I’m going to warn you: this story has nothing to do with casinos. Not on the face of it, anyway. From the AC Press:
When Gary E. Pettus retired Dec. 1 after more than 26 years on the resort’s police force, he planned to live off his $4,600 monthly police pension.
Instead, he and about 80 other fire and police department employees who retired that day have lived for nearly three months without a paycheck. The state is reviewing recent city retiree pensions, questioning the salaries and how the pension would be calculated.
In the meantime, the retirees that planned on a several-thousand-dollar monthly pension check have to make other plans.
“A lot of us, had we known there was something going on, we never would have put in for retirement, Pettus said this week.
City Revenue and Finance Director Jack Potts sympathized with their plight and said he and the city were working with the state Policemen’s Benevolent Association to sort out the problems.
I didn’t post this because I’m outraged that long-time public servants might be jilted out of their pensions–though that is outrageous.
Instead, I’m just a little amazed that A) there really is someone named Jack Potts and B) he’s the person in charge of city pensions.
At first I thought this was another joke from the Press like the mouse obituary. But no, Jack Potts is a real city official. No hoax would be so elaborate as to include a dummied-up city webpage. Or would it?
I always thought that Jack Potts was just a name that casino marketers used on dummy loyalty cards, like Wanda Winmore or A. Big Winner. I guess it makes sense that there really is a Jack Potts, because Potts is the 829th most common last name in the United States, and Jack is a fairly common first name.
Still, you’ve got to admit that it’s ironic that a guy with that name would pursue a career in finance, much less in a city known for its casinos.
Or maybe the city just plowed their pension fund into Megabucks hoping for the best. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened.
On the brighter side, can you imagine the hassle he’s got to go through to get a player’s card?