Council Urged to 'Stop the Bleeding' of City Pension Debt

Taxpayer activist Russell Buckley renewed his call for pension reform Tuesday night, pointing to what he called a “$32 million unfunded liability” and urging La Mesa City Council members to “at least stop the bleeding.”

His remarks came as no surprise at City Hall.

Since March 2009, according to posted minutes on the city’s website, Buckley has addressed the council at least 20 times.

A member of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and a La Mesa resident, Buckley has spoken mainly on labor relations and the pension issue, including 10 times in 2010. He’s also written widely on the pension issue, especially in La Mesa Today.

“We haven’t done meaningful pension reform … for new [city] hires,” he told the council Tuesday. “By gosh, at least get the bleeding stopped so it doesn’t get worse and worse.”

San Diego’s well-publicized pension crisis—with debts exceeding $2 billion—has put the issue in stark relief, but the extent of La Mesa’s problem isn’t as well-defined.

But that could change if Councilman Ernie Ewin has his way. A former banker, Ewin used Tuesday’s meeting to “provide early direction” to City Manager Dave Witt as his staff prepares for the annual council workshop on budget issues March 24.

“In preparing for the next two-year budget and looking at our financial future, there are concerns about the impact of projected multiyear increases in pension costs and health-care expenses on the ability of the city to maintain services,” Ewin said in an agenda statement.

So he asked Witt to prepare information on what CalPERS, the state employee pension system, expects to provide as well as the state of the city’s pension obligations in the wake of the 2008 economic collapse.

Ewin asked Witt to develop strategies to address these increases in an upcoming two-year budget as well as a six-year financial plan.

He called on Witt to “evaluate alternatives for funding methods that will effectively reduce annual pension contribution rates and future unfunded pension liabilities. And provide a review of the retirement and health-care costs as a percentage of the city's overall costs and how this affects the city’s ability to provide ongoing and vital services.”

Earlier, during the public comment period, the council heard downtown merchants Bill Jaynes and Craig Maxwell express concerns about the property-based business improvement district (PBID) being sought for The Village.

Jaynes, owner of All Things Bright and British, said the city controlled 10 percent of the property in the PBID area—and thus had 20 percent of the vote needed to make it a reality (since only 50 percent plus one of the votes are required for property owners to impose a fee on themselves).

 “It’s entirely possible four or five property owners could put this through,” he said.

Jaynes also said no serious effort was made to include merchants and residents on the Downtown Steering Committee considering the PBID. He said no meeting records were kept for months.

“With no notes or minutes,” he said, “the process is hopelessly corrupted. It will never, ever survive court scrutiny.”

Jaynes said the “appearance of impropriety” and “perceived secrecy” would doom this downtown effort as such blots doomed a similar effort in the late 1960s.

He urged the council to “start absolutely from scratch.”

Bookstore owner Maxwell, the former mayoral candidate, argued that El Cajon’s business improvement district was a failure and its property owners were so dissatisfied that they are moving to end their PBID short of five years.

“La Mesa without a PBID is looking like a role model for El Cajon,” Maxwell said.

Without member Mark Arapostathis (suffering from the flu), the council also:

• Heard Police Chief Al Lanning describe improvements in the city’s crime rate in the second half of the 2010, after a first half that drew attention for a 27 percent rise in serious crime against the same period in 2009—which he said had the lowest crime rate since the 1960s. In terms of “Part 1” serious crimes, 2010 overall was one of the safest years since 1968, he said.
• Heard administrative analyst Scott Munzenmaier give a status report on the city’s climate protection actions, which include plans to install 1,000 induction streetlights at a cost of $500,000 and the fact La Mesans are throwing away 42 percent less trash than what the state requires (with the rest going to recycling).
• Heard community development director Bill Chopyk give an update on efforts to improve Collier Park, home of the historic Spring House, once a source of water. He said three city commissions—Planning, Historical Preservation and Community Services—would review possible plans for the “topographically challenged” site, in the words of Councilwoman Ruth Sterling. A new master plan is due before the council in 2012.
• Approved by a 4-0 vote a request from Hooley’s Irish Pub & Grill in Grossmont Center to use amplifiers up until midnight March 17 for Hooleyfest, which could draw 1,000 St. Patrick’s Day revelers. Normally the latest that  “amplified sound” can be used is 10 p.m.