San Diego continues to face yearly budget deficits that cut branch library hours and delays much needed infrastructure repairs. The main reason for these continued cuts is increased pension costs that consume more and more of San Diego’s general fund budget. There is something San Diego residents can do to stop these out of control pension costs. Tonight, please join …
DeMaio to Hold “Signature Storms” in Support of Pension Reform Ballot Measure
Mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio will spend every weekend at local San Diego stores collecting signatures for the Comprehensive Pension Reform Ballot Measure until the required 95,000 signatures from San Diego voters are collected, his campaign announced today. The announcement comes on the heels of increasing efforts by local government labor unions to “block” signature collection efforts through a well-funded and …
Confident, Determined San Diego Pension Reformers hold productive Thursday night meeting in Mission Valley
Kevin Faulconer set the tone last night, telling a crowd of civic leaders, “This is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is about what is good for San Diego neighborhoods.” Faulconer gestured to a chart showing that, if left unchanged, local residents will one day pay $500 million-a-year for a “defined benefit” pension system. “If we act now, we can save $1 …
Pension Reform Measure Would Save San Diego Taxpayers up to $2 Billion
A groundbreaking pension reform ballot measure would save San Diego taxpayers up to $2.1 billion, according to a comprehensive financial analysis released today. “Taxpayers simply can’t afford to keep paying the staggering pension costs of city workers year after year, decade after decade,” Mayor Jerry Sanders said. “This ballot measure will restore us to fiscal sanity, creating a system in …
Escondido Tackling Pension Reform
With four conservative members of the council, Escondido has already achieved a balanced budget, implemented E-Verify for city hiring and has created a draft Charter to eliminate the high costs of prevailing wage and PLAs. Now the city council is tackling pension reform. The goal is to create a two-tier system along with existing employees paying their full pension …
Comprehensive Pension Reform kicks off
You’re invited… Who: Mayor Jerry Sanders, Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer, Councilmember Carl DeMaio, Lincoln Club of San Diego County and the San Diego County Taxpayers Association What: Comprehensive Pension Reform Campaign Kick-off Reception When: Thursday, June 30 Time: 5 to 7 p.m. Where: Trellises Restaurant at the Town & Country Hotel (500 Hotel Circle, San Diego CA 92108) …
Do I Smell a Sheep? Nope, It’s the Golden Fleece Finalists!
Politics is sometimes known for its pungent smell. (Rostrafarian wits, I expect great things from the Comments section with this opening line). For 16 years, April showers have brought much more than May flowers to San Diego – they bring the San Diego County Taxpayers Association Golden Fleece Awards. Yes, there are Golden Watchdogs and Media Watchdog Awards too. But …
Would You Vote To Reform Public Employee Compensation?
Election results show city employees wouldn’t I recently told you about a vote employees at City Hall were taking. City workers, including myself, were asked if they wanted to eliminate a controversial and costly employee benefit – the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP). Who in their right mind would vote to eliminate a retirement benefit, especially one that allows participants to …
East County Meatballs Have Their Say on Pension Reform
The National Albondigas Political Society (East County Chapter) convened today in El Cajon, also known as the Gateway to El Centro. El Cajon Mayor Mark “Meatball” Lewis lent his presence as did the likes of numerous East County councilmembers, school and water board, hospital district board members, Chamber officials, business leaders, political consultants, staff representatives of local elected officials, lobbyists …
Stirling: Dumanis would be a tool of the public employee unions
Submitted as a comment by Retired State Senator and Judge Larry Stirling… D.A. Dumanis betrays her lack of experience in any public-policy arena besides the narrow one of politics and the criminal-justice system with her position on the retirement issue. Because of the magic of compounding and the time-value of money, the entirely portable, front loaded, and privately managed defined-payment …
Dumanis Announcement Heard Round the City
Andrew Donohue at Voice of San Diego has the story… Bonnie Dumanis comes out against the Sanders/DeMaio/Faulconer pension reform measure in the City of San Diego. She tells Voice, “…it is my core belief that those who put their lives at risk daily in the line of duty should have a secure pension … I can’t support a measure that …
Faulconer: ‘Now it’s the Council’s turn’
Good and bad news in Mayor’s budget Faulconer commits to protecting core services, furthering reform San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer issued the following statement today in response to Mayor Jerry Sanders’ budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2012, which begins July 1: There’s clearly some good news in the Mayor’s budget proposal, and there’s clearly some bad …
Report Reveals 71% Increase in Six-Figure City Pensions in One Year
Report Reveals Public Safety Accounts for Disproportionate Share of Excessive Pensions City Councilmember Carl DeMaio today released his seventh annual report disclosing pension payouts to individual city employees. This year’s report used additional methodologies and data sets to bring even greater clarity to outrageous city pension payouts. “Just when you thought the number of excessive pension payouts could not get …
“Are You Ready to make San Diego the ‘Wisconsin of the West’?” — Pension Reform battle cry at Monday’s SD Republican Party meeting
It was Unity Night at the Republican Party of San Diego on Monday, and “director’ Tony Krvaric gave the spotlight to three major heroes. Carl DeMaio was the firebrand, asking, “Are you ready to make San Diego the Wisconsin of the West?”… Kevin Faulconer was the calm older brother, praising everyone for their hard work. And Jerry Sanders explained himself to the GOP crowd …
Applause for Mayor Sanders
I have been a harsh critic of Mayor Sanders at times. But I need to give credit where it is due; he worked with purveyors of competing reform plans to come up with a single ballot measure. This increases the odds that a measure will pass, because there will be a unified reform effort. Yesterday’s U-T has the news: The …
Comprehensive pension reform proposal combines best ideas
From San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer: I was extremely proud to announce yesterday that I was able to help bring together a range of ideas from San Diego leaders, policy experts and businesses. The result is the Comprehensive Pension Reform Initiative for San Diego. Today’s Union-Tribune calls it a grand compromise at City Hall. It not …
United Coalition on Pension Reform
San Diegans have waited too long for a complete and lasting solution to our pension crisis. Today, that long wait ends as our city receives a life-saving remedy with CPR — Comprehensive Pension Reform. The CPR Initiative is tough, it is sweeping, and it is effective. It will actually solve our pension crisis and save our city services from …
A Sit Down with Roger Hedgecock Part I: Thoughts on The City, 2012 Mayoral Election & Pension Reform
My wife and I first met local talk show host turned nationally syndicated host Roger Hedgecock (heard locally on KOGO 600 AM) and his wife in December 2009. We were waiting in a long valet line at U.S. Grant after the Lincoln Club Annual Dinner. They were very gracious and chatted with us — a young, recently engaged couple — …
The San Diego Pension Reform Power Play: Is the Mayor a Lame Duck?
Three weeks ago Mayor Jerry Sanders and his top staff were smug. They were sure they had the financial backing to get their pension reform measure on the ballot. They were sure they had the power to strong arm the Lincoln Club and the San Diego County Taxpayers Association into not backing a more stringent version of pension reform. The …
HJTA Invites Rostra Readers as “Friends of the Court” to Oppose the Hiding of Pension Payments
Help the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association fight costly abuses of government pensions San Diego County Employees Retirement Association refuses to comply Pension costs are a rapidly increasing expense for both local and state governments. In San Diego, the Little Hoover Commission estimates government pension costs could reach 50% as soon as 2025. This means less resources for services that make …
Recent Comments