A move not in the public’s interest

People who are suspicious of Coast Community College Trustee Armando

Ruiz’ retirement plans certainly have good reason.

Because of a quirk in state law, if Ruiz retires from his

trusteeship the same day he retires from his counseling job at Irvine

Valley College -- Oct. 31 -- he could receive an elevated pension

from the Coast district of almost $55,000 a year. Combined with the

pension from his service at Irvine Valley College, he could collect a

total annual pension of about $120,000 -- all because he potentially

could retire the same day.

That’s right, the law condones this double-dip. It allows such

officeholders, employed with another government agency, to draw

pensions from two jobs, based on their highest annual salary, if they

retire from the positions on the same day. Ruiz’ highest annual

salary was $107,000, for his work at Irvine.

But that’s not all.

In what could turn out to be a real coup, Ruiz, who has filed to

run for re-election to his trustee seat, could retire from both jobs

on the same day, secure the bolstered pension and be re-elected to

the trustee seat on the board he just retired from. At least that’s

what members of the Coast Federation of Teachers and Coast Trustee

Jerry Patterson think he could do. We think that kind of move would

smack of lining one’s pockets at public expense.

Ruiz has been quiet on the issue, and has not publicly announced

any decision on retiring from his trusteeship. So far, it seems, he

is running as an incumbent. But those who are leery of Ruiz’

intentions believe otherwise. “I think it’s totally unethical,” said

Diana Sharp, president of Coast Federation of Classified Employees,

in a Sept. 2 Daily Pilot story. “I was surprised it was legal.” No

one can fault the man -- who has spent a lengthy tenure committed to

community colleges -- for finding a loophole that allows him to

retire more comfortably. Indeed, if he were to retire from the posts

on different days, he’d receive just $5,000 per year for the trustee

pension and the roughly $65,000 from the South Orange County

Community College District, which Irvine Valley College is a part of.

If anything, perhaps this glitch should have been foreseen when

Ruiz was elected to his seat.

Nevertheless, we share a general concern that this kind of

situation can arise, and we hope that by the time Oct. 31 rolls

around, Ruiz will do the right thing and either retire after a

long-lived, healthy career as a public servant, and not run as an

incumbent, or let the voters fairly decide on November 2 his fate as

an incumbent trustee -- who has not yet retired from that post.