|
New Alliance of Unrepresented and Unclassified City employees and post-July 2002 City Retirees Formed to Defend Against Lawsuit Reported by SDCREA board member Virginia Silverman - 02/26/2005 An informal alliance of current unclassified and unrepresented City employees and recent retirees (post-July 1, 2002) has been formed to 'provide a voice' for those who may potentially be impacted by the County Taxpayers Association lawsuit, and who are not represented by one of the City unions. The Taxpayers' lawsuit seeks to nullify the 2002 retirement benefits due to alleged conflicts of interest. The alliance recently held two organizational/information meetings. Another meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. in the War Memorial Building (North End, Zoo Parking Lot). The meeting is being called to update the status of the organizational effort and the litigation, to answer questions, and to enlist the financial support from interested persons in these categories. The goal of the alliance is to raise $200,000 to hire an attorney to contest the Taxpayer=s lawsuit, and the time frame for this effort is very limited. Dick Wilken is the retiree representative on the alliance's steering committee. For questions, contact him at richardwilken@yahoo.com. It should be noted that the plaintiff and attorney for the Taxpayer's Association have stated that there is no intent to take away any benefits from those 'with clean hands' who are already retired or in the DROP program. SDCREA does not have a position on the lawsuit or on this alliance. We are passing this along for informational purposes to our members. |