Retirees say county wants to renege on health care promise

About 300 Sonoma County government retirees -- many angry that their health costs may increase -- filled a hall at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building for three hours Friday to hear plans that would result in many paying bigger portions of their benefits.

The informational meeting sets up an Aug. 19 showdown before county supervisors, who will decide whether to adopt the administration's proposed restructuring of health benefits. Those changes would affect 2,400 retired workers beginning next June. The changes also mirror, to a great extent, the county administration's proposals to its 4,200 current workers, including those in unions, nonunion staff and managers.

Administrators attempting to explain the proposed changes were interrupted several times by former workers who shouted that those proposals were unfair and amounted to the county reneging on promises of future health care.

Jim Andersen, assistant county administrator, told the assembly that supervisors want to preserve health care for retirees, but will be forced to cut back the county's contribution because mounting costs threaten basic services.

"At some point, it is going to collapse, and all future boards will have to look to pare that away," Andersen said. "We recognize that there were expectations."

"No. Promises. Not expectations," several in the audience shouted.

The county is putting about $20 million annually into health plan premium costs for retirees and employees, an amount about $17 million short of what's needed. The gap over 30 years is expected to grow to $414 million, according to an analysis performed by a company under county contract.

Currently, the county pays 85 percent of a retiree's health plan premium. Administrators propose to phase in over five years a system that abandons percentage payments on retiree health premiums in favor of paying a flat $500 a month.

Ron Piorek, a retired deputy county administrator, called the change in direction a "betrayal of trust" because thousands of county employees had accepted what they viewed as low salary increases in exchange for commitments to health care during retirement.

"It is a matter of will and policy that they (supervisors) do not reduce that liability," said Piorek, who presented an alternative plan that establishes a trust fund to cover the growing liability.

Greg Jacobs, a retired deputy district attorney who prosecuted Polly Klaas' killer, Richard Allen Davis, said he felt disheartened while recently reviewing case files for an appellate court argument because "I feel the county is treating me poorly after all the work I put in that case."

"You have disrupted the morale of the entire work force," Jacobs said. "Now, they feel like they, too, have not been treated fairly."

The session for retirees was attended by dozens of members of the Service Employees International Union, which is involved in a similar dispute over health care benefits. The contract for 1,900 county workers represented by the SEIU expired June 30.

Maria Peluso, an SEIU organizer, said the group came to distribute copies of its alternatives for reducing the unfunded liability and for helping retirees avoid large increases to their health care premiums.

In addition, two candidates for supervisor, Council on Aging CEO Shirlee Zane in the 3rd District and credit union community liaison Efren Carrillo in the 5th District, attended the meeting to talk to retirees.

Dick Gearhart, the county's retired personnel director, who now heads the county Association of Retired Employees, said the session "provided some answers for retirees and let the county know how frustrated and angry they are."

"We will go to the supervisors next, but it seems that minds are made up, and the county is stuck on one way to do it," Gearhart said after the meeting.

You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.