DeKalb and NIU: People Problems and Money

Although I agree with your opinion of Albanese, he was only paid his accumulated sick/vacation days, as would anyone terminated by, or retiring from, NIU. Unlike someone like Baker, who received a payout of a full year of president salary and partial teaching salary, in addition to (alleged) accrued vacation days.

Think you are wrong Sharon May. He was Supportive Professional Staff and under that contract they are required to be paid at least a full year of salary when terminated. So, he got sick, vacation, and at least one year of salary for being “asked to resign”. Oh, and he was allowed to retire and collect his pension. The State needs to change these rules so these guys quit gaming the system. There is no incentive to be honest and ethical, quite the opposite. Saw it firsthand. Worked there 33+ years including a stint under Albanese.

No. He “voluntarily” separated, he was NOT paid the years salary. I saw a copy of the separation agreement.
But yes, there should be a punishment for wrongdoing–not just a release.
And esp under Baker, ethical and honest behavior was rewarded with termination and some ruined careers.

Anyone who carries on dishonestly and unethically to the point they are allowed to “voluntarily separate” rather than be terminated should forfeit those benefits. I agree about the Baker years. State Institutions need to keep detailed documents and force the issue to the court system if necessary, it would still be a cost saving, particularly for faculty and supportive professional staff. Civil Service has a model that works but most supervisors are too lazy to follow the protocol to discipline and terminate. Maybe the supervisors should also be held accountable for all Faculty, SPS and Civil Service. Tired of my tax dollars going for huge payouts, theft and coverups. Sorry. Makes my blood boil. Saw too many non-administrative people forced out because they wouldn’t play the unethical and dishonest games and truly did a good job.

Yes, it’s great that Republicans have reduced the deficit since they took control of the Federal Government

Stephen Haberkorn I was talking about state government particularly Illinois. But thanks for contributing nothing to the adults conversation.

Robert LauÅ¡ Federal, State, doesn’t matter. Republicans haven’t proven to be much better at reducing spending. They just spend on different things. Can you show me any evidence of significantly reduced spending by conservative politicians?

Thank you for your comment Robert Laus … Dekalb County Online goal is to post facts and not make negative comments about or to our readers.

I really don’t want to get into a right/left debate. We all agree that we are unhappy with the way DeKalb and NIU have been run. Let’s keep it at that and hold all politicians accountable, regardless of their party affiliation

Stephen Haberkorn … no further comments needed.

When was the last time the Democrats in Illinois followed the state constitution by having a balanced budget

Troy Stocker 2001?

Of course, Wisconsin state government was run by Democrats for years and managed to pass balanced budgets

I have yet to meet a democrat who who thinks this way. Irresponsible spending is not about party affiliation. These cases of paying people to “go away” has nothing at all to with party affiliation at all.

Randi Olson Correct … firings for party connected.

Sorry … NOT Party connected
..

What about Illinois, that’s the state we live in

Troy Stocker I believe the problem with Illinois politics has been one-party rule, for the most part, for too long, which has led to a lot of cronyism and not enough opposition to keep things in check.

I also think that with Chicago being such a huge economic engine for the state, people thought the gravy train would just keep rolling, until the recession hit and everything blew up.

But politicians from both parties have been involved. Jim Edgar, whom I liked and thought was a good governor, is partly to blame for our current pension crisis
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/the-edgar-ramp-the-reform-that-unleashed-illinois-pension-crisis/

Edgar ? , Illinois has had issues paying into the pension system for 70 plus years.

The 1970 constitution gave legislators the power to pass spending bonds on their own. 50 later and they don’t have any more assets to move around to cover the shortages in the budget.

The time to act was when the state started losing its industrial base.

Troy Stocker …. it already has… #1 state for businesses moving away, #1 state for people leaving, #1 state for students leaving for out of state colleges …at least we are # 1 in some areas.

The 1970 constitution empowered Home Rule authority to impose taxes and fees as well as sell debt bonds all without a referendum or a community charter giving taxpayers some control on the limits. That constitution also guaranteed public pension benefits could not be reduced regardless of contribution into the system or the manipulation of loopholes that created double and triple dipping. In 2007 I joined a bipartisan effort that included at one time Pat Quinn and John Bambenek to promote a constitution convention in 2010 that would have given legislators and their constituents the ability to fix errors in the 1970 constitution. Unfortunately, President Obama’s campaign manager, David Axelrod, was hired by Madigan and millions were pumped into a dumbing down election campaign and the measure was defeated at the ballot box. Quinn got cold feet and dropped his support. Illinois has another opportunity for a constitution convention in 2020 but with Madigan now chair of the Illinois Democratic Party as well as Speaker of the House it will be an uphill battle to say the least. Nothing else comes close to the damage that 1970 constitution has done to this state.

Mac Swan … great comments …. a grass roots movement is needed… pensions will cause the state to file for bankruptcy. Too much power in the wrong hands. Uneducated voters will also help destroy the country…

Michael Embrey I find your pension comment unusual, what do you think we should do with the pension problem?

Randi Olson. Our Cities, Universities and State cannot sustain the current pension system.

Michael Embrey check that. A yes/no question on a Constitution Convention should have been on this 2018 election. A resolution to put it on the ballot was introduced by Tim Butler (R) Springfield. Less than a month after it was introduced Madigan referred it to his abyss called the Rules Committee. No action taken. Next chance is 2030. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=91&GA=100&DocTypeId=HJR&DocNum=0068&GAID=14&LegID=107184&SpecSess=&Session=

Mac Swan thanks for the update. Another Mike Madigan control issue.

Randi Olson I know I’m not Michael, but as someone who worked for NIU for 12 years and is entitled to a pension I believe the system was way too generous. You could qualify for a lifetime pension in as little as 5 years.

There was a doctor at the University of Illinois who taught in their school of medicine for 5 years and made a salary of over $400,000. That person qualified for a pension of over $100,000 a year *for life*. That means that the taxpayers of Illinois could end up paying this rich doctor millions of dollars in pension because she taught classes for 5 years at a very generous salary.

There are many other ridiculous examples like that. And, of course, someone already mentioned all of the double-dipping that has gone on where someone is collecting a large state pension while working another state job.

I think, for one, there should be a cap on state pensions. If someone is making $150,000 a year (for example) or more their pension should be capped. They can invest on their own privately with their additional income if they want. I also think you should have to work at least 20 years (or more) to qualify for a state pension. If you leave the job before that, you can roll the money into an IRA or another pension fund.

I also knew of many people who took on additional things their last few years just to bolster their retirement income. I don’t necessarily fault people for taking advantage of that, but stuff like that needs to be limited so people don’t abuse the system.

Michael Embrey Steven I know that pension system is flawed, and part of that is from the bill getting kicked down the way, the state stealing from the pensions.
Pension reform will not be easy because the majority of the people in the system have paid into it and depending on it for their retirement.
I know there are exceptions to the rule, but the people I know paid a fair amount into it and are getting their “fair” amounts back. Pension reform is needed, there are no easy answers, and people are due their retirement. That bill has to be paid.

Randi Olson Yes, the main problem is that politicians stole from the pension fund for years and used the money for other things.

And I don’t want to hurt people who paid into the system for many years and are counting on that money in retirement. On the other hand, should the state taxpayers be paying multi millions of dollars to people who were earning several hundreds of thousands a year? I think it would be fair to cap the pension benefits and return the additional amount people paid in so that they can invest it on their own. At some point it’s less about need and more about greed.

The whole thing was rigged so that lots of very rich people could get even richer at the expense of Illinois taxpayers. That should bother everyone, especially those who earned small salaries and qualified for modest pensions.

$ 150,000 a year for a pension ? 1 pension based on career earnings , not 4 to 5 years of peak earnings based on overtime

Troy Stocker That was just a number I threw out there. Point is, there should be some cap, but I’m not sure what the amount should be.

If I remember correctly—and this may have changed—the pension income was based on the average of the last five years or something like that. There was a reason people were always picking up additional pay assignments right before they retired.

Stephen Haberkorn I could be wrong but I think it depends on what program you are in.

Randi Olson This was for SURS

Probably time to end this long tangent or take the discussion elsewhere 🙂

DeKalb County Online yes … we only need facts …. not personal fiction… thank you for everyone’s comments.