City employees cash out early

Carol Proctor drove from Fountain Valley to her job in Costa Mesa for the last time Wednesday morning. She had taken the same route for many years until deciding to participate in Costa Mesa’s early retirement program, ending her nearly 30 years of city service.

Although the city manager’s analyst had about two more years to go with the city, she decided to take advantage of early retirement, which the city offered this year.

“You’re kind of thinking, ‘Can I afford this? What does it means to me as far as retirement and what does it means to me medically?’ All that comes to play even if the city offers something as generous as they have,” said Proctor, 55. “I went through all those points with my husband ... and with the number of years that I’ve been employed with Costa Mesa, it didn’t make sense to not accept the city’s generous offer, the golden handshake offer.”

Proctor is one of 53 city employees who participated in the program, said Steve Mandoki, director of administrative services.

The program was part of the city’s 10-point plan to close the budget gap that was created by cuts of revenues and grants from the state. The early retirement program will save the city about $3.6 million for the next six months, city officials said.

Only half of the people who retired will be replaced, Mandoki said.

“Every position is assessed by the departments in terms of the need before replacement,” he said.

Replacement and some promotions have already been implemented to fill the positions for some of the employees who retired, Mandoki said.

The option of retiring early was given to employees who were at least 50 years old and have been members of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) for at lease five years. Program participants were given an additional two years of service to increase their benefits.

None of the employees who retired were approached by the city; the program was voluntary and open to all eligible employees, Mandoki said.

“We did not approach any employees because this is a personal decision,” he said. “It was difficult for some employees.”

Making the decision to retire was difficult for Proctor, who started her career with the city doing clerical work at the manager’s officer and moved up to the position of city planner, then analyst.

“The best part of the whole thing is the people here,” Proctor said. “They’ve been absolutely wonderful to work with.”

Proctor said she plans on doing more volunteering, spending time with her parents, reading more and traveling with her husband.