Last week, California’s State Treasurer Bill Lockyer told a legislative hearing that “it’s impossible for this Legislature to reform the pension system, and if we don’t it will bankrupt the state.” Read the full story in a post made on Friday by Ed Mendel on his Calpensions.com blog. And watch Lockyer making his comment here:
Even though the MWD had announced on Monday afternoon that the proposed pension boost was going to be withdrawn from Tuesday’s board meeting agenda, CFFR president Marcia Fritz attended the meeting anyway and spoke during the public comments portion. You can watch her speak here (her comments begin at 5:50 into the video and last for about three minutes).
Yesterday afternoon, MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger withdrew the tentative labor agreements from today’s board meeting agenda following a closed session of the board’s Organization and Personnel Committee. You can read Kightlinger’s memorandum explaining the decision to the district’s workforce in a press release here. And you can access the many news stories and editorials detailing this interesting turn of events today on PensionTsunami.com.
One of San Diego’s most vigorous advocates of public employee pension reform, accountant April Boling, has joined the board of directors of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility (CFFR). The non-profit group is promoting a state ballot proposition to reform pension practices in the state.
Boling is the former chair of the City of San Diego Pension Reform Committee. She has also served as chair of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, chair of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation and served on San Diego’s Blue Ribbon Committee on City Finance and the City of San Diego Citizens’ Budget Committee.
“Public employee pension costs have many cities teetering on the edge of bankruptcy., Boling said. “Systematic reform with the weight of state law is the only way we can give taxpayers the protection they need.”
Ms. Boling is a certified public accountant and owner of a private accounting practice specializing in taxation of closely held businesses and multi-state taxation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of San Diego.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association — California’s largest and most influential taxpayer organization — has launched a campaign to stop the Metropolitan Water District from increasing its employee pensions by 25%. The pension hike is scheduled for a vote at the MWD’s board meeting next Tuesday. You can read about the campaign here and sign the online petition here.
PensionWatch