Hoping to avoid the shame public officials have over taxpayers being forced to pay ex-Orange County Sheriff/current-paroled felon Mike Carona a $215,000 annual pension, two county supervisors are seeking to avoid the same fate when it comes to the payout for convicted Santa Ana City Councilman/grope-y county Public Works manager Carlos “Busty” Bustamante.
Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Andrew Do announced Monday they have called on the Orange County Employees’ Retirement System (OCERS) to strip Bustamante of part of his taxpayer pension in light of his criminal conviction and sentence on three felony counts that include attempted sexual battery by restraint, stalking and grand theft by false pretenses.
“The public is sick and tired of people like Bustamante and former Sheriff Carona being convicted of felony conduct while in office and then riding off into the sunset with their full taxpayer paid for pensions,” Spitzer explains in the announcement.
Spitzer and Do are requesting that OCERS reduce proportionately Bustamante’s retirement benefits retroactively from the date of commission of the felonious conduct, which occurred from July 2, 2009, to October 4, 2011, when Bustamante resigned from the County of Orange.
“The law is based on a sound public policy to protect taxpayers and prevent felons from being able to continue to accrue benefits while they commit crimes,” says Do.
As that would influence Bustamante’s payments to his lawyers, expect a vigorous defense. Heck, it’ll probably even be—forgive me—stiffer than the criminal defense from charges of Bustamante reign of groping terror that included cornering frightened underlings in his office and doing everything from grabbing their breasts to wielding his baton, both literally (while talking about his law-enforcement connections to frighten his victims into silence) and perversely (masturbating in front of them with his, um, little baton).
Little baton … the Lil’ Sheriff—it all comes full circle, baby!
