The proper role and scope of government

[Lamplighter]

If Rahm Emanuel's name is in an article, juices flow.

ChicagoBusiness
By: Greg Hinz and Robert Herguth
October 24, 2011

Top Rahm aide set herself up for sweet CTA pension

Mayoral Chief of Staff Theresa Mintle helped enact a special early-retirement plan at her former employer—
the Chicago Transit Authority—that entitled her to a $65,000 annual pension she wouldn't have qualified for otherwise.

Official records obtained in a joint probe by Crain's and the Better Government Assn. indicate
Ms. Mintle is eligible for a pension of $64,908.53 at age 65, based on just eight years of service at the agency.
The early-retirement sweetener passed in 2008, when she was chief of staff to then-CTA board Chairman Carole Brown.
Ms. Mintle resigned from that job last spring to assume similar duties for Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Ordinarily, Ms. Mintle, 47, would have needed 11 years of service to qualify for a pension at the CTA,
a milestone she wouldn't have reached until 2014.
But in 2008, she was involved in the approval and possibly the design of an early-retirement sweetener
for agency executives containing two separate clauses that,
together, allowed her to buy extra service credits and lock in her pension
in exchange for leaving her job by mid-2011.
After days of avoiding questions from Crain's and the BGA, Mr. Emanuel's office said late Friday
that Ms. Mintle has decided to forgo the CTA pension. “She has no intention of participating in the program”
and has not contributed the $53,000 needed to secure her benefits under the plan,
a spokeswoman for the mayor's office said.

However, the terms of the early-retirement plan give Ms. Mintle eight years to change her mind,
make the contribution and lock in the pension.

So now, what has Ms Mintle actually done ?
She worked for the Transit Authority for 8 years.
She would have been eligible for retirement benefits in 3 more years
She contributed $64,908.53 towards her own retirement
That is $8,113 per year
She will need to wait 18 years to start receiving benefits

The point of Merc's entire "expose" is...
She will need to pay an additional $53,000 if she wanted to secure these benefits.
That's about $10K per year for a pension 18 years down the road---

My God, Oh the humanity... Such "sweet" pension ... NOT !
.