The picture of President Robert Kaczmarek, First Vice President Michael Castro, and Chief Steward Sean Hagen were taken with Assemblymember Thomas Calderon with Local 777 members attending Lobby Day. The following is Local 777's article in its entirety.


On May 22 and 23 many Local 777 members took two days of vacation to walk the halls of the Capitol in Sacramento to help get ASsembly Bill 616 passed.

Assembly Bill (AB) 616 would provide a P.E.R.S. benefit of 3% at 60, representing about a 40% increase over the current 2% at 55 retirement benefit that "miscellaneous" (non-sworn) local government employees currently are entitled to negotiate. Those that sacrificed vacation in order to make a difference included: Teri Craig and Chris Peart from Newport Beach; Lee Cole and Brenda Emrick from Downey; Lorna Ward, Gordon Carpenter, Bruce Wells, Joe Funches, Kurt Reschke and Victoria Lira from Los Angeles; and Tom Carnes, Beverly Houchin, Maria Ochoa-Flynn, Ryan Douglas, Roxanne McLean, Jack Mosqueda, and Peg Holcom from Riverside County. Staff Representatives Stephen Switzer, Jennifer Grondahl, Steve Balhumeur, and Business Manager Fred Lowe also attended. Guests from other public agencies attended as well.

"What people enjoyed most was comparing notes about the public agencies where they were from and learning what it is like in other agencies" reported Business Manager Fred Lowe.

Staff Representative Kathie Delgado, who is responsible for coordinating activities, returned on June 25, 2001 to Sacrament to testify at the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee in support of ASsembly Bill AB 616. The Committee passed the bill on a vote of three to one, with Senator Oller opposed and Senator Ray Haynes absent. Senator Haynes is one of our Riverside County legislators so let's encourage him to vote in our favor on this bill! In an earlier Committee vote Assemblyman Rod Pacheco also voted against AB 616, and, if you live in his district, you should write him a letter letting him know how unhappy you are with his vote.

The author, Assemblymember Thomas Calderon, attended a breakfast meeting hosted by Local 777, and thanked everyone for their support. As we go to press we have learned that the Senate Appropriations committee will hear the Bill on August 20, 2001. We need lots of letters written to the members of the Committee and to the Senator who represents YOUR District. When you write a letter to your Senator or a committee member please be sure to send a copy to Assemblymember Calderon's office, as they keep a tally on the number of letters that have been generated.