And in the distance an ill wind blows…
.
.
.
Introduction
At the conclusion of this week, many layoff notices will take effect courtesy of the Judicial Council of California so that most of those conflicted members can sit in shiny, plush new offices in a few years when their new courthouses are complete. We liken the losses of these jobs to workers displaced by foreign competition.
Why?
Well lets start with the framing of most every new courthouse. All of these new courthouses will have a steel frame and that steel will likely be outsourced to China where it is cheapest to produce. Long beach courthouse is being financed by a French firm and being constructed by a Canadian firm. Mammoth lakes courthouse was built by a Nevada office of a construction firm. The Stockton Courthouse was designed by a Seattle firm. CCMS is being written by an army of Indians imported to do the work under H1 visas.
Our Judicial Council is creating thousands of jobs, sending billions of your tax dollars outside the state and outside the country and is projected to spend some 6.5 billion dollars of your tax money doing so, all while services are cut to the public, courtrooms shut down and dedicated employees are laid off statewide. They also want more of your tax dollars to do more of the same.
We owe thanks to Chief Justice George and Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and that small group of Judicial Council insiders who have run this branch for some 14+ years for investing in everyone elses economy, including Arizona and Nebraska for CCTC operations.
They can’t send your tax dollars out of state fast enough.
It is because of these administrative choices made solely by the Judicial Council that we would encourage displaced workers to work hard to displace the Judicial Council leadership as the state legislature gave 82 million dollars worth of choices and the Judicial Council chose Chinese, Indian, Nevada, Arizona, Canadian, French and Nebraska jobs over yours. This is exactly what you get when there are no laws wrapped around judicial branch purchasing and construction activities.
__________________________________________________________
Resources and Advice
Simply put, you’re about to enter what some term the worst jobs market since the great depression.
Your first step should be to apply for unemployment benefits which can be done online here. https://eapply4ui.edd.ca.gov/ Because jobless benefits do not commence for a few weeks, don’t wait to file your unemployment claim. If you have any military background whatsoever, you will want to declare that you are a veteran, which will open up a host of other valuable benefits to you and you will likely be assigned a Veteran counselor under a special program paid for by the federal government that will inform you of all of the additional benefits and assistance available to veterans. Take advantage of everything because you already paid for it with your years of dedicated service.
The good news and the bad news Currently, with a combination of available federal unemployment extensions due to California’s high unemployment rate, you may qualify for as many as 99 weeks of unemployment benefits with a maximum weekly benefit of 450.00 per week, dependent upon your previous earnings. That is the good news. The bad news is that both the republican and the tea parties are alive and well and pushing hard to eliminate unemployment benefits, including state benefits at both the state and national level. In their race to the very bottom, Michigan with an obscene unemployment rate and cities that are turning into ghost towns has opted to reduce unemployment benefits to twenty weeks, with a maximum weekly benefit of $275.00. Currently the tea party and the republican party are working aggressively in Washington DC to eliminate all federal unemployment extensions. If they are successful, your benefits will be reduced to as little as 26 weeks.
Downsize your life now. Budgeting at or less than 40% of your previous earnings and working out strict budgeting is now critical. Anything that costs you money going out the door should be downsized and you should start now. Is your cable or satellite bill $300 a month for every channel in existence? Reduce it to basic cable or opt for Netflix. Have a super fast internet connection? Downsize the connection speed and save yourself money. Shop around for cheaper cellular and landline services. Sell anything material that costs you a monthly payment. Boats, Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, anything with a monthly payment also probably has an insurance payment associated with it. Shop for new, less expensive car insurance and homeowners insurance without compromising your coverage.
Shop Smart Now. You might have noticed a sharp increase in food prices over the last two years. You might want to reconsider the places you normally shop. Consider Grocery Outlet, FoodMax, Big Lots, PacknSave, WalMart and Target and ethnic supermarkets for your food shopping needs. While not as convenient or as stylish as Safeway, Lucky’s or Andronico’s, you will find that food is expensive where you normally shop. In the San Francisco Bay Area, consider one of the more than 300 food pantries or food banks that will give you free grocery items. Don’t be too proud to take advantage of these programs. These days, literally thousands of Californians who previously made 100K or more are getting their groceries from food pantries or food banks. If you qualify, apply for food aid. While we would be inclined to say apply for food stamps we understand that this is now a debit card without the stigma of food stamps attached to them. On that note, your unemployment benefits will also be delivered on a BofA debit card. Shop smart. Use coupons. Use online savings programs like those provided by Safeway. Food aid benefits are limited to a whopping $4.72 per day per person in your household so utilizing food banks and food pantries becomes essential. No one should go hungry and please don’t let your pride get in the way of you or your children’s nutritional needs. If you have young children, consider applying for WIC if you qualify. http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/wicworks/Pages/AboutWICandHowtoApply.aspx
Avoid burning through your savings or retirement. While it may seem tempting to try to maintain your lifestyle by burning through your savings and then your retirement, there are tax penalties that you will pay on the retirement and it may take you significantly longer to find a job than you anticipate. This is where downsizing your life now becomes important to prevent this from inadvertently happening.
Mortgage Assistance. Because you are about to become unemployed, you may likely qualify for limited mortgage assistance at both a state and federal level. Start first with your mortgage holder to see what programs they have available but also consider the state program that has been federally funded to the tune of two billion dollars to keep you in your home. http://keepyourhomecalifornia.org/ will make up to six mortgage payments or get your mortgage reinstated if you qualify.
Job Search Do you have a resume already completed? Is it a good, solid, easily read and understood resume? Do you have references lined up? Consider looking up examples of what are considered professional resumes online and format your resume appropriately. Don’t be afraid to have others critique your resume. You might consider customizing your resume for the job you are looking for and keeping multiple versions on-hand to highlight specific experiences over others. You don’t have Microsoft Word and can’t afford it? Consider Google Docs as it’s free and allows you to download the resume in a wide variety of formats, including word (.doc) and adobe portable document format (.pdf) If you have any type of smartphone, get a GMail account for your job search, download the app and get GMail delivered to your portable device at no extra charge.
Create a weekly interview goal. Winning an interview is the first step in landing a job. Employers are bombarded with resumes for every opening. Your resume needs to stand out to be counted and you need to stand out by researching prospective employers. Be prepared to write cover letters and jump through personality testing and answering essay questions just to get an interview. Sign up and utilize every job search tool at your disposal because jobs can no longer be had via newspaper ads. Currently, we see a few court and AOC resumes posted on Craigslist statewide, a few on monster.com and a few on DICE for computer professionals. Don’t be complacent in your job search. Be aggressive and get creative and start looking now. Were you planning some time off between your next job? Trust us, it will happen if you like it or not so don’t plan to take any time off. Your job search should already be underway.
Consider being an advocate for Judicial Branch reforms. You have a lot of good ideas. One that was recently sent to us stated “The CHP issues tickets that say you must appear in our court within 21 days. We don’t even have the capacity to process citations within that time frame so the court traffic lines needlessly swell with people rushing in to take care of something we can’t help them with. How come they can’t change your appearance to 90 days?” That was a good question. How come we can’t change your mandatory appearance to 90 days? Maybe someone can answer this traffic clerks question for all of us. There are many other reforms you can assist the people with making as well and many of those reforms would go a long way towards protecting other judicial branch jobs, particularly in the outsourcing arena.
Training Benefits are available through EDD for persons collecting UI. These benefits allow workers who are out of work in “low demand” occupations to receive $$ to attend approved training in “high demand” occupations, while continuing to collect their full UI benefits. The training you select can be either to enhance your current core job skills or to obtain training in a completely new field, and I believe the benefits can extend for up to 24 months. Most often training can be obtained at your local community college. You have to apply for these training benefits separately from your UI application at EDD. Please read the EDD publication on Training Benefits for more details.
If going back to school is not a good option for you, but you want to enlarge your network in a meaningful way, and generate a lot of good Karma too, please consider volunteering at a local legal or social services nonprofit organization. These organizations desperately need and would appreciate your knowledge and skills, and you wll be able to keep active and involved while looking for work There are legal services organizations serving the elderly, at risk youth, people with AIDS, etc. etc.
And nonprofit legal services organizations not only have volunteer legal professional volunteers with whom you will be interacting on a daily basis, but each of these organizations also has a Board of Directors comprised of legal professionals and community leaders who may also help you in finding job leads.
_______________________________________
Displaced worker assistance for court workers provided by our courts or the AOC/Judicial Council
None reported. If you know of what assistance is being offered to employees of the AOC or your court, kindly let us know and we will post it here.
Judicial Council Watcher 
JusticeCalifornia
September 25, 2011
Too bad Tani doesn’t walk her pretty talk. She has been and is for sale. She has thus far proven by her actions that no price is too high, or low, even if it imperils the safety of children and the due process rights of their devastated parents.
Her disingenuous self efficacy on behalf of the branch in sucking up to the bar is just silly– I mean really– judges have no influence in the legislature but lawyers do? At the CJA meeting wasn’t she telling judges how much power they have? Isn’t that what you called two-faced? Or speaking out of both sides of your mouth?
I do believe many experienced lawyers– including and perhaps most especially savvy lawyer-politicians like Dunn and Steinberg — realize top leadership says and does whatever is convenient and necessary to a) enlist and support party liners, and b) set up and take down those who call out top leadership’s bull****. (Oh sorry, I almost cursed.)
And for those not paying attention: check out 3:33-3:52 of sakauye’s state bar sales talk. She is– for the first time I have heard– espousing a massive sea change in position. Ron George has been touted as a visionary for two decades, and now suddenly he and Vickrey are being characterized as mere executioners.
I would love to know– in this new version of “the devil made me do it”– who top leadership is planning to identify as the masterminds of the corrupt mess in which the branch is currently mired.
Listen up Judicial Council and AOC, and branch minions: fingerpointing has apparently begun at the tippy-top of top leadership (George and Vickrey)– perhaps you might want to consider whether that is the final signal (after George turned tail and ran, and Vickrey was run out of town by the legislature based on his dismal performance as AOC top dog) that the house of cards that George and Vickrey built– with the help of compromised branch minions– is falling.
A word to the wise: I hope potential scapegoats have kept very, very good records.
Delilah
September 25, 2011
Thank you, JCW, for that video clip. It warms the cockles of the heart to see the love story HRH2 carries on with darling “Bill,” passed on from HRH1, for his masterful turn as probation officer turned assistant “architect” of the AOC.
On another note: Sincerest thanks, JCW, for the resources you have taken the time to outline above for the next round of laid-off court employees as of October 3. Our local court is providing some assistance to laid-off court employees in the form of information on COBRA, unemployment benefits, etc. But I know of no such assistance the AOC is kicking in. Why should they be bothered? Why worry about the little fish at the bottom of the food chain when you are still able to eat lobster and caviar? Until it runs out. What form will that starvation take?
Judicial Council Watcher
September 26, 2011
Don’t rush into cobra coverage was an item we forgot to add. If you have Kaiser, you might find one of Kaisers individual health plans to be far far cheaper (like 30% of the cost) of COBRA coverage.
lando
September 26, 2011
Well there are really two separate issues running through here linked by the new CJ’s total arrogance. It is great JCW is extending a hand to those loyal and dedicated trial court employees who have lost their jobs. In stark contrast you will see no acceptance of responsibility from the CJ regarding the waste, bloat and out of control spending by the AOC that has led our branch and hardworking trial courts to the brink of total financial distress, layoffs and significant reductions of service to the public. Instead the new CJ’s CJA Bar speech commends former CJ George, Mr Vickrey and others that created this anti democratic insular mess which is at the root of our problems and which she totally embraces. More incredibly her vapid and vague four point plan and revisionist history of branch collaboration and governance shows what deep trouble we are all really in. You really can’t make up how embarrassing this speech is . I am afraid the only way out of this mess is a recall campaign of this CJ which couldn’t start early enough.
Wendy Darling
September 26, 2011
As usual, Lando sums up the situation with succinct insight and brevity. Listening to the current Chief Justice’s speech, one might forget about the scathing CCMS audit that identified dishonesty and gross mismanagment by Vickrey, Overholt, and the AOC, or about the letter from the State Legislature demanding that Vickrey be fired. Or about all the other dishonest and unethical behavior and revisionist history taking place in branch administration.
Many of us agree with you Lando. The sooner there is a recall of the current Chief Justice, the better. Until and unless that happens, it will not-so-funny business as usual at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
Long live the ACJ.
versal-versal
September 26, 2011
Lando and Wendy are absolutely right . What an amazing speech. Where does the Chief Justice get off claiming she never saw the role of the “oversight ” of the Bar as a trial or appellate justice? What in the world is she saying about Bar “oversight” anyway? Incredibly she also says judges “don’t have any muscle in the legislature”. No kidding thats because former Chief Justice George and now our new Chief Justice have insisted they speak with”one voice” for the entire judicial branch. Then there was her incredible admission that while “growing up in the judicial branch” she was unaware of the changes occurring around her including Ron George’s highjacking of the trial court funding legislation of 1998 .In addition what are the repeated references to muscle and sheer will all about ? Every concerned Californian needs to understand that this Chief Justice is arrogant and unqualified to run an entire branch of government . If anyone doubts that just watch her incredible speech on YouTube . Lando ,Wendy and many others are right. Lets get a recall campaign organized to save the California court system. Even Jerry Brown at his worst couldn’t find anyone more unsuited to be Chief Justice .
JusticeCalifornia
September 26, 2011
7 months ago sakauye gave one of her first talks as Chief Justice at the Marin Bar Association luncheon. At that meeting she explained that when she was a mere appellate justice she sat in the outside chairs of the deliberating panel, and didn’t say much. She commented that now she has to count the chairs to figure out which one is the middle, and she is expected to do the talking. She praised Marin’s unpopular CEO Kim Turner and announced that Turner would be an important part on her committees– inspiring eye-rolling, raised eyebrows, and noticeably tepid applause. She became irritable when speaking of the ACJ, and denounced the legislature for interfering in branch business. (Of course this was right after she came out, guns blazing, defending Vickrey and CCMS after the scathing BSA report). Her mantra is “process” and she has made it clear she can’t hear anyone who doesn’t speak her language in the manner she desires.
And here is how her “process” works: you know that thorny issue about the destruction of child custody mediation evidence in the middle of ongoing custody cases was raised in the October 2010 Judicial Council meeting– and remember how the Judicial Council dodged the issue by referring it to the Judicial Council “Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee” for an analysis of “best practices” and further recommendation to the Judicial Council? Well, it hasn’t even been scheduled for any type of committee discussion yet. Apparently due to the budget crisis, that committee only meets ONCE A YEAR– LOL, LOL. . . .the joke is on anyone who thought that referral to a JC committee for further consideration was serious. Only it isn’t so funny for the parents and children whose child custody evidence continues to be destroyed.
MrsKramer
September 26, 2011
New post on Katy’s Regarding WHO, specifically, has used their courts and CCMS to defraud the public.
http://katysexposure.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/pardonnez-notre-francais-but-screw-you-justices-judy-mcconnell-dick-huffman-ron-george-co-we-will-not-be-bullied-into-silence-of-how-youve-defrauded-the-public-by-facilitating-malicious/
MrsKramer
September 26, 2011
I don’t know all the details of these programs, but am aware that even real estate agents who speicalize in foreclosures are being asked to inform of these programs to help stop the crisis.
There are HUD approved and are on Keep Your Home California’s referral list, non-profits. They work with people, free of charge, whose income has been reduced – along with their servicers/lenders – to reduce the monthly payments/interest rates on people’s mortgages.
They try to do it thru a federal/state program. Sometimes lenders can’t do it under those programs, but can renegotiate your loan, in house. (they don’t want your home – they have too many already).
They can’t negotiate for you, but can act as a third party making sure that your lender is doing all the can to help and that you are doing what the lender requires. (lenders/servicers/nonprofits are currently receiving federal funds to help to lessen the foreclosure crisis).
Be careful what non-profits you choose to help you, Many are good, but there are currently also sharks swimming in these waters. ALWAYS verify who they are with a reputable agency, before you agree to work with anyone – Free service or not..
While the US Senate tries to untangle the foreclosure crisis, they have SPECIFICALLY (just last week) called out SF as one of the areas of the country where the average housing price to average income ratio is way out of kelter.
There is talk of working with the lenders to reduce the amount of principle owed on some loans (rather than just reduce the interest rate or take the property in foreclosure or force the borrower into a short sale).
Even if you don’t need the help right today, don’t power thru your savings to make your house payments. Don’t stick your head in the sand because it is depressing to think about money when you are laid off.
No one wants to see you lose your homes or be penniless while trying to keep up with your bills. Its bad for the economy in general right now.
If you are on top of things regarding your mortgage, this could be a case of “when life hands you lemons…make lemonaide.” Many of the reductions in interest rates are permanent, even if your income goes back up later.
.
unionman575
September 26, 2011
I have always lived well below my means, saved money and I encourage all to do likewise. The safety net as we once knew it is largely gone. It is what it is.
Wendy Darling
September 27, 2011
Published today, Tuesday, September 27, from The Recorder, the on-line publication of CalLaw, by Cheryl Miller:
State Court Computer Contractor Agrees to $16 Million Refund
Cheryl Miller
SACRAMENTO — Deloitte Consulting, the architect of the judiciary’s Court Case Management System, has agreed to credit the Administrative Office of the Courts $16 million for delays in the long-awaited project.
Long live the ACJ.
Commercial IT
September 27, 2011
$16 Million is more than an entire project to create a case management system is worth
Michael Paul
September 27, 2011
Agreed.
Nathaniel Woodhull
September 28, 2011
Good grief!
Justice Bruin-ears is delusional. Take the $16 mil and give it to the trial court to save jobs.
Now that it is fully deployed, doesn’t everyone feel that the information superhighway within the courts is flowing so much better…I’m not hearing any positive responses? How many of those local justice partners are “all-in” and joining this fully operational system?
Take your losses and walk away. Historically, CCMS will be used as a case study in many MPA programs on what not to do with governmental resources. This thing is like the Spruce Goose on steroids.
From speaking with a number of IT folks in several courts, it seems like a viable system capable of delivering everything truly needed at the local level in this day and age shouldn’t cost more than the “rebate” Mr. Bruin-ears just negotiated from Deloitte. Local systems that I have seen put together for under $300k would handle much of the function that the AOC allocated over $150 mil towards.
Michael, do you think that is analysis is too far off?
Michael Paul
September 28, 2011
Your analysis is reasonably accurate. In this economy, I think I could break all the rules, take the refund, develop the app in India and pocket (at least) six million and still have it ready and deployed before Deloitte.
Deloitte has been milking the AOC mismanagement gravy train for all its worth. Given the marked lack of code annotation and change management documentation in the base code as denoted by the independent reports, a good portion of the bugs and rework over the last couple of years took significantly longer and cost significantly more than it should have.
Courts like Orange County that hired their own developers were probably equally challenged and also had to trace functionality rather than search for it, so that costs them more than it should have too.
Those reports released last month were likely the main culprit that evidenced the AOC’s need for a refund that probably should have been much larger than 16 mil because that lack of code annotation will cost the AOC money forever if it is not fixed. Good code annotation in app development defines every function of every line of code, enabling one to search for functionality. Without good code annotation a developer might have to trace through all of the code to determine where a specific function or flaw executes. You can search for functionality or you can pay twenty plus times that amount to trace functionality through the code. The AOC has been paying for the latter for years.
This explains why the app is years behind schedule
This explains why costs are (and will continue to be) so high
This explains why CCMS V4 is not ready to deploy
Been There
September 28, 2011
I do not want to interrupt Nathaniel and Michael’s informative thread, but I do not know where else to post a some ideas for displaced workers.
These ideas may not work for everyone but . . . .
Training Benefits are available through EDD for persons collecting UI. These benefits allow workers who are out of work in “low demand” occupations to receive $$ to attend approved training in “high demand” occupations, while continuing to collect their full UI benefits. The training you select can be either to enhance your current core job skills or to obtain training in a completely new field, and I believe the benefits can extend for up to 24 months. Most often training can be obtained at your local community college.
You have to apply for these training benefits separately from your UI application at EDD. Please read the EDD publication on Training Benefits for more details.
If going back to school is not a good option for you, but you want to enlarge your network in a meaningful way, and generate a lot of good Karma too, please consider volunteering at a local legal or social services nonprofit organization. These organizations desperately need and would appreciate your knowledge and skills, and you wll be able to keep active and involved while looking for work There are legal services organizations serving the elderly, at risk youth, people with AIDS, etc. etc.
And nonprofit legal services organizations not only have volunteer legal professional volunteers with whom you will be interacting on a daily basis, but each of these organizations also has a Board of Directors comprised of legal professionals and community leaders who may also help you in finding job leads.
Judicial Council Watcher
September 28, 2011
Thank you. We’ve added your comment to the underlying post.
This is the best place to post it and we will add it to the underlying post.