I’m a business owner.
It’s almost surreal seeing the reality in print. I launched my editing business Mission: Clarity two months ago. Actually, I began laying the foundation for the business last year by purchasing the Web domain www.missionclarity.com, buying some business cards, and fishing for clients. The business became official when I filed for a home business permit in May with the city of Vacaville.
I decided to start an editing business after enduring a year and a half of furloughs. When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed furloughs on 237,000 state employees in February 2009, the action amounted to a 14 percent pay cut. With a new contract for the 95,000 workers under the SEIU Local 1000 union ratified in November 2010, I have 5 percent of my pay taken out toward my government pension and one unpaid day a month, amounting to an 8 percent decrease. Also, with some legislators and activists calling for “pension reform,” that is, a cut in my future retirement pay, I realized that I needed another income source. I have a friend in Texas named “E” who not only teaches at a public school but runs a cake-making catering business. Noting her example, I’ve concluded that it’s silly in this sluggish economy to depend on just a 40-hour-a-week job to keep one’s head above water. After all, I’m not one of the hundreds of California state workers earning six figures.
My sister, Black Woman Blogging, thought of the name Mission: Clarity and discovered through an online search that the URL wasn’t taken yet. She has been my biggest supporter of this effort.
The business moniker Mission: Clarity fits because my goal is to make prose, whether in reports, brochures, manuscripts, or periodicals, concise and clear to the lay reader. I have been doing this for 5 years for a California state agency and 12 years as a newspaper staff writer. I believe there is a need in Solano County for someone who can look at copy and make it cleaner and, if necessary, grammatically correct.
Mission: Clarity will be my lifelong project. Because I’m the only one invested in this business, I’m not worried about failure. I would rather try and fail than do nothing. Doing nothing would be my biggest regret, and it’s not an option.
So, friends, please check out Mission: Clarity on Facebook and Twitter, where I will dispense grammar and usage advice. When my website is complete, I will let you know. And thank you in advance for your support.
Writing Diva
Showing posts with label Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Thursday, August 12, 2010
State Worker Ping Pong
Yesterday a colleague who is retiring tomorrow commented on the ongoing furlough fights between California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the unions representing most of the 240,000 state employees. He said that it felt like he was in a ping pong match.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Frankly, I’m tired of the Governor using state workers as pawns in the legislative budget battle. California has gone 43 days without a budget. So far, there have been reports that the governor and the California Legislature are three-quarters of the way toward a budget. Democrats and Republicans are still haggling over the $4 billion in proposed tax revenues to fill the $19 billion gap in the 2010-2011 budget.
Two weeks ago, when state Controller John Chiang announced that the state would run out of money by October, Schwarzenegger reinstated furloughs after affected state workers endured them for 18 months. Our July paycheck was the first time since February 2009 that we received full pay. Our newest round of furloughs was to start the second Friday in August.
The unions filed a request with the Alameda County Superior Court to block the latest furloughs. On Monday night, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick sided with the workers and ordered a temporary restraining order on the furloughs. Typical Arnold, he filed an appeal with the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, stating that Brick’s TRO “will exacerbate the ongoing fiscal and cash crisis in California and will correspondingly harm the state and the public.” Yeah, right.
Sorry for the cliché, but I’ve gone through an emotional (not to mention financial) roller coaster with these furloughs. I wish that the Governor and Legislature would get its act together and figure out something. I just want to know how much, if any, money I’ll be taking home each month for how long.
(Blogger’s Note: I just learned that we have to report to work tomorrow. The colleague just said a four-letter word. Couldn’t have said it better myself.)
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Frankly, I’m tired of the Governor using state workers as pawns in the legislative budget battle. California has gone 43 days without a budget. So far, there have been reports that the governor and the California Legislature are three-quarters of the way toward a budget. Democrats and Republicans are still haggling over the $4 billion in proposed tax revenues to fill the $19 billion gap in the 2010-2011 budget.
Two weeks ago, when state Controller John Chiang announced that the state would run out of money by October, Schwarzenegger reinstated furloughs after affected state workers endured them for 18 months. Our July paycheck was the first time since February 2009 that we received full pay. Our newest round of furloughs was to start the second Friday in August.
The unions filed a request with the Alameda County Superior Court to block the latest furloughs. On Monday night, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick sided with the workers and ordered a temporary restraining order on the furloughs. Typical Arnold, he filed an appeal with the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, stating that Brick’s TRO “will exacerbate the ongoing fiscal and cash crisis in California and will correspondingly harm the state and the public.” Yeah, right.
Sorry for the cliché, but I’ve gone through an emotional (not to mention financial) roller coaster with these furloughs. I wish that the Governor and Legislature would get its act together and figure out something. I just want to know how much, if any, money I’ll be taking home each month for how long.
(Blogger’s Note: I just learned that we have to report to work tomorrow. The colleague just said a four-letter word. Couldn’t have said it better myself.)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Hang Together or Hang Separately?
When I heard Thursday night that an Alameda County Superior Court judge sided with SEIU Local 1000 and other California state employee unions against the imposed three-day-a-month furloughs, I was at first overjoyed and hopeful for 2010. Judge Frank Roesch ruled that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to furlough about 200,000 state employees, regardless of whether they were paid through the general fund or special funds, was legally flawed. To which I said, “Duh!”
Then reality settled in. The state faces a $21 billion deficit and growing. Tomorrow the Governor makes his last State of the State address, and I expect the other shoe to drop – layoffs for state employees.
I admit that at first I selfishly thought, “Let him do layoffs. I have nine years with the state and I’m in a special fund agency.” Then I remembered I have friends who work for general fund agencies who don’t have as many years of state service as I do. I also have family members who work for the state who may be affected. A prime example is my sister, Black Woman Blogging (http://www.blackwomanblogging.blogspot.com). She is an attorney for a general fund state agency who has been furloughed, as I have been. She and her husband, an attorney for a federal agency, bought their first home together in November 2008. I don’t want them to lose their home and go through more financial struggles.
Last night on KTXL Fox 40 in Sacramento, reporter Rick Boone interviewed Antonio Mitchell, a 19-year state employee. Mitchell looked directly into the camera and told his union SEIU Local 1000, “If you’re listening, union reps, save everyone’s jobs. I think it’s better for us to take the 15 percent (pay cut) than for some to lose their jobs. That’s a no-win situation. I think everyone everybody can share in the pain.”
Mitchell has a valid point. The superior court judge’s ruling and the subsequent appeals are a train wreck waiting to happen. If SEIU Local 1000 wants to help its membership, it should take a poll of its members asking if we should stop the war and take furloughs over firings. If the unions truly represent us, the leadership should listen to us.
I will side with Mr. Mitchell and ask SEIU Local 1000 to stop. As Benjamin Franklin said, “We must hang together, gentlemen,…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.”
Writing Diva
Then reality settled in. The state faces a $21 billion deficit and growing. Tomorrow the Governor makes his last State of the State address, and I expect the other shoe to drop – layoffs for state employees.
I admit that at first I selfishly thought, “Let him do layoffs. I have nine years with the state and I’m in a special fund agency.” Then I remembered I have friends who work for general fund agencies who don’t have as many years of state service as I do. I also have family members who work for the state who may be affected. A prime example is my sister, Black Woman Blogging (http://www.blackwomanblogging.blogspot.com). She is an attorney for a general fund state agency who has been furloughed, as I have been. She and her husband, an attorney for a federal agency, bought their first home together in November 2008. I don’t want them to lose their home and go through more financial struggles.
Last night on KTXL Fox 40 in Sacramento, reporter Rick Boone interviewed Antonio Mitchell, a 19-year state employee. Mitchell looked directly into the camera and told his union SEIU Local 1000, “If you’re listening, union reps, save everyone’s jobs. I think it’s better for us to take the 15 percent (pay cut) than for some to lose their jobs. That’s a no-win situation. I think everyone everybody can share in the pain.”
Mitchell has a valid point. The superior court judge’s ruling and the subsequent appeals are a train wreck waiting to happen. If SEIU Local 1000 wants to help its membership, it should take a poll of its members asking if we should stop the war and take furloughs over firings. If the unions truly represent us, the leadership should listen to us.
I will side with Mr. Mitchell and ask SEIU Local 1000 to stop. As Benjamin Franklin said, “We must hang together, gentlemen,…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.”
Writing Diva
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
50
"I like to kick, stretch, AND kick! I'm 50! Fifty years old!"
Sally O'Malley (as portrayed by Molly Shannon, "Saturday Night Live." See http://www.hulu.com/watch/1504/saturday-night-live-sally-omalley)
I have no problem with sharing my age. Today, my mother Claudia "Deena" Buford Robinson gave birth to me at 11:41 a.m. PDT 50 years ago at Sacramento County Hospital, now UC Davis Medical Center. Besides, my sister, Black Woman Blogging (http://www.blackwomanblogging.blogspot.com) already gave away my age. Thanks, BWB.
My puzzle is defining what 50 is. I don't feel whatever 50 feels like. I may have a little bit of a camel hump. (No camel toes, though, thank goodness! If you need to know what "camel toes" are, watch the Hulu.com video.) But I walk every day, use weights three times a week, and perform sit-ups on my bed twice a week. I look pretty good for my age.
I read in the April 2008 issue of More magazine about second acts. I had considered a second act of starting my own editing and writing business. But now I'm actually planning it because of the three-day furloughs that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed on California state workers, myself included. I can't allow the political drama at the state Capitol to affect my plans for the next stage of my life.
As Helen Reddy sang in "I Am Woman," whatever wisdom I gained was born of pain. I don't think I would want to be young again. I didn't know as much and I was too trusting. I'm more discerning in whom I trust and I treasure the life knowledge I've earned.
I'm glad to be starting my 51st year. As my older sister "D" would say, it beats the alternative.
Writing Diva
Sally O'Malley (as portrayed by Molly Shannon, "Saturday Night Live." See http://www.hulu.com/watch/1504/saturday-night-live-sally-omalley)
I have no problem with sharing my age. Today, my mother Claudia "Deena" Buford Robinson gave birth to me at 11:41 a.m. PDT 50 years ago at Sacramento County Hospital, now UC Davis Medical Center. Besides, my sister, Black Woman Blogging (http://www.blackwomanblogging.blogspot.com) already gave away my age. Thanks, BWB.
My puzzle is defining what 50 is. I don't feel whatever 50 feels like. I may have a little bit of a camel hump. (No camel toes, though, thank goodness! If you need to know what "camel toes" are, watch the Hulu.com video.) But I walk every day, use weights three times a week, and perform sit-ups on my bed twice a week. I look pretty good for my age.
I read in the April 2008 issue of More magazine about second acts. I had considered a second act of starting my own editing and writing business. But now I'm actually planning it because of the three-day furloughs that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed on California state workers, myself included. I can't allow the political drama at the state Capitol to affect my plans for the next stage of my life.
As Helen Reddy sang in "I Am Woman," whatever wisdom I gained was born of pain. I don't think I would want to be young again. I didn't know as much and I was too trusting. I'm more discerning in whom I trust and I treasure the life knowledge I've earned.
I'm glad to be starting my 51st year. As my older sister "D" would say, it beats the alternative.
Writing Diva
Monday, August 3, 2009
Strike That!
What's done is done.
The Service International Employees Union Local 1000, which represents about 95,000 California civil servants, has voted to take job actions up to and including a strike.
Borrowing a page from President Obama's book, I think the vote, announced Saturday, was the stupidest thing SEIU Local 1000 has ever done.
The vote was 74 percent “yes” to 26 percent “no.” I was among those who voted “no.” My sister T1 voted “HELL NO!” SEIU officials did not release how many members cast ballots.
To my knowledge, state workers have never voted to go on strike before. There is a clause in our contracts that prohibit walking off the job in protest. However, SEIU Local 1000 officials assert, “The state cannot discipline anyone who participates in a legal and protected job action or strike. As an added protection, Local 1000 will ensure that any resolution includes an amnesty clause – a provision guaranteeing that members who participate in a strike will be protected from discipline or adverse administrative action by the state.”
On the question of whether it’s legal for state employees to strike, SEIU Local 1000 states, “In a case brought before the California Supreme Court by SEIU in 1985, the court held that strikes by public employees are legal in California. In its ruling, the court said only strikes that are expressly forbidden by law or that threaten the public health or safety are illegal. Since the 1985 ruling, there have been scores of legal strikes by workers in cities, counties, and school districts throughout California.
On the other side, the Schwarzenegger administration, as represented by the state Department of Personnel Administration Personnel Board, declares that state employees have no right to strike. The SPB Web site states that any employee who participates in a strike “will be regarded as absent without Leave (AWOL) and will not be paid for any day in which they participate in a strike or job action.” Moreover, “employees who participate in a strike or other job action may be subject to disciplinary or other appropriate administrative action.”
“The state will dock their pay and take disciplinary actions,” said Lynelle Jolley, spokeswoman for the DPA in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “They will lose money – or worse.”
Well, Ms. Jolley, we’ve already lost money – about 14 percent of our paycheck since July 1. Although I’m not at my tipping point (that is, having to sell my home), other people have reached and gone beyond it. I imagine the state workers who voted to authorize a strike concluded that they have little or nothing left to lose.
The reason why I voted against the strike comes in an acronym – PATCO.
I remember the August 1981 walkout of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. The trade union’s members wanted better pay, better working conditions, and a 32-hour work week. President Ronald Reagan ordered the air traffic controllers back to work, citing safety concerns. When only 1,300 of the almost 13,000 employees returned to their posts, Reagan carried out his threat and fired the remainder who stayed on strike.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a lame-duck governor with nothing less to lose except his improved standing with the Republican Party. I believe he has no qualms about having those of us on strike fired. He has no sympathy for state workers, erroneously stating that the average state worker earns $60,000 a year. That’s utter nonsense! Most state workers earn way below that. To flex his political muscle, I strongly believe he will fire us.
Don’t get me wrong. I support the union. I was even a union steward in SEIU Local 1000. But this is little more than a pissing match between SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker and Gov. Schwarzenegger, with the union members being peed upon. We will be the real losers.
So, in response to SEIU Local 1000’s “Count on Me” job actions, count me out.
Writing Diva
The Service International Employees Union Local 1000, which represents about 95,000 California civil servants, has voted to take job actions up to and including a strike.
Borrowing a page from President Obama's book, I think the vote, announced Saturday, was the stupidest thing SEIU Local 1000 has ever done.
The vote was 74 percent “yes” to 26 percent “no.” I was among those who voted “no.” My sister T1 voted “HELL NO!” SEIU officials did not release how many members cast ballots.
To my knowledge, state workers have never voted to go on strike before. There is a clause in our contracts that prohibit walking off the job in protest. However, SEIU Local 1000 officials assert, “The state cannot discipline anyone who participates in a legal and protected job action or strike. As an added protection, Local 1000 will ensure that any resolution includes an amnesty clause – a provision guaranteeing that members who participate in a strike will be protected from discipline or adverse administrative action by the state.”
On the question of whether it’s legal for state employees to strike, SEIU Local 1000 states, “In a case brought before the California Supreme Court by SEIU in 1985, the court held that strikes by public employees are legal in California. In its ruling, the court said only strikes that are expressly forbidden by law or that threaten the public health or safety are illegal. Since the 1985 ruling, there have been scores of legal strikes by workers in cities, counties, and school districts throughout California.
On the other side, the Schwarzenegger administration, as represented by the state Department of Personnel Administration Personnel Board, declares that state employees have no right to strike. The SPB Web site states that any employee who participates in a strike “will be regarded as absent without Leave (AWOL) and will not be paid for any day in which they participate in a strike or job action.” Moreover, “employees who participate in a strike or other job action may be subject to disciplinary or other appropriate administrative action.”
“The state will dock their pay and take disciplinary actions,” said Lynelle Jolley, spokeswoman for the DPA in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “They will lose money – or worse.”
Well, Ms. Jolley, we’ve already lost money – about 14 percent of our paycheck since July 1. Although I’m not at my tipping point (that is, having to sell my home), other people have reached and gone beyond it. I imagine the state workers who voted to authorize a strike concluded that they have little or nothing left to lose.
The reason why I voted against the strike comes in an acronym – PATCO.
I remember the August 1981 walkout of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. The trade union’s members wanted better pay, better working conditions, and a 32-hour work week. President Ronald Reagan ordered the air traffic controllers back to work, citing safety concerns. When only 1,300 of the almost 13,000 employees returned to their posts, Reagan carried out his threat and fired the remainder who stayed on strike.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a lame-duck governor with nothing less to lose except his improved standing with the Republican Party. I believe he has no qualms about having those of us on strike fired. He has no sympathy for state workers, erroneously stating that the average state worker earns $60,000 a year. That’s utter nonsense! Most state workers earn way below that. To flex his political muscle, I strongly believe he will fire us.
Don’t get me wrong. I support the union. I was even a union steward in SEIU Local 1000. But this is little more than a pissing match between SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker and Gov. Schwarzenegger, with the union members being peed upon. We will be the real losers.
So, in response to SEIU Local 1000’s “Count on Me” job actions, count me out.
Writing Diva
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Hard Choices
Just three hours ago Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order mandating three furlough days a month for California state employees. Starting July 10, most state offices will be closed the first, second, and third Friday of each month.
By my calculation, three furlough days a month will cost me 14.3 percent of my paycheck -- $689 a month before taxes. This is really going to hurt.
My boss sent out an e-mail reminding us that at least we have a job and thanking us for keeping our heads above the turmoil that has been brewing over the past several months.
Now, can she talk to my mortgage banker about approving a loan modification to lower my monthly mortgage payments?
I will be making some hard choices this month, including:
By my calculation, three furlough days a month will cost me 14.3 percent of my paycheck -- $689 a month before taxes. This is really going to hurt.
My boss sent out an e-mail reminding us that at least we have a job and thanking us for keeping our heads above the turmoil that has been brewing over the past several months.
Now, can she talk to my mortgage banker about approving a loan modification to lower my monthly mortgage payments?
I will be making some hard choices this month, including:
- Cancelling my health club membership. I had rejoined Solano Athletic Club in January after a disastrous stint with 24-Hour Fitness. Now I'll have to exercise on my own.
- Reducing my cable subscription to limited basic. I was going to do that earlier this year, but the customer service representative persuaded me to stick to expanded basic for $38.40 a month, including taxes. I'm afraid I'll have to return to $16 a month, including taxes.
- Ordering no more magazine subscriptions of any kind, not even my writing magazines, until these furloughs end, supposedly on June 30, 2010.
- Getting a job working Friday through Sunday, except for the fourth and fifth Friday of each month. Considering the tight economy, that will be difficult, but not impossible.
- Applying for a loan modification with my mortgage banker. I'll explain the situation and send all the required documents and a copy of the Governor's press release. Hey, it's worth a shot.
I'm already shopping at WinCo Foods, driving less, clipping coupons, limiting my entertainment, suspending contributions to my IRA, and cutting back on my church offerings. But it could be worse. I could be unemployed without a roof over my head for me and my two cats.
It's time for me to batten down the hatches.
Sigh....
Writing Diva
Friday, May 22, 2009
What Kind of California Do You Want?
What kind of world do you want?
Think anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now
John Ondrasik, Five for Fighting, "World"
To paraphrase the first sentence of the Rev. Rick Warren's best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life, it's not about you -- the California taxpayer fed up with politics as usual in Sacramento.
It's not about me, either. This blogger is a California civil servant who fears for her job, paycheck, and home.
It's about this state -- California.
Although turnout for the May 19 special election for six state budget-related propositions was reportedly at a low of 23 percent, voters resoundingly thrashed all but one -- a proposition that bans any raises for the Governor, Legislature, and other top state officials if the general fund is expected to end the fiscal year with a deficit.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger interpreted the results thus, according to The Sacramento Bee: "I think the message was clear from the people: Go all out and make those cuts and live within your means."
OK, then. It's time for all California voters to make some hard choices. Therefore, I suggest the following:
Think anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now
John Ondrasik, Five for Fighting, "World"
To paraphrase the first sentence of the Rev. Rick Warren's best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life, it's not about you -- the California taxpayer fed up with politics as usual in Sacramento.
It's not about me, either. This blogger is a California civil servant who fears for her job, paycheck, and home.
It's about this state -- California.
Although turnout for the May 19 special election for six state budget-related propositions was reportedly at a low of 23 percent, voters resoundingly thrashed all but one -- a proposition that bans any raises for the Governor, Legislature, and other top state officials if the general fund is expected to end the fiscal year with a deficit.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger interpreted the results thus, according to The Sacramento Bee: "I think the message was clear from the people: Go all out and make those cuts and live within your means."
OK, then. It's time for all California voters to make some hard choices. Therefore, I suggest the following:
- California legislators should send a questionnaire each fall to all state voters asking them which services they would like to keep or cut, such as law enforcement, fire protection, prisons, education, health care, home health services, education, and the like. Ask voters if they would be willing to pay for these services and how much they're willing to shell out.
- Legislators (both state senators and assembly members) should host (at least) four "town hall" meetings in their districts between January 10 and June 1, including one meeting on a weeknight and one on a Saturday in different communities. They should present the results of the questionnaire and discuss options and legal constraints with those voters who attend. Then the legislators should vote according to what their constituents want, not according to lobbyists' positions or anyone's contributions.
- Voters must make time to keep up with issues of import to them and the positions their legislators take on all statewide matters. I also suggest that there be a four-year (at least) moratorium on citizen-drafted state initiatives to allow legislators to do their jobs. Also, Californians should consider whether some state laws based on propositions be put on hold or abolished, such as Proposition 98, which guarantees a portion of the general fund for education, or, (Horrors!) Proposition 13, approved in 1978, which freezes the tax-assessed value of properties at the time of purchase with a 2 percent cap on annual assessment increases.
Voters must also realize that some programs are federally mandated, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and health care for (yes) illegal immigrants.
I realize that I'm asking voters to do a lot of homework. News flash: Being an informed citizen and making decisions that affect your household and the state of California aren't a piece of cake. Deal with it!
Again, ask yourselves: What kind of California do you want? What kind of California do you want to leave to your descendants?
Get to work.
Writing Diva
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