Presentation to Council September 21.2004 I am Nancy Acevedo, President of the City of San Diego Retired Employees Association. First, I’d like to express our appreciation to Mayor Murphy and the City Council for having established the Pension Review Committee. Without that action, we would not now be in a position to correct a problem that began several years ago when other legislators were sitting in your chairs. The longest journey begins with a single step, and this Mayor and Council took that step last year by creating the Pension Reform Committee. Secondly, I’d like to acknowledge the tremendous contributions made over the last year by members of the Pension Review Committee - the extensive time they have devoted to researching this situation and preparing their excellent report and recommendations. Particular thanks go to April Boling, the committee chair, and Richard Vortmann for his insightful minority report. They have laid out the groundwork necessary to allow the Council to take the corrective actions needed. Your approval of the recommendations of the Pension Reform Committee is necessary to proceed to resolve the current financial situation. Thousands of retirees, who labored long and well for this City, are relying on this Council to do the right thing - to assure that the benefits they earned will be paid. There has been much said about the City’s “generous” pension payments. That may be true for recent and future retirees, but our main concern is for those who retired before the recent improvements to the system. Most of these older retirees receive very small pensions. Many are less than $500 per month. It is bad enough to struggle with such a small income, without being concerned whether it is going to continue through all of what is commonly referred to as the “Golden Years”. For many City retirees, the “Golden Years” are a bit tarnished. It is respectfully requested that this Council do what is necessary to preserve the benefits these retirees have earned. Thank you for you consideration.

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