Editorial:
Prop. B is extensive in its wording but in reality it boils down to a couple of simple points: the initiative would give most new employees 401(k)s instead of guaranteed pensions and 2) it attempts to impose a five-year freeze on employees’ pensionable pay. Pretty simple right? And with the city of San Diego in deep, deep financial problems and as most people are themselves having to face harsh economic times, the initiative resonates with a lot of folks.
Like Prop. B we could be wordy and editorialize in length about this measure, but we will keep it simple: this pension reform plan will not work and it will not save the city the millions as promised.
The pension reform will not work because you cannot freeze public employee pay by vote and the 401(k) plan will only affect new hires. It does nothing to change the pensions or the payouts. And more than likely, if this proposition does pass, it will end up in court for a long time before it can be implemented.
This pension reform is not really about pension reform. It is not the employees or their pensions that drove the city to become the “Enron by the Sea.” At the root of the pension debacle is that elected officials and private sector corporations started the practice of diverting money from the pension fund to increase the city budget to pay for popular city initiatives, such as the ballpark, the convention center expansion, and for the cost of hosting the 1996 Republican National Convention.
During good times, when the stock market is booming, those expenses can be covered. But when stocks crash… well we all now know the results. The pension scandal itself arose when the pension board and then the city council voted to lessen funding requirements and increased benefits (including to several members of the pension board) and sold municipal bonds without disclosing the underfunding.
Nowhere in this $2 billion debacle was it reported that it was the employees who created this mess. Yet Prop B backers want to try and fix this mess on the backs of the employees by freezing employee pay, after years of pay cuts, layoffs, and furloughs???
We are not so naïve to say that there are no problems with pension payouts such as the DROP program, again another problem created by politicians. There needs to be reform. But let us not fool ourselves and blame the problem solely on city employees. If there is to be real interest in fixing the pension problem the politicians should start by reforming the pension board.
This pension reform is not about reform but is more of a political philosophical tug-of-war over who will control the city, corporate America or the workers and their Unions. DeMaio wants to continue feeding corporate America and minimize the impact of the Unions at city hall.
At La Prensa San Diego, we are going to side with the workers. After decades of work in the city, they deserve and earned a guaranteed pension. The work they do is not glamoures, nor is it high paying. The rank and file worker are not the ones abusing the pension system so let’s not make them scapegoats on this issue.
We recommend a No Vote on Prop. B.