Council member Dulin on a "bed of nails" at Charlotte's Discovery Place.
Dulin the republican who represents Charlotte's Council District 6 was commenting on the recent report issued by Mayor Anthony Foxx that suggests Charlotte's budget will not have enough money to pay the city's firefighters or police officers within two years.
Dulin suggests that the problem is the retirement packages and the retirement ages of CMPD and CFD employees.
Dulin: "We have retired city employees that are making $100,000 a year and there is no way a community can sustain that."
Dulin goes on to explain his problem with the age that some CMPD officers retire.
Employees "that are hired at 20 or 25 years of age are retiring in 30 years and are still very young and have their retirement packages for their life. And so we've got folks who are retiring at 55 years, that we pay for another 40 years if they live a long time.
It really does come to catch up with you and its coming to catch up with the City of Charlotte in two years."
Dulin promises that the Charlotte City Council will be discussing the pensions during the upcoming budget talks.
Dulin: "It will be a major topic of our budget discussions this year and after voting no for the last couple of years on pay raises I hope this year that the majority on council will start listening to me."
Cedar's Take: Andy Dulin has long been the court jester of Charlotte's City Council. While his quips are often funny and his posture conservative he sometimes lacks a basic understanding of the fundamentals of City Government.
Along those same lines Dulin also seems to lack an understanding of basic pension fundamentals or the understanding that without a pension many CMPD officers would have quit long ago.
But we must remember Dulin is a city councilman, and as Charlotte's Jeff Taylor notes, members of City Council are nothing more than potted plants. Nice to have around but rarely bearing fruit.
44 comments:
It would figure.
Dulin like some of the other dumb asses on CCC think we should work for free. So why should we expect a retirement?
Andy Dulin, why don't you try to work that job 30 years? How many co-workers/friends have you had murdered in your line of work? Thirty years as a sworn police officer is a LONG time to serve. They have more than earned a good retirement package. Get off their backs.
Dulin what a F'in Jack Ass!
Cedar thanks for posting this.
I heard Dulin on WBT and was just stunned he would target CMPD retirement benfits.
As much waste and excess that Monroe enjoys you would think someone like Dulin would target those costs instead on the boots on the street.
Guess RoMo has Dulin in his back pocket.
Dulin thinks the city is paying retired CMPD officers he doesn't understand that the money goes to the state and is pooled.
He has not a clue how pensions are funded he like many other idiots just looks at a "big" number and gets all worked up.
They could cut 1/2 mil out of CMPD's expenses just by telling Monroe no more clown uniforms, Christmas parties and the like.
Dulin what a joke! He Backed Rutt Mutt on the Jackson files, looked the other way when Monroe was lying about Jackson and hands the little MoFo Webster all the money he wants for his funny white uniforms and golf trips.
Don't expect Dulin to ever support the officer on the street.
He is a freaking idiot, have you ever looked at his FB page?
What a complete pretentious little man that thinks he actually knows something about anything, NOT.
Let's start cutting budgets with CC and their "expenses".
What a joke Dulin, go take some basic government courses at CPCC, "remedial civics for the stupid" would be a good one to start with.
You do not have a clue, not a single clue how a Police Officer makes a living.
You are a braggart AND a dullard, a dangerous combination.
Cedar Posts has a photo of Dulin and Rutt Mutt arm and arm, can't remember were but it is funny as all. Looks like Dulin is goosing Rutt Mutts but, maybe his just stabing him in the back hard to say. Just Sayin.
Cedar what is your issue with Dulin? He is one of only two on City Council that vote to shrink spending year after year. What is wrong with that. Why all the hate directed at Dulin?
Does Dulin ever work? All I hear about from Dulin is skiing and hanging out with his kids. Must be nice.
Anon 12:12
Maybe because he is an uninformed jackass who likes to see his name in print and who doesn't have a clue as to what he is actually suppossed to be doing?
Have you ever listened to the man speak? OMG, it is embarassing!
The CC would be better served if Dulin spent ALL of his time on ski trips, not just 98%!
Have you ever read his "Tweets"?
Inane, empty headed twaddle....
But he is in good and like company on the CC....geez, what a bunch of useless, headline grabbing idiots.
Cedar Posts,
Thank you for calling Audy Dulin out on this. I heard his BS and he is way off base.
He gives the public the idea that retired CMPD and CFD employees are a bunch of slackasses sucking off the tax payers.
The only reason I stated with the department was to retire. Our beneifts are no better than any other state employee and for Dulin to single out police and fire is just wrong.
Anon 1:47
Actually, your retirement benefits are different/better than other state employees -- you get the supplement, we don't -- but I support the retirement package for police and fire personnel. Both are difficult and stressful jobs --and it is documented that life expectancies are shorter for people who retire from these professions.
Andy Dulin is a vapid, uninformed man who wouldn't know a hard day's work if it slapped him in the face.
Anonymous 2:00 you are correct.
What I was thinking is that our 30 year requirement is pretty normal for state employees versus private sector which is many cases is only 5 or 7 years.
Andy Dulin will certainly clinch the "2010 Biggest Goober of the Year" award.
Dulin one of Charlotte's finest! NOT!
What a BUFFOON! When the time comes to vote I hope the residents of district 6 send his ass back to whatever rock he crawled out from under.
How about the 2.3 million Monroe used to "create" the new RAC position that the department DID NOT NEED! How many RAC"s does each division have and how many divisions are there...do the math.
Dulin will not get any traction on this. Pensions are set by STATE LAW. City Council cannot vote to change the pensions of
Charlotte's police officers and firefighters. Tell me Mr Dulin, how many police/firefighters are making $100k/year in pensions? Do you really want police & firefighters on duty who are in their 60s-70s? Do your homework, then lets talk about the FACTS.
How long before every officer in the State knows what car he drives and the tag number??
What a pompous little twit. I don't know what his day job is but he should hold on to it.
It always amazes me that people who have the least little bit of "power" think that they are better than everyone else. I should have locked his little ass up several years ago when he decided to enter a marked off crime scene just so he would find out what was going on. The nerve of some people! I wanted to tell him that it was no of his ----ing business and take his pretty boy ass out of the crime scene. He would've probably tried to take my job on the spot not to mention my pension away from me. This was pre Rodney so I would've been okay.
With all the free time Dulin has to tweet and ski and socialize you can figure he has plenty of cash for retirement. Which would explain why he is out of touch.
Let's hope this jackass is voted out of office along with his gay focker buddy Bud Peacock.
With todays salaries as they are, there are actually several retireees making 100K a year. A Major or above is making close to 100K and once the economy turns around and pay raises begin to flow again they will surpass that amount. I worry about how the old timers who retired on such a pittance of a salary are making it, in this economy.
The supplement the city pays each retiree is one of the citys expense to them. I cant imagine this to be a great amount when totaled up.
What the retirees and you future retirees need to be concerned with is the continuing underhand finageling of discontinuing your medical coverage once you leave. The medical expense for retirees is huge im sure. However we do get older and we do find ourselves in need of medical attention much more often.
Did anyone ever find the city manual for new employees before 1986 which stated the city must pay for a retirees medical insurance?
What the city pays its retirees is nothing in comparison to what the officers gave to the city for 30 years. But what do little soldiers now. They are all expendable , especially to Dulin.
Another fact that Councilman Dulin fails to acknowledge is the number of years a retired cop survives after retirement. On average about five years. The notion that cops get "paid" for 20 or 30 years after they retire is nonsense.
So basically Dulin is saying that retired officers need to start dying off more quickly so the city won't have to pay out retirement accounts for so many years? Shame on him!
Hey Dulin... Kiss my ass!
I don't think Dulin has much of a day job. I've heard he "does real estate" but the truth is, he married money. Could explain his views, huh? He doesn't actually work for a living so he has little concept of what it means to be either an employee or an employer! Why, why, WHY do people with no credentials or brains get elected??
If you ever watch a city council meeting you'll notice Dulin talks none stop, except when he's picking his honker nose.
He really is a clueless jerk. 2:33 you are right he doesn't work just flits about Charlotte acting all important.
I doubt anyone takes him seriously.
But if I were to get the chance to write him up I'd make him a list and get a super sgt to send him downtown.
How about we just get rid of the REAL problem, MONROE & WALTON!
What an idiot! Charlotte officers and firefighters more than EARN their retirement and as a lifelong Charlotte tax payer- Mr. Dulin, you don't deserve to represent this city, how dare you!! I support these guys 110% and as a lifelong Charlotte tax payer- I will GLADLY pay for their retirement.
What a shame it would have been if the "bed of nails" was mistakenly hooked up to the 240 voltage from Duke Energy.
Or many what a shame it wasn't?
I sure hope Marcus Jackson still gets his pension...after reading all the anonymous comments on here it's apparent that CMPD officers are *never* wrong and City Council is *always* wrong. No issues with power there at all, nope, none.
With all the new changes coming I'm pretty sure the city will get their goal. They won't have to worry about salaries and retirement as people flee in a mass exodus.
Since so many are dropping alleged facts under the anonymous comments, I'll throw out some too. The majority of cops who retire after 20 or more years of service live into their mid-70s and beyond.
Anon 8:56
You are an idiot.
Marcus Jackson get a pension? For his 11 months of service?
Why would you post something so clueless and idiotic?
Problem with "power"?
Andy Dulin and CC have no REAL power...although they think they are "powerful"...especially Dopey Dulin.
I don't think anyone of any real intelligence is even a little bit impressed with Dulin OR CC.
They are just another government cluster!#&$......clueless with delusions of their own importance.
It is not Dulin's fault that CMPD and CFD allowed themselves to be bought off as we spent recklessly in the boom years.
It is past time for the police and fire lobbies to cowboy up and lobby AGAINST wasteful, dumb spending by the city (and county for that matter.)
City staff thinks the guys and gals in uniform are easily handled -- how else to explain that "task force" ruse? Staff WANTS YOU to focus on the potted plants on city council, not on staff's schemes. That is why staff didn't touch the "unsustainable" forecast and left it to council to react. It is a classic redirect.
Meanwhile, the REAL enemy of sufficient funding for public safety is all the dopey crap city staff wants to do -- and has done during the past decade. Until now it didn't matter -- they could do a little 2006 shuffle and get a little tax hike in the name of police when the Wachovia Arts Bundle synthetic TIF ran sort of cash, for example.
But now those little tweaks won't work. The bubble has burst. They need a BIG tax hike to get back on track. (BTW, in many ways the original sin was the assumption that the value of real property in the county would DOUBLE from $69b. in 2003 to $140b. in 2015.) The big tax hike will come in the form of the property tax reval process which I firmly believe will raise many homeowners tax bills by 10 to 25 percent -- unless the city and county CUT property tax rates next year.
Staff is cynically counting on you guys, in uniform, to show up next spring and argue AGAINST cutting the tax rates, in effect argue FOR massive tax hikes on your friends and neighbors. Meanwhile, staff's spending on dopey, low-priority crap would sail on mostly untouched.
Maybe CFD and CMPD are way ahead of me on the fiscal realities and money politics now at play. I certainly hope so; I certain KNOW that public safety spending is a top priority of local taxpayers. But it will not happen so long as the Uptown crowd succeeds in pitting taxpayers against those whose service they value the most.
meckdeck@gmail.com
JAT,
What do you think people on this Blog(a lot of law enforcement) have been saying for the past 2 1/2 years?
The wanton spending at CMPD by rodney has been going on from the day he arrived.
CC and Curt Walton literally gave him the keys to the vault.
And he spent it on crap projects that have had virtuallly no effect on crime.
The hard working officers have impacted crime, not the excess spending on pet projects by rodney...which are listed on this Blog.
And really, have you been at City Council meetings voicing your concerns?
These guys deserve every bit of their well earned retirements. They are not excessive and I would argue that you get what you pay for.
It's easy to pontificate from behind your keyboard.
What are your real solutions?
My grandfather would say: “Always hire an energetic person over a lazy one, and a smart person over a dumb one.”
He would go on to say: “You'll do alright if you hire a lazy smart person but God help you if you ever hire an energetic dumb ass.”
Anon 10:11 --
They've already beat you. You are using the broken BS "solution" language. Get of the weeds and think big picture.
Eff "solutions" -- we want PRIORITIES. Staff HATE black-and-white priorities.
Still --
Here's where CMPD and CFD lobbies need to start: the city of Charlotte should ZERO OUT ALL discretionary spending in the General Fund that is not public safety. Now, what will THAT pay for given a revenue neutral property tax rate going forward? There's your public safety universe. The public would totally support that once it became clear the alternative was a massive property tax hike.
In addition, I'd audit CMPD spending since 2008 to find out what is truly mission critical and what it fluff.
That's it -- it is that simple. But it has to start with the men and women who take oaths to do what is right standing up against what everyone knows is wrong.
BTW, when I first moved back to CLT in 2003 and went to and spoke at a couple city council meetings. Complete waste of time. Staff decides everything well in advance of the actual meetings, the potted plants just fret about some identifiable lobby segment getting video making them look bad.
meckdeck@gmail.com
JAT is spot on in his comments. He is thinking "big" picture. Not what is right just for public safety but also what is right for the public (taxpayers). Just as JAT said, the uptown crowd will pit taxpayers against public safety to get their tax hike, knowing we all value public safety. Don't fall for it. Stand up for what is right for the taxpayers and public safety. Demand they cut spending elsewhere and audit CMPD. Neither I nor any of my friends and neighbors can afford a massive tax hike. Taxpayers and public safety must stick together for what is right for all and not what is right for just our own interests. Futhermore, tax hikes are self-defeating since they drive taxpayers to flee to adjacent counties to avoid higher taxes, therby reducing the overall tax revenue.
Okay, I like your SOLUTIONS better than your priorities!
And it's as old as it gets, pitting taxpayers against public safety. Do you really think taxpayers now will react any differently than they have in the past? It gives them a "solution".
That's why I asked for your solutions....it's what taxpayers need to hold on to, a tangible.
And people on here have been asking for more oversight and, "gasp" an audit of CMPD for some time now....falling on deaf ears. Because CC and Curt Walton have much face to lose if the truth is known, not paranoia, just fact.
I disagree with CC attendance, at least you could use your "celebrity" to draw attention to what's going on by speaking up.
An OUTSIDE audit is what is needed, not just at CMPD, but a lot of other government agencies in Charlotte and MC.
But let's start with CMPD, now.
Anon 12/13 8:23pm: I have to disagree.; $100k pensions are very uncommon. Let's assume that a CMPD major's final 4 years salary AVERAGES $100k, he has 30 years service, age 55, he will get a $55,500 pension. You can check it out yourself on the NC Retirement website-retirement estimator. The only way to get a $100k pension is to annuitize a very large 401-k,
($400-500k). That is, hand over to the NC Retirement System, your 401-k that you have saved for the past 30 years. If you die in 5 years, the State wins on that deal!
Cedar Andy Dulin is a moron, stop trying to offer him some respect by calling him a "Court Jester" he's not funny he's just stupid.
He's an insult to those people who have real handicaps.
Mr. Dulin is a typical politician. Take a subject make a bloated claim to push an agenda and divide and conquer between the CMPD/ CFD and taxpayers. The average officer is not going to get close to 100K. Top pay for patrolmen is arounf 69K, sergeants in the 75K range. That is the majority of the bodies in the department. I have no idea how that would lead to a 100K pension when you take the top 5 consecutive years averaged out at those rates. And on top of that they don't see 100% of that average. Anyway I Digress because the city DOES NOT pay this. It is a state retirement pool not city funds. Yes the city pays into the pool but they do not PAY the retirement. They do pay a Social Security suppliment until the retiree reaches SS age and medical for those who are grandfathered in (they do not for the new hires) untill medicare age. They are goingafter the suplliment too. Here we go again wih the city crying poor....wait, they built a NASCAR hall of fame, a new Basketball arena, want to build a trolley to nowhere and all the other pet projects they want, but help out the loyal employee that risked life and limb for 30 years?! It just shows where the politicians priorities are. Neither in the corner of the taxpayer or the employee...we are both just sheep to them. I don;t personally single ot Mr. Dulin...he's a dime a dozen for his breed...the politician!
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