Posts Tagged ‘Comprehensive Pension Reform’
Faulconer Speaks Out Against Proposal to Increase Pension Debt
San Diegans voted for Comprehensive Pension Reform to fix the pension problem now. In fact, much of the City of San Diego’s financial turnaround over the past few years is attributable to local leaders taking the bull by the horns and not putting off difficult choices to future generations.
Today, Kevin Faulconer continued to speak out against a plan that would postpone the City’s full pension payments and run up its pension debt by $335 million. Faulconer appeared on the Rodger Hedgecock Show to reiterate that issuing so-called pension obligation bonds — an idea most recently floated by mayoral candidate Bob Filner — is unnecessary and a step in the wrong direction. A recent analysis released by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association revealed this risky maneuver would cost millions of dollars that could otherwise be invested in San Diego neighborhoods.
Faulconer: “People in San Diego were hungry for change”
San Diego’s vote on Proposition B is reverberating across California and the country, creating national headlines. Kevin Faulconer, co-author of the Comprehensive Pension Reform citizens initiative, took to the airwaves to talk about the overwhelming approval of the measure, and how San Diego is setting a blueprint for reform for local governments throughout the nation. Watch the clip here.
City Leaders Lay Out Prop B Pension Reform Implementation Plan
“San Diegans expect results. We must implement Prop B without delay.”
That was the message City leaders delivered today following the landslide approval of Proposition B at the ballot box Tuesday. More than 66 percent of voters endorsed the measure, otherwise known as Comprehensive Pension Reform, to eliminate traditional pensions for new employees and replace them with a 401(k)-style plan, similar to the private sector. The measure also ends pension spiking and directs the Mayor to seek a 5-year cap on pensionable compensation.
Belly Up To The Bar 2: The Official Goldens Drinking Game
Just in time could be my life’s mantra. I am reminded by Thor’s Assistant that no Official Drinking Game has been devised for tonight’s epic 17th annual San Diego County Taxpayers Golden Fleece and Watchdog Awards.
Calling Ms. Tipit to the rescue.
DISCLAIMER: In this litigious, risk-averse society, we must pause here to admonish anyone reading this column that it is strictly for entertainment purposes ONLY. Please drink responsibly if at all. Please do not be a dunderhead and drink and tweet/post/drive, or you will be the next person we write about on Rostra and it won’t be pretty.
Proposition B Will End Pension Spiking
San Diego County Taxpayers Association issues June Ballot Recommendations
As it does every election, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association has analyzed local propositions and selected state ballot measures with an economic impact on taxpayers, and issued its recommendations based on its mission statement, which is “promoting accountable, cost-effective and efficient government and opposing unnecessary taxes and fees.”
SDCTA’s voting recommendations are:
LOCAL PROPOSITIONS
Proposition A – City of San Diego Fair & Open Competition Ordinance. Amends Municipal Code: YES
Proposition B – City of San Diego Comprehensive Pension Reform Initiative. Amends City Charter: YES
WWFD? What Would Fletcher Do?
In the back and forth over Assemblyman and mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher’s post Let’s be honest. Let’s be truthful. And let’s be direct., Rostrafarian Steve Rider posted an honest, truthful and direct question about this “leading by example” business.
This brings up an interesting question. One can only assume that on the off chance CPR is defeated either in the ballots or courts, DeMaio will turn down a pension as mayor as he did as a Councilmember. I know for a fact that Ray Ellis and Scott Sherman have also pledged to not accept a pension. If a pension were available to you (Fletcher) as the mayor, would you accept it?
Introducing The Lincoln Club’s Member of the Week
I want to share a first with you — the Lincoln Club of San Diego County’s Member of the Week.
Each week, the Club will release a new video showcasing one of its members. Here is the inaugural video:
Also, in case you missed it, T.J. Zane, President and CEO of the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, debated MEA’s Mike Zucchet on the merits of the Comprehensive Pension Reform initiative. Zane and Zucchet were guests on NBC San Diego’s “Politically Speaking”, which returned this past Sunday after going off the air in 2008. Politically Speaking airs on Sundays at 9 a.m. following “Meet the Press”. Here is the Zane/Zucchet segment:
How Sanders (Mostly) Got His Groove Back … and SD Labor Doesn’t Like It
Remember back in 2010 when the local Municipal Employees Association went crying to its state level big brother, Public Employment Relations 
Board (PERB), about Mayor Jerry Sanders using the power and prestige of his office to inspire and endorse Prop D, the sales tax increase?
No I don’t remember that either, because it did not happen. However, I do recall more recently the Municipal 
Employees Association asking PERB to bully over 120,000 San Diegans, including Mayor Sanders, by blocking the Comprehensive Pension Reform initiative from getting on the ballot. Last Tuesday, Judge William Dato told Goliath, labor groups and their heavy-handed bureaucrat friends, to back off of little taxpayer David… until after the election.
Faulconer talks pension reform on national television
In case you missed it, Kevin Faulconer appeared on Fox News Channel this week to talk about San Diego’s Comprehensive Pension Reform citizen’s initiative, the fight to put it on the ballot and the millions of dollars in savings it can bring to taxpayers.
The reform measure, which will appear on the June ballot, comes at a time when cities across the country are grappling with unsustainable pension payments and looking for solutions like this .
Watch the video here.
San Diego mayor takes pension battle to Washington
From The Los Angeles Times:
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders took his campaign for pension reform to Washington on Monday, suggesting a June ballot measure in his city will influence governments nationwide struggling with spiraling pension costs.
The measure would put newly hired San Diego city employees, except for police, into a 401(k)-type plan rather than a traditional pension.
It also would end “pension spiking,” freeze pensionable salaries for five years and eliminate a pension for any employee convicted of a felony for at-work conduct. (An ex-San Diego police officer was just sentenced to eight years in prison, Sanders noted).
DeMaio Urges San Diegans to “Make 2012 the Year of Getting Pension Reform Done”
Every New Year brings personal resolutions for most people. Some are kept, others…not so much.
I’m hoping you’ll make a resolution with me.
Let’s make 2012 the year we finally get Pension Reform done in San Diego!
I have made Pension Reform the centerpiece of my 90-page Roadmap to Recovery Plan to fix city finances and restore our neighborhood services – and am making Pension Reform the central theme of my campaign to be San Diego’s next Mayor.
And I’m not waiting to be Mayor to get these reforms done!
Pension Signature Drive Spent $1 Million?!?
Pushers of the Comprehensive Pension Reform initiative breathed a big, expensive sigh of relief today.
The proponents turned in 145,000 signatures today to the City Clerk’s Office, according to Craig Gustafson at the San Diego-Union Tribune, for a needed 94,346.
What’s in Gustafson’s story that made my eyes pop and in a related estimate from Voice of San Diego’s Liam Dillon – that the measure could have cost more than $1 million so far. That astounding figure was attributed to Councilman Carl DeMaio and Lincoln Club President T.J. Zane, a major backer of the effort.
Holy ca-ching!
‘Operation Intimidation’ Aims to Sink Comprehensive Pension Reform
Union Campaign Built On Intimidation, Desperation, Lies
There are few certainties in politics, but pension reform is quickly becoming one of those rare slam dunks.
In the City of San Diego, 70 percent of voters said they would vote for the Comprehensive Pension Reform (CPR) ballot measure, according to a poll conducted by Competitive Edge Research & Communication. Twenty percent said, “No” and 10 percent were unsure. Those eye-popping numbers, along with the pension reform tsunami rolling across country, mean CPR is about as close as you can get to a lock in politics.
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