Retirees: In case you missed it, here is a letter to the editor from one of our retirees, Chris Brewster.
Joe Flynn, Retiree
August 3, 2018
U-T Letter writers
Re “Supreme Court rules San Diego skipped key legal step in taking pension reform to voters” (Aug. 2): In 2012, then-Mayor Jerry Sanders, then-Councilman Kevin Faulconer and then-Councilman Carl DeMaio, abetted by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, convinced voters that their strategy to use a ballot measure to eliminate city pensions and freeze salaries was prudent and legal. A unanimous Supreme Court has found them wrong.
The pay freezes resulted in various adverse impacts, including chronic understaffing of the police department. They are now mostly reversed. The elimination of pensions left San Diego alone in California municipal government, hamstringing recruiting and retention of employees.
Jerry Sanders now draws a city pension and is handsomely paid by the Chamber of Commerce. Kevin Faulconer is our mayor. Carl DeMaio rails against pensions and seeks some meaningful role. The Taxpayers Association continues its conservative advocacy.
But we are all left to pay the price for this failed effort to skirt the law.
B. Chris Brewster
Pacific Beach