Excerpt: Our small community's beloved fire chief, only 52 years old, a young leader with a promising future, is gone before his time, taken from us by a devastating state pension plan. Our chief's career was cut short when he 'maxed out,' which, in California, means that at 50 years old and after 30 years on the job, he is entitled to receive a pension that will pay him 90 percent of his final salary with annual cost-of-living increases.  MORE >>