As Sacramento county's CEO, Brad Hudson earns $258,000 a year, plus benefits. Not bad, but it gets better. He is also a government retiree. After 25 years working for local governments in southern California, Hudson retired at age 53, and now collects a pension of more than $16,000 a month, or nearly $200,000 a year.
In retirement circles, Hudson is what's known as a double dipper. He collects a public salary, while collecting a government pension at the same time.
He's doing nothing illegal, but his combined compensation of nearly a half million dollars makes him a poster child for what's wrong with California's public retirement system. The benefits are too rich, and they can be collected too early.
On top of this, as the Bee's Brad Brannan reported, Hudson also spent $7,300 in county funds for a desk, and another $78 for a shoe polisher. Really - who charges a struggling county for a shoe polisher? Aside from appearances, this county is broke. It will need concessions from rank and file workers to balance its budget. A double dipping CEO with very shiny shoes is not in the best position to ask others for sacrifice.
Ginger Rutland writes for The Sacramento Bee opinion pages.