Absurdity

A few weeks ago, I joked with my CN&R colleagues about starting an office pool on who would retire first: Chico Police Chief Kirk Trostle or Chico State President Paul Zingg.

I’d just heard a rumor that Trostle was fully vested—meaning he’d spent enough time on the job to retire with a yearly pension of 90 percent of his highest salary for the rest of his life. Under CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System), police officers and firefighters can retire at that maximum when they turn 50 years old. (Trostle is out of town this week, so no confirmation from him on whether he met that threshold.) According to the most recent city data, he made $154,000 in 2013, 90 percent of which pencils out to $138,600.

Zingg, on the other hand, has been at the helm of the university for more than a decade, is 69 years old and, according to transparentcalifornia.com, made a salary of $277,000 in 2013 (that doesn’t include his housing and car allowances). Assuming he has 30 years of CalPERS service under his belt, he’d have been eligible for 75 percent of his highest salary at age 67—two years ago. (Police have a sweeter deal, obviously.)

In any event, I should have put my money on Trostle, who, roughly 2 1/2 years into his tenure as Chico’s top cop, announced on Friday that he’s retiring, effective Dec. 30. He turns 50—the magic number—on Dec. 21.

If you’re having déjà vu, it’s probably because Mike Maloney retired as Chico police chief on his 50th birthday, back in April 2012. He, too, ducked out after only a couple of years.

Now the director of Butte College’s Public Safety and Training Center, Maloney is what’s called a “double-dipper.” The local community college’s retirement is through the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), so Maloney’s able to pull in a salary there ($62,500 in 2013) while at the same time earning that fat CalPERS pension pay: $151,000 last year, according to transparentcalifornia.com. He also gets a 2 percent annual cost-of-living adjustment. And in a couple years, when he retires from the college gig, he’ll draw a second pension. Absurd.

But back to Trostle. When he took the job of police chief a few years ago, he told the CN&R he’d stay in that role for at least four years. His lack of follow-through is disappointing. So is the way he’s going out. His announcement last Friday gives the city just more than a month’s notice. (Maloney at least extended the courtesy of warning the city several months in advance.) By leaving before Jan. 1, Trostle’s ensured he’ll pick up that 2 percent COLA increase next year. If he stayed on into the New Year, he’d have to wait a year and a half for that bump.

Trostle says he’s leaving the job to spend more time with his family. It’s hard to fault him for that. Then again, if he’s retiring at exactly the point where he’d make that highest pension level, I’m pretty sure he’s just another cop gaming the system. Hopefully that game ends with him.