The debate is now a question of pension reform light versus pension reform right. The Mayor said just a year ago that the pension system was already fixed. Now he’s admitting that there is still a problem and asking us to put another cosmetic band-aide on it. Enough is enough. We need a system that provides city employees with benefits that are no better, and no worse, than what the average San Diego taxpayer footing the bill receives.
The Mayor’s proposal will only PROLONG the current pension crisis by…
- Keeping the current pension benefits in place for all current employees
- Exempting half of all new hires from the defined contribution program
- Allowing pension “spiking” to continue by using bonus-type pays to calculate life-long pension benefits.
- Failing to require city employees to pay their fair share (50%) of the cost of pension benefits.
I’ve joined with a coalition of taxpayer and business to offer a real solution. Our ballot measure will SOLVE the pension crisis by…
- Reforming pensions for current employees AND new hires.
- Placing ALL new hires in the 401K system.
- Ending pension spiking by requiring that pensions be calculated using base salaries only, not bonus-type payouts.
- Requiring city employees to pay their fair share of the pension costs: 50%.
Comments 7
Carl,
Aren’t you going about this all the wrong way by bringing this out as a public discussion? You are not acting in good faith with the public servants. Shouldn’t this all be worked out in labor negotiations?
These matters need to be handled in a public setting at the appropriate time after the whole council has sat down with the unions and come up with a plan. Doing so now is acting inappropriately and prematurely as we are entering a critical time of labor negotiations.
Isn’t this grandstanding being disruptive of a good faith process of working with the people who are responsible for making sure the city operates?
Sandy: News flash: The PEOPLE get to decide things, not the UNIONS.
Carl,
These are good ideas, but don’t you risk blowing up the labor negotiations by bringing this up now? Why not wait until after the new contract is settled?
Isn’t going public on this going to create fear and misinformation? Shouldn’t you give the council a chance to come up with some solutions first to present to the public? Why involve the public now, it seems like you are deliberately trying to disrupt negotiations.
Hi Carl,
Didn’t the IRS and SDCERS rule that Retiree Healthcare for life is not a current vested benefit for Non-Safety employees back in 2008?
When negotiations are complete, does the City Charter still require any acknowledgement of the non-safety Retiree Healthcare Benefits for life to go before the voters before becoming law?
Would it not be best to ask the IRS to make SDCERS unwind the non-safety retiree Healthcare contracts for life as discussed by David Wescoe at his last City Council meeting of October 20, 2009?
The LAST thing we should do is wait until after the labor negotiations are over, and another bad sweetheart labor deal is put in place. There are no “good faith” negotiations when the majority of the politicians representing the city are owned and operated by the labor unions.
There is no reason for these labor “negotiations” to be private. None at all. The public should know every step of the way what is proposed, and who is backing what. It’s OUR money and services the city politicos are giving away!
Over and over, these self-dealing backroom labor deals end up blindsiding the taxpayers. The ONLY way to control our San Diego labor union sycophants on the city council is through the initiative process.
The folks saying that Carl should “wait for the contracts to be signed” are either labor union profiteers, or those backing Republican political mayoral competitors of DeMaio. The labor folks would be just doing what they do, but the second group consists of the RINO’s that will sell us out to the public employees. I’d like to know which side each of these anonymous “negotiation” proponents represents.
BTW, little noticed was the fact that the STATE labor unions all cut deals recently (called union contracts) to lock in most of their benefits, trying to force a tax increase through, and guaranteeing that their gravy train keeps rolling even if the state goes broke.
Oh sure, the unions made a few minor concessions — but their Cadillac pension plan is essentially in tact, and their unjustified overcompensation will continue under the new contracts.
Expect the same results from our city labor contract process.