Oregon PERS Information

Just a quick note - an experiment really with Google's new Blogger editor - to remind readers that I'll be out of town quite a bit over the next 6 weeks. I'll be in Southern Nevada, Utah, and Arizona from July 12 to July 21, and then at our house in Central Oregon again August 1 to August 8th. During these getaways I don't take as much time to monitor the newsgroup or post new things to...

Last night, my wife and I attended our third Mark Knopfler concert. To say we are fans would be an understatement. The founder and lead guitarist and singer of the group "Dire Straits" has been on his own (in a manner of speaking) for about 16 years now. He's done 6 solo records and has scored at least a half dozen sound tracks for films. He puts on a fantastic show that highlights his...

Sometime back last year, OPRI and the PERS Coalition began to consider whether to push for an ad hoc increase in retiree benefits to make up for the effects of inflation. In January 2008, the OPRI Board heard a report from the Coalition that it intended to make ad hoc benefit increases an issue in the 2009 legislature. The crucial factor in ad hoc benefit increases is whether purchasing...

Marion County's big man, Paul Lipscomb, is retiring at the end of this month. I told you that yesterday. But here's the irony. Lipscomb is retiring so that he can maximize his PERS benefit. While I can't begrudge Lipscomb his opportunity to game PERS to the max, I can't resist observing that for those of us who did the same thing, we've earned the public's undying enmity and wrath. But...

It might be the great weather. It might be enjoying my Mini's gas mileage. Or it just might be the news that Judge Paul Lipscomb, Marion County Circuit Court Judge, has decided to retire at the end of this month. Judge Lipscomb is the originator of most recent retirees' angst. It was his ruling in the City of Eugene v PERS case that set the stage for the ream job done on PERS retirees...

It is always fascinating to determine the readership of this blog. Now that I have tools installed, I can see where every visitor comes from. Below I hope you can see where the visitors to this blog come from. The flags do not represent (necessarily) a single viewer, but simply details where each IP address comes from entering the blog. One flag might represent 500 different visitors (if...

He's on vacation as of today. He will respond to comments but will probably not generate any new posts unless something truly offensive happens in the next week. Please feel free to leave your comments and I will comment on your comments unless you simply speak truth to power. I expect that many will start getting the PERS letter about attorney fees. If they don't understand it, send...