Council candidates on pensions: Ladan Bezanson

Ladan Bezanson, learning coordinator for Montclair

QUESTION: The city is faced with increasing salaries and pension costs for retired employees. What do you think needs to be done in order to make salaries and pension costs affordable?

ANSWER: I understand what the city is currently doing considering the fact that I work for another city. On one hand, they want to retain their employees by offering them great fringe benefits, but on the other hand they are going to break the bank trying to pay for all of these costs. If we take into consideration that the city is in negotiations currently for this fiscal year's contracts, we should ask the employees to help pay for some of their retirement costs. Right now, the city pays on average $1 for fringe benefits for every $2.54 of wage. So when a staff member is paid $60,000 in salary the position actually costs $83,622. Everyone in this nation has made a sacrifice for the past couple of years; the city of Upland's employees are no exception. When the economy picks up so will their wages.