In the article “COLA added: EID employees to pay bigger share of benefits” you did a fair job of reporting what both sides said, however I was misquoted as saying “Our doubling of water rates have a very short-term effect on the cost of living,” (Day said).

I did not say that, far from it in fact. The increases in water rates, recycled rates and sewer rates has a HUGE affect on our residents and businesses.

The gist of what I did say was the EID Boards doubling of water rates so rapidly was having a big impact on our ratepayers … and if we are handing out raises and COLA’s (cost of living adjustments) to our lobbyist, our general manager, general counsel and the majority of the employees where is the relief, the COLA if you will, for our rate payers? There is none.

I voted against this agreement (the vote was 4-1) for several reasons.

I was comfortable with doing a max 2% COLA for the employees to help them keep up … but not 5% raises on top of that. These are not merit raises mind you, you get a tidy raise, on top of the COLA, just for “meeting expectations” each year.

I come from the private sector where you give and get raises for improved performance, for doing better. Not for just “meeting expectations.” And you certainly don’t hand out raises when your organization is in deep debt and would frankly be bankrupt except for the fact that the EID Board can jack up rates to whatever they want, anytime they want, with just a 4-1 vote.

The article leads with a $3 million dollar savings over three years claimed by EID. That is not the full truth. As is buried further down in the article the net savings, after accounting for all the raises and other costs, is really only about $274,000 a year, if that, over the life of the agreement.

Hey, any savings is good savings right? Yes, but to put it in perspective, this grand agreement that EID is boasting of that addressed health care costs, pension costs (EID is still paying out millions of dollars each year for the unfunded portion of the overly lavish pensions doled out not so long ago) and salaries, is about seven tenths of one percent (.007) of our operating budget.

This was not a grand compromise or real reform that will ease pressure on the escalating water, recycle and sewer rates … it was an exercise in nibbling at the edges.

Alan Day
EID Director District 5
El Dorado Hills

Also note that if EID’s Board had not approved a 4% reduction in employee pension contributions for 2012 and 2013 (while not telling ratepayers), this reversion to 8% employee contributions would never have become a negotiating chip for employees to exploit now.

But I do give credit to Mountain Democrat Editor Michael Raffety for balanced reporting based on the information EID provided him.

One other noteworthy point is that more than 50% of EID’s employees will receive 7% pay hikes following 6% pay increases in 2013 while for the past several years 2.5%-3% pay hikes have been the “new normal” throughout America.