By Collette Sweeney

9/17/08

STEVE, KURT, & FRANK:

TWO WORDS:  Eat Crow.

Shame on you .  In the end, I've concluded that the judge in Sacramento was right.  This city can no longer afford your lofty salaries.

You added insult by negotiating in bad faith.  You got the numbers wrong (poor homework on your part).   You claimed the city was hiding revenue.  AND...of course, you picked a few ugly fights along the way with people in this community who know the history of this issue and could see the train wreck long before it hit the wall.   You've tied up the city far too long with this issue, expending a great deal of goodwill and inflicting hurt along the way.

Your email (below) soliciting my support is, frankly, a joke.

I couldn't possibly support your case moving forward and  in time, I feel, most of the voters in this city will come to realize the truth and share my sentiments.   In fact, I will make it my job to educate every neighbor, every citizen I come into contact with while I do my shopping, walk the waterfront, run daily errands, etc, etc.    I've taken a long hard look at both sides of this issue and I've concluded that it is your camp, in fact,  that has behaved in a single-minded and self interested manner.

I too am a public servant, a teacher (union member!!!).   The pay a safety union worker receives even as a first year worker DWARFS what  a teacher receives in salary in this city after 10 years on the job, and most  teachers have masters degrees.  A master degree will get you a mere yearly stipend as a teacher and NOT a percentage raise in your total salary, as is the juicy case in your hyper-inflated big-ass contracts AND you need to obtain a degree within your field of study....RELATED TO YOUR EVERYDAY WORK!  How's that for a concept!   The real kicker for me was when I read the actual UBL report demonstrating  the bullshit pay for charity work and the attitude of  " the chief approved it" inbred-anything-goes policy towards the very tax payers who foot your bill. 

This whole issue is what's referred to as a no brainer, that is, it's easy to show voters the evidence and all it takes is time and a bit of education, a combo that even big bucks may not trump.

So...good luck on the race to the next local election; you can count on me to sprint the whole freaking way  in opposition to any puppet candidate your coffers at national union pay to parade!!

Meantime, those of you who remain in Vallejo will need to remember your oath as a public servant in office and do the job we pay you to do...

otherwise leave.

Most Sincerely,
Collette Sweeney