Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Page 7
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
Former District Attorney Accused of ‘Blatant Hypocrisy’
The following is in response to an article in Monday’s edition of the MetNews entitled, “Rival Factions of ADDA Battle Over Affiliation, Agency.”
Deputy district attorneys are grateful for their jobs in these tough times. We know how our fellow Californians are suffering. So we have not pursued any redress of our legitimate economic issues with the County in our most recent contract and are in the process of delaying our next for a year to help out.
But we will not countenance blatant hypocrisy, such as the claim of former District Attorney [Robert H.] Philibosian, [whose term ran from 1983 to 1984,] that deputies today get “a very good salary and benefits package,” and don’t need a union because they are “professionals.”
As President of the unionized ADDA in the 1970s, Mr. Philibosian must have played a key role in negotiating our prosecutors’ labor contract with the County. If so, he is one of those “old timers” who kept his own Golden Parachute, the old Plan A pension, at the expense of all future deputies, by agreeing to allow the County to reduce future pensions dramatically from Plan A, to B, to C, to the current D and E.
In comparison to what we were sold out for, today’s D and E plans are really “F’s.” Worse, since the union was soon decertified after Mr. Philibosian kept his, on the promise we would be treated as “professionals,” today’s deputies had no “say so” whatsoever since they had no union and no right to object for almost twenty years.
In the meantime our salaries, too, have plummeted compared to the “good old days.” For example, young deputies today start out tens of thousands less per year than City Attorneys. Promotions have been frozen for years. Many deputy district attorneys, especially younger ones, cannot afford a house, even in this terrible market. Coupled with the huge student loans with which most are saddled to pay for law school, they are often forced to brown bag for lunch just to make the rent and the car payment.
In my opinion, today’s deputies work much harder, and for far less, than the old timers ever did. I know because I’ve been in the office 32 years myself and have personally witnessed the dramatic changes for the worse, especially the last ten years.
On the other hand, Mr. Philibosian’s friend and protégé, Mr. [Steve] Cooley, [incumbent district attorney,] and his top managers received huge salary increases in 2007, up to 33% and more (Mr. Cooley went from roughly $200,000 to roughly $300,000) on the backs of the hard work of their inferiorly paid, front-line deputies.
Is that being treated like a professional or like a sap?
Don’t need a union, after you got yours when you were unionized? Give me a break.
HYATT SELIGMAN
President
Association of Deputy District Attorneys, Unit #801
PS: In the interest of full disclosure I ran against Mr. Philibosian in the election for District Attorney that was won by soon-to-be District Attorney Ira Reiner in 1984.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company