In Fairfax County, there is a scandal of sorts brewing in the Sheriff’s race. Democrat incumbent Stan Barry entered into Fairfax County’s Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP), which is a program intended only for non-elected county employees, who agree to leave after the end of three years. Barry entered into this program in 2009. Since he is an elected official, he is violating the program, thus standing to take in over $1 million over the three years he has been in the program. It is sickening to know that the taxpayers are paying for this abuse.
DROP was a program initially intended for firefighters, and it was expanded to include all county employees in 2005. This program is open to those who want to defer retirement for three years. They are able to continue earning salary and benefits, but they can not contribute to the retirement fund during that time and their pension is invested, thus earning them more money. After three years, they can accept a lump-sum payment.
During a June 7th meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Mason District Supervisor Penelope Gross said, “[DROP] does not apply to elected officials; it was never intended to apply to elected officials, and I guess what we didn’t do was put into the ordinance that it does not apply to elected officials, because we thought on the basis of honor and fairness [elected officials] wouldn’t be doing that.”
So, Barry is abusing the pension loophole and costing the taxpayers’ money. After all, Barry shouldn’t be hurting, considering he is making an annual salary of $161,000 with a benefits package of $55,000. Barry’s DROP enrollment ends in 2012, where he stands to pocket $1 million. However, Barry has promised if re-elected he will serve out his four-year term.
Is this the type of leader we want serving in Fairfax County? Also, this raises another question: Sharon Bulova, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and the other Democratic supervisors knew about this as well. Why didn’t place a provision within this program to close the loophole and kick Barry out? Again, this reflects that there needs to be change within the Fairfax County government.
You can learn more about Barry’s participation in the DROP program by clicking here.
