Free Republic

They've brought Wisconsin to California. That's what Orange County Employees Association general manager Nick Berardino told attendees a few weeks ago at the California Democratic Party convention, referring to efforts by the Costa Mesa City Council to curb its public employee costs and rising pension liabilities. The battle for fiscal sanity in Costa Mesa is about to intensify with the union poised to strike, but the city should stay the course, even in the face of tremendous opposition. Costa Mesa officials have projected a $5.1 million budget deficit for the 2011-12 fiscal year. As the council continues to enact reforms,...

Enter Nick Berardino, the AFL-CIO’s General Manager of the Orange County Employees Union; the stereotypical “thug” that speaks of his Italian heritage and jokes about showing up at Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh’s home’s when upset with him, “and I don’t want to go there to deliver cannoli and a little bit of wine.” Mr. Berardino it seems, not only likes to joke about these physical taunts but apparently likes to “intercept” other people’s email in an effort to know all the covert moves of his opponents. That’s what he told an audience recently - “We have intercepted...