Pacific Bell Co-Workers Make Right Call on Lotto

Dreams of yachts and early retirement faded to more earthbound realities of braces and house payments for 20 employees of Pacific Bell in Mira Mesa who shared a winning ticket in Wednesday’s $55-million California Lottery drawing.

The 20 telephone company co-workers, who pooled their money to buy 225 lottery tickets, were not unhappy, however, when they learned Thursday that they would be sharing the second-largest jackpot in the state’s history with nine other winners.

“We’re still elated,� said Jackie Wagner, one of the winners and spokeswoman for the group. “We weren’t thinking money at all. . . . We knew we won something, but we didn’t know what the money amount would be.�

The Mira Mesa workers, who make up Pacific Bell’s fourth-largest telecommunications network in California, all said they plan to keep their jobs. Asked what they will do with their winnings, Wagner replied: “We’re going to start buying tickets for next Saturday’s drawing.�

“I didn’t get any sleep last night, worrying whether I would have a crew in the morning,� said Mark Segars, supervisor of nine of the 20 winners. “It would take me a year and a half to replace them. . . . They are an exceptional group, very good people.�

Ringleader of Pool

Wagner, a computer technician with Pacific Bell for almost 10 years, said she was the ringleader behind the office lottery pool that began seven months ago when someone else in the building won $4,000. “I said, ‘Hey, we ought to get a group together.’ And we’ve been playing Quick Picks religiously once a week ever since.�

Wagner said the group normally chips in $5 apiece each week, but because the jackpot was so high this time, they upped the ante to $10. Carrying over $25 worth of group winnings from last week, Wagner was able to purchase 225 tickets for Wednesday’s drawing.

“I can remember looking at the list of our tickets last night, and every time I got another number, my heart rate was going, ‘Oh! Oh! Oh!’ � said winner Rick Kruger at a noon press conference Thursday. “My wife asked me what the matter was, and I couldn’t say anything. I just kept waving the paper.�

Each of the 20 ticket holders will collect $12,452 annually for the next 20 years, after taxes, lottery spokesman Al Macias said. The actual dollar amount before dividing it 20 ways is $4,980,000, he said.

‘A Lot of Plans’

“Last night, I made a lot of plans for the $110,000 a year I thought we’d be getting,� Kruger said. “Driving to work this morning, I heard on the radio there were nine winning tickets, so I started computing in my head, ‘Let’s see, from $110,000 to $12,000. I’ve got to call my wife and tell her not to quit her job.’ �

The first installment will be presented within a month to Wagner at the Corner Liquor store in Mira Mesa, where the winning ticket was purchased, Macias said. The group has made plans to meet with an attorney to set up the orderly distribution of the money among the winners, he said.

San Diegan Virginia Hughes and Sigi Trauntmann of Vista were also lottery winners Wednesday. They each will receive $190,611 for picking five out of six numbers plus the bonus number, Macias said.