Little Benefit to Governor’s Plan

Re “Benefits Plan Puts Gov. on Defense,” April 1: It’s not only the firefighters and sheriff’s deputies that deserve death and disability benefits when killed or severely injured in the line of duty.

I served for 36 months, from January 2000 to December 2003, on the board of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn., which awards the death and disability benefits to fallen employees. We went through more than 1,000 cases, carefully screening them for potential fraud.

Most employees aren’t firefighters or deputies, and while their day-to-day activities don’t typically involve such things as burning buildings or getting shot at, civilian civil servants repairing the roadways, and nurses and doctors working with HIV-positive patients, and civilian jail custody assistants jumped by five inmates get disabled too.

Unions endorsed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the recall, and union members voted for him. He has made us mad now.

Bruce Perelman

North Hollywood

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Schwarzenegger wants to reduce paid holidays for state employees from 14 to 12 to help trim the budget. This is a bad idea.

A better solution would be to recalculate full-time employee status to a 36-hour workweek for nonemergency personnel.

Although a 10% reduction in salary would ensue, state employees would retain full benefits.

The added time-off would uplift the spirits of state workers and enable greater production while cutting billions from California’s budget.

This idea could work so well that the private sector might follow suit, leading to a more healthy and peaceful society.

Joe Tassinari

Lotus

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As a retiree who was not a government employee (and therefore not the recipient of a government pension) may I suggest to Schwarzenegger that his proposals to cut the benefits of workers in the public sector include those of our elected officials.

And while he’s at it, he can add wording that does away with quite a few of their costly perks -- one of which might be the personal choice of a car.

Let the state maintain a fleet of inexpensive, fuel-efficient vehicles -- preferably dual-powered -- for official use when politicians are in Sacramento on the people’s business.

Though I long ago decided to forgo government by initiative, I might not only sign a petition like this but would perhaps even be willing, as an unpaid volunteer, to circulate it.

Eleanor Jackson

Palm Springs