Chief Cooper Tosses It In

Claremont Police Chief Paul Cooper (left) Stacks Arms and Double Dips

Having spent the past few months steering Claremont Measure PS to a 75% NO to 25% YES squeaker of a defeat, Chief Paul Cooper of the Claremont Police Department the very next day (November 4th) announced his retirement.

Whether this is a case of taking his ball and going home--we will leave that for you to decide.

Never one to leave any money on the table, Chief Cooper, who last year negotiated  a couple of multi-thousand dollar retention bonuses will retire on December 31, 2015 and be back the next day as a $193,000 annually (approximately $96/hour) Double-Dipper.  (His CALPERS pension will start then, and Lord knows how much it will be but probably in the vicinity of $175,000 per year if our meager knowledge of public safety pensions and our math skills don't fail us.)  That's a lot of Pixie donuts.

He is restricted by CALPERS rules from working more than "part time", defined as 960 hours in any fiscal year during retirement.  But Honest Paul figured this one to just span the second half of the City's FY2015-16 year and the first half of the upcoming FY 2016-2017 fiscal year.  This allows him, as City Manager Tony Ramos cheerfully reports, to "be able to work close to full-time hours over the term of his employment" as interim chief.  He will stay as interim chief not longer than December 31, 2016 at which time he will have scooped every last cent of City money off the table.

Anyway, bon voyage Chief Cooper.  May your retirement be short and may we see you back in the saddle again soon.  Probably in January.