Pacific Grove City Clerk receiving the signed petitions with 1,303 signatures
This morning a group of dedicated Pacific Grove citizens turned in more than 1,300 signatures of registered Pacific Grove voters to put on the ballot whether to void an illegal pension increase gift to city employees in 2002.
“I’m disappointed that the city government chose to ignore the need for rescinding this generous “3 at 50” pension and refused to consider it in the negotiations. So we have been left with no alternative but to file our petition.” – Frances Grate
Update April 22, 2013: The County Elections Department certified that sufficient valid signatures have been turned in. While only 950 were needed, apparently some 1,995 were gathered and turned in.
After the 2002 illegal approval was discovered in 2009 a group of citizens including former Councilman Dan Davis has given the City Council every opportunity to rescind the illegal gift now costing the city some $45 million in extra pensions. While the Council has even admitted the gift of public money to city employees was illegal, they have refused to rescind it or do anything about it themselves – claiming they are worried they could get sued.
Commentary: That’s an empty excuse that is hostile to the resident’s and voter’s repeatedly strongly shown desires. The potential gain for the city and taxpayers from overturning the illegal 2002 Pension gifts is tens of millions of dollars possibly as much as 75 or 90 million. On the other hand the potential loss from a lawsuit – win or lose, is a few million dollars.
Next steps:
1. The Pacific Grove City Clerk gives the petitions to the County Elections Dept. who will verify whether sufficient valid signatures were turned in.
2. Then the City Council has two options:
a. Put the measure on the next public vote ballot, or
b. The City Council can adopt it themselves thus rescinding the 2002 gift. This would save Pacific Grove taxpayers some $43,000 for ballot expenses.
Commentary:
Overturning the illegal pensions could reduce up to $45 million dollars in blindly approved City Debt, but losing a lawsuit would at most only cost a small fraction of that.
Assuming sufficient valid signatures were turned in, this vote will be a key test of who each Council person supports: Residents or city employees.
Remembering how City voters have recently overwhelmingly approved two city measures to limit pensions, it appears that any Councilperson refusing to adopt this measure directly is voting against public interests.
Further reading:
Pacific Grove Council Begins Unwinding Pension Gifts Granted Illegally in 2002 (That effort evaporated with the newly seated Council led by Bill Kampe)
Thank you for exposing this so well. We will probably hear lots of excuses and exaggerations from the city government and employees to explain why they avoided taking action. I understand that if the illegal act is not repealed the $45 million UNFUNDED pension liability will double in 7 years. I find it shocking that public safety personal began their careers willingly expecting a generous 60% pension @ age 50, but now expect to receive retroactive 90% because of the illegal raise granted in 2002.
The closure of the children’s pool at Lovers Point is only the beginning of fund raising and increased property taxes that will be necessary to pay for these big pensions. Get ready for many more fund raisers, increased rents, and higher taxes, unless the voters approve this ballot item in November.
Well… I would prefer to be an optimist!
Alas, it is not politically correct for “this city”
to do what’s right for the community!
In fact it appears that the majority of our government doesn’t seem to do what’s right
or best for the country and it’s people!
So maybe there is no such thing as “politically correct”?
So don’t expect our little “friends of fraud” too!
Funny how Cedar Street times tells us in the police blog of “the fraud” perpetrated on our citizens in our little town recently by way of gas cards and such; being investigated by our own department that has been a perpetrator too! (3%@50) So, as the Mafia would say, “fogettaboutit”.. forget about the lawyer they hired; you all thought would be a good thing? Just another expense, and let’s get this on the ballot!
State and local governments would pay billions of dollars more to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System over the next few years under new policies approved by a key CalPERS committee Tuesday. Kiss your safety and services good bye while a “lucky” few retire early on fat, illegal, pension increases from 2002.
The policy changes would require the nation’s biggest public pension fund to spread its gains and losses over five years instead of its current 15-year “smoothing” period, and to figure its obligations on a fixed 30-year payoff schedule. For several years, CalPERS has rolled those liabilities forward instead of setting a date to pay them off.
The policies go today to CalPERS’ full board of administration, which will likely approve them. The new accounting methods would force CalPERS, which has $87 billion in unfunded liabilities, to send bigger bills to the 2,200 state, local governments and school districts in the system to pay down those obligations.
For example, the state and schools would see their payments increase from a combined $5 billion or so in fiscal 2015-16, when the smoothing policy takes effect, to more than $7.4 billion five years later. That is a 49% increase and loss in safety.
Even without the accounting change, agencies would face higher rates under the current policy.
Man
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/17/5347672/calpers-change-to-hike-contributions.html#storylink=cpy