Paid administrative leave for city employees facing felony theft charges?
Inside Liberty Watch Today - Oct. 5, 2005

Why in the world are taxpayers, paying 5 city employees accused of theft of more than $10,000 worth of tools, equipment and other items that were purchased with city credit cards? That's right five utility service employees were placed on paid administrative leave (paid vacation time in my book) in March after their homes were searched as part of an investigation of possible misuse of public property. Two of them were indicted and only then were they put on unpaid leave. That's 6 months of free vacation time for five people. How much does that amount to? $50,000, $100,000, or even more? Now, do the guys that were indicted still get all of their retirement and full health care benefits for life? How much more will that cost us over the years? You have to know that this is just the tip of the iceberg if they actually put five people on Paid administrative leave.

What about those two state employees, teachers no less, who were arrested on charges of molestation of students. Are they on paid administrative leave as well? Do they get to keep their lifetime paid health insurance and those very expensive retirement benefits that we the taxpayers are forced to pay?

There is always an unfair bias towards state employees when it comes to this type of thing. Take for instance the Probation officer who was caught drunken driving, twice! The first time he received a slap on the wrist, the second time the prosecutor conveniently "forgot" to show up to court and the case was dismissed. How often does that happen to a regular citizen? How about Never! Is he still employed as a probation officer? Does he still receive his health care and retirement benefits for life?

Then there's that Prosecutor from Boulder City who's trying to take away a woman's home for possessing six marijuana plants, he had pleaded no contest earlier to drunken driving on a motorcycle. What was his penalty? He gets to run around with impunity prosecuting others when he should have been fired! 

How about the state employee DMV woman who was selling fake drivers' licenses, her penalty, probation! If that had been a regular citizen they would be doing time. Were these people put on paid administrative leave as well? Do they still get their taxpayer paid health care and retirement benefits?

I'm sick of the double standard between the privileged class called state union employees and the taxpayers. I'm sick of paying crooks lifetime retirement benefits when they are abusing their positions and I'm disgusted at the thought that we are paying these criminals to sit on their butts while their coworkers investigate them. Here's a thought. If you are being investigated for criminal conduct, you get unpaid administrative leave. How about if you're convicted of a crime related to your government position, you forfeit your pay, your job, and all of your retirement benefits? If you're acquitted you receive any back pay or benefits you lost.

How about any prosecutor who is convicted or pleads guilty or no contest to a CRIME loses his job as a prosecutor and is banned from future government jobs.

In the real world normal citizens who are convicted of a crime forfeit any welfare, social security, and other benefits during their period of probation and/or incarceration. Those who are convicted of a crime relating to their profession are usually banned from making any future income from that same profession to insure that the citizens are not taken advantage of. So why is it we, the taxpayers are forced to pay the salaries, health care costs and retirement benefits for the criminals who use their position to take advantage of the citizenry they are paid to serve. It's time there is a review of all of the privileges that that government workers unions have squeezed out of the taxpayers. And it's the best reason that we should ban government employees from double dipping in the legislature.

Liberty Watch reader, Patte Purcell