Pension problem not the fault of workers

In response to “Pensions for public service just too good” by Rosemary Colbert, I would like to point out a few facts. None of us thinks we are better than anyone else. As public servants, we go to work just like everybody else and just want to be compensated fairly for our work.

We earn a 75 percent pension after working 30 years. We cannot reach 30 years by age 50; it has to be past that since we cannot get our jobs until we are 21. These days most police officers are starting their careers at 23 to 27 years of age.

The problems with funding the pension funds correctly is the fault of your elected officials. We pay our contributions on time, every time. The municipalities choose not to pay the proper amounts or not pay at all. They started this mess in the 1990s when they asked the state to allow them to not make full payments when they were supposed to.

You have to ask yourself, because we do: Do you really want 57- to 65-year-old police officers or firefighters out there running around? We understand that our jobs, physically, are a young person's game.

No life is worth more than anyone else's. A person's death is a tragedy to his or her family no matter the cause. We chose our professions by our hearts. It is a calling to be a police officer or a firefighter, a calling that we understand will take us away from our families for holidays, birthdays or any other day that is important. The whole family makes that sacrifice.

Under the law we are unable to contribute to Social Security. Our pensions are all we or our families have.

Earl “Duke” Filskov

Retired police officer

Northlake