The 33 percent number must have felt like a jolt from a Taser.

After all, if the 33 percent can be applied to one set of public employees, why can’t it become the standard for all such workers?

There’s no reason why.

Indeed, the number has the potential of rallying the public in its campaign to force the public sector to tighten its belt and reassess spending priorities.

On July 6, the four members of the Mahoning County Board of Elections (two Republicans and two Democrats) took the unusual — and brave — step of requiring all employees, including themselves, to begin contributing to their public pensions. The keyword is begin. According to Deputy Director Joyce Kale Pesta, employees of the board of elections, like most county government general fund employees, have not had to pay any of the 9.5 percent employee’s contribution. That’s because county government (read that, we the taxpayers) picks up the entire tab — the 9.5 percent, plus the employer’s contribution of 14 percent of every salary…

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