobs and daily stress cost him his marriage.

“I know this would not have happened if I had chosen another profession,” he said.

After he served for 20 years, David said he decided to stay and take advantage of the DROP program that was offered by the city.

“Even though I had already earned a full 20 year retirement, by working an additional nine and a half years, I was told--and believed--my retirement years would be secured. I could have left the police department to work at another company, earning another retirement and a better salary. But the DROP option seemed to be the best at the time,” he said. “The charts and the numbers were there before you. We were told the pension was one of the very best in the country.”

So David remained and made his long term financial and retirement decisions based on income from his pension and the DROP program. He retired in August of 2009.

“Now the scary part,” he said. “My fears today concern me more than when I was working. When I was a young officer, I thought I was bulletproof and could handle myself in any situation. Today, I feel older, have no control and our future seems uncertain.”

If the pension is cut by a substantial amount or if any type of clawback is imposed that would garnish his pension check for interest already earned, David will be forced to sell his home.

“I receive no social security from working at the city. The pension and DROP are our retirement. Finding reasonable employment income at my age seems unlikely,” he said, noting that he is 67 years old, has a heart condition and suffers from neuropathy.

“We have obeyed every rule and direction we were given by the city of Dallas and the pension fund regarding our retirement,” David said. “We have done nothing to warrant this.”

#PoundOfFlesh #savethepension #backtheblue
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We Never Imagined This

Editor's note: Meet Dan who served the citizens of Dallas for 32 years. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, the city of Dallas and the bogus group called Taxpayers For A Fair Pension want you to believe he is greedy, self-serving and overpaid. The truth is entirely different.

“Of all the perils that we withstood, we never imagined that this would be one of them."

From an early age, all Dan wanted to be was a police officer. In fact, his mom still has the letter he wrote for a school assignment about his dream job: to be the police chief of the small town where he grew up.

Dan was not quite 21 years old when he hired on the Dallas Police Department in 1979. After serving for a time in patrol as a rookie, he and a female officer were tapped to be undercover officers in a Dallas high school.  It was the first operation in Dallas of its kind and tensions were high. The two young officers did an outstanding job, making quite a few arrests along the way.

Not long after that assignment, Dan became a member of the undercover world again, this time on the streets in narcotics.

“This is a position that isolates you from your friends and family,” said his wife Diane. “You don’t look like yourself and cannot act like yourself.  If you aren’t careful, it can eat away at you. He could not always go home, but instead stayed in an undercover apartment.”

“There is no normal home life,” his wife said. “When you do see your family, they don’t know who you are anymore. The chances of a deal going bad and someone getting hurt are really high. It is an assignment that takes a toll. “

Dan’s career continued and he made patrol sergeant.

“He loved working in patrol. It was his first love,” she said. “He wanted to make sure that citizens weren’t afraid. He wanted to chase bad guys.”

In his 32 year career, Dan  established the K9 bomb dog unit at Love Field.  A unit that, while he was its supervisor, never failed a TSA evaluation. He mentored many young officers along the way. He also created FIT (field intelligence teams) that supported the patrol units during major events.

He retired in June of 2011. 

“I made a decent living, so we deferred most of his salary to the DROP account, thinking we would need that money more in our later years,” Diane said. “About a year after he retired, I was diagnosed with cancer. Thank God he was retired, because he did everything and I do mean everything.  Every appointment, every surgery, every day, he was there for me.  Just like he was there for his troops and for the citizens of Dallas.”

And now, after all that,  she said, “We are being told that all the money we had saved --which is absolutely not millions --will be taken. That the pension that he thought he has secured for his family may not be there after all.”

Dan like his fellow officers isn’t eligible for Social Security.

And like many of his fellow officers,  Dan “is too beat up from the rigors of the job to even contemplate getting a new one now,” his wife said. “And why should he need to? He gave it all to the City of Dallas. It’s time for the city to stand up, man up, and stand by their police and firefighters.”

Citizens need to learn the true facts and not be misled by the propaganda being disseminated  by the Taxpayers For A Fair Pension and those who helped create this disaster, she said.

Dan and Diane's situation remains tenuous.

“Like many of our colleagues, the plan at the end of the year was to take what we needed to pay property and income tax from the pension in a lump sum withdrawal--except that option wasn’t available to us this year,” Diane said. “So, we scrambled and are scrambling to make payments, cover bills, make ends meet.”

If Diane were not still working, she said, they may have lost their home. Her plans to retire in the next five years have been put on hold.

"Frighteningly, that prospect is not off the table," she said. "What an insulting way to treat those who put their very lives on the line every day for decades.”

#PoundOfFlesh, #savethepension, #backtheblue

To The Citizens Of Dallas

Here's a letter to the editor written by retired Dallas police officer Mia Sullivan. It's a letter you won't see in the Dallas Morning News and it's a story that the bogus Taxpayers For A Fair Pension group doesn't want you to see.  

Dear Citizens of Dallas,

I know it is really confusing to read all the hoopla surrounding the Police and Fire Pension issue. What is really going on? How did this come about? Whose side are we to believe? After all, you pay taxes, you did all you were asked to do, right?

I’m speaking for myself here, but there are thousands of police officers and firefighters n the same situation I am: I too pay my taxes, I too did all I was asked to do. Our pension is like your Social Security. We pay in with the promise and commitment to have a payout when we retire. We are not eligible for Social Security from our employment with the city. The mayor’s appointees were tasked with overseeing the pension fund along with the other pension representatives. Our old Pension Board, no longer in place at this time, made some risky investments which did not pan out. The mayors’ appointees shirked their responsibility as overseers. Over the years, they showed to be ABSENT 94% of the time at the pension board meetings.

I swore to uphold the law, protect the citizens of Dallas, be part of the thin blue line that acts as a firewall between you, the law abiding citizens and those who intent to do you harm. I know the people who love me said a little prayer every day I went to work, hoping I’d come back in one piece. I missed a lot of family events. Like you, I tried to provide a good home for my family. I wanted to help my children and my grandchildren achieve goals and potentials, frequently working extra jobs to make ends meet.

The city of Dallas told me they would reward me with a retirement, and even offered an investment opportunity to keep me on the job. I listened and did that too. Trust is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

Well, it appears that the city is not wanting to uphold their side of the bargain. And why should they? I upheld my promise and served for 32 years, but I am retired now, it’s time to forget about their pledge to me and all those who are no longer serving actively. So here is the New Plan: Let’s convince the citizens of Dallas that those retirees really don’t deserve what they have earned. Let’s put it out there that they are greedy and only worried about themselves. Let’s tell the citizens of Dallas that all we really want is to save the officers from themselves and start a new pension for the ones who are still working. And to make it more believable, let’s ask previous city leaders to get behind us (after all, they didn’t do what they promised either, and they wouldn’t dare oppose this move, lest they’d be thought responsible for not doing their duty while at the helm…)

Well, like I said, trust is a wonderful thing. I saw and felt your response last summer when we grieved our fellow officers. I saw your heartfelt care and concern. You KNOW that we, unlike politicians with agendas and political ambitions, are here with you for the duration. We are not going anywhere. We are your first responders. I have faith in your ability to see through all the political hay being made. Do this one thing for us: STAND BEHIND US! Make sure the city keeps their end of the bargain. The “Save the Pension” propaganda put out by the city would keep us out in the cold!

--Mia Sullivan

#PoundOfFlesh #savethepension #backtheblue

Will The Real Millionaire Please Stand Up?

Editor's note: Here is another first responder that Mayor Rawlings and the city of Dallas want you to believe is greedy, self-serving and overpaid. And, no Mr. Mayor, unlike you, Ben is not a millionaire.

Ben left the department just shy of serving the city for 31 years and just before he turned 55. 

When he left, he was not a millionaire as Dallas City Mayor and millionaire Mike Rawlings would lead you to believe.

Ben doesn’t live extravagantly. When he retired, he was only in the city’s DROP pension program for four years and nine months. With some planning, Ben and his wife figured they could supplement his basic pension with a $1,500 a month draw from DROP until they could reach her 65th birthday and Medicare. Then, the hefty premium from the city insurance would drop and they could survive on his basic pension and her social security.

Now, the city and Mayor Rawlings wants to confiscate Ben’s DROP money and garnish his pension checks.

“They have forsaken the retired Police and Firefighters who gave much to the city during their careers,” Ben said. “I am not and never will have a million dollars, Mayor Rawlings. Your statements about us begin greedy are false and incorrect.”

Because they have been “led down a path of untruths by the present city administration, council and others in the city,” the citizens of Dallas don’t realize the financial disaster their first responders will face.

“I will lose my home,” Ben said. “I will not be able to pay my bills, and I will not be able to take care of my totally disabled son who cannot take care of himself.”

That leaves Ben with only one question: “Hey Mayor, you want to help take care of us since you are a millionaire?”


#PoundOfFlesh, #savethepension, #backtheblue