I respectfully and strongly urge our county supervisors to step back and make an effort to explore a good, commonsense reality check on those issues that can end our current trend toward insolvency, and generally improve county government procedures. The following are worthy of reconsidering:

Revisit the defined-benefit retirement program, which must be replenished by sizable taxpayer dollars periodically when revenues fail to meet required funding.

Additionally, reduce the percentage amounts a retired person would receive, which could almost equal the amount of salary and benefits they earned while on their job. This should more closely compare with what the private sector offers.

Admittedly, you can't change those who were given assurances when hired, but all new staff members hired could be at a revised and less-costly pension benefit.

Review all priorities to ensure they are categorically listed for maximum economical and environmental benefit, and to eliminate all failed programs and commissions.

Give consideration to the proposal of spending over ,6 million for another administrative building in North County, which would require hiring more employees and increase maintenance costs. It would seem that a North County Jail should be at a much higher priority than to build any other county structures.

The number of total county employees continues to rise, their salaries and benefits are already excessively extravagant, and paid days off are too numerous and could exceed up to two months a year for sick leave, vacations, holidays, etc.

In our present economic crisis, the county should emulate the private sector, which is cutting the number of staff, travel and entertainment expenses, delaying any purchases of equipment or furniture, reducing wasteful overtime, and eliminating any non-productive activity or function.

It also seems we are now, again, on track to returning to the 3-2 vote margin favoring South County with the recent reduction in CEO Mike Brown's authority. Changing department heads from being under Mike's direction to the county supervisors is a disruption to a sound organization line of command principles.

The county must take aggressive steps to cut costs and to increase revenues. In the past, I have used an example that might well apply to our county.

If a close friend should come to me and say he has a terminal illness, and if he doesn't have an operation tomorrow morning, he will die. He has exhausted all his assets and sources of money, and he needs ,1 million from me.

Well, very sadly, I would have no alternative but to tell him he?s going to die, but I will send flowers and be at his funeral.

The point is, no matter how worthy the cause, if you don't have the money, you just can't help out. This is not heartless; it's just the reality of the situation.

John D. BJackC Pellerin lives in Santa Ynez, and is past president of the Committee to Improve North County.

April 23, 2009