LETTERS
State Holidays
I have received numerous calls, letters and e-mails from state employees who disagree with my proposal to reduce the number of paid holidays received by state workers.
They receive 14 paid holidays each year and my bill would require each department of state government to reduce that by whichever two holidays they choose.
Most taxpayers only get about eight holidays per year. Furthermore, the proposal will save over $21 million per year and provide additional convenience to consumers by keeping state agencies open another two days a year at no additional cost.
Some of the objections can only be described as hate mail. Here is a sampling:
& #149; “State employees are abused. We need these extra days to recover from all the abuse.”
& #149; “You are a tight a–, impotent, dull-brained Republican who has no other solution to the fiscal crisis other than to take yet another benefit away from the hardest-working employees in California.”
& #149; “What is next? Do you want the gold from my teeth?”
& #149; “Who needs Osama bin Laden when we have you and the other retards you call colleagues. Go to h—.”
& #149; “I am sorry to be opposed to AB 2460 but if anything state employees should be rewarded with additional time off (in the way that European nations reward their working class) either through additional paid holidays or a higher number of vacation hours earned per month.”
& #149; “What are you doing wasting time with a bill like AB 2460? … You need to encourage the citizens of California to be more efficient by getting out of their d— Hummers.”
& #149; “Your photo on your Web site appears to me as just another white man in a suit with power and lust for money.”
There are lots more like this.
Many state employees are good hardworking people. And I have received a few e-mails from state employees admitting that they receive way more benefits than is reasonable. The ones writing the above notes are probably the ones most active in their unions.
I could talk about the higher pay and lower expectations of state agencies that have contributed to our budget woes, but the words of these opponents are the best arguments I could present for this bill.
John Campbell
Republican Assemblyman
Irvine
Fullerton’s Schoepes
All of us at Fullerton College enjoyed reading your Feb. 2 article on Fluidmaster and the Schoepe family.
We have enjoyed an enduring relationship with Fullerton philanthropists Adolf and Virginia Schoepe, and it has benefited everyone who uses our physical education facilities.
The Schoepes’ affiliation with Fullerton College began in 1971 when Mrs. Schoepe enrolled in her first physical education class; since then she has taken almost every class we offer. Today, at 89, she still comes to campus to work on her fitness several times a week.
Mr. Schoepe was a valued benefactor of the college for many years and used to come in for physical therapy.
When budget cuts hit Fullerton in the early 1990s, Mrs. Schoepe offered a donation to replace the tattered windscreens around our outdoor tennis courts. That was followed by a donation to buy much-needed weight equipment for our strength lab.
Mr. Schoepe pledged $400,000 to build the Virginia Schoepe Wellness Center, which opened in 1999. The 4,100-square-foot facility houses treadmills, step machines, exercise bikes, free climbers, weight machines, dumbbells, a body assessment and body-fat composition room, an instructional classroom, and restrooms.
Not only do our students, faculty and staff get to work out at the center, but it also is open to the community for a membership fee. Interested individuals can contact center director Jim Farmer at (714) 992-7705.
Mr. Schoepe pledged another $400,000 to renovate a part of the men’s locker room. Named the Adolf Schoepe Strength Laboratory, it opened in fall 2002. We only wish Adolf was here to see that dream become a reality.
The Schoepe family continues to be a generous benefactor to Fullerton College and the community.
Susan Beers
Dean of Physical Education
Fullerton College
