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Press Articles Index Article source:SDUT San Diego Union Tribune VSD Voice of San Diego RDR San Diego Reader BEAT San Diego City Beat SDM San Diego Magazine SDDT San Diego Daily Transcript |
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Period Covered: 2006
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| Aguirre
reveals some outside counsel costs - Advice on pension cases put at $1.6
million, so far Since City Attorney Michael Aguirre took office two years ago, San Diego taxpayers have absorbed a $1.6 million hit so the city can obtain private legal advice on several cases related to the botched handling of the employee pension system. MORE>>> |
12/30/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
asks for hearing on pension ruling City Attorney Michael Aguirre filed his formal objections yesterday to a judge's decision that sharply limited his ability to challenge San Diego pension benefits that he maintains are illegal. MORE>>> |
12/28/2006 | SDUT |
| Lam's
link to pension witness challenged U.S. attorney was, or is, Shipione client U.S. Attorney Carol Lam is, or was, a longtime client of financial adviser and pension whistle-blower Diann Shipione – a relationship that some lawyers said raises the specter of conflict of interest. MORE>>> |
12/23/2006 | SDUT |
| Long-Awaited
Audit Delayed Again For the fourth consecutive year, the city of San Diego will likely greet the New Year without a certified accounting of its financial health, with its outside auditors informing the Mayor's Office on Thursday that they would not meet a Friday deadline. MORE>>> |
12/22/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
plans to file more litigation - Judge didn't follow law in pension case,
he says San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre adopted a more defiant stance yesterday, accusing a judge who ruled against him of failing to heed the law, and pledging to file more lawsuits targeting city benefits for retirees. MORE>>> |
12/21/2006 | SDUT |
| Gwinn
e-mails say pension inquiry had 'no evidence' Back in 2004, just as investigations of San Diego's finances became public and people at City Hall were getting anxious and hiring lawyers, then-City Attorney Casey Gwinn e-mailed his thoughts to one of the city's outside lawyers. MORE>>> |
12/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre's appeal will wait By Jennifer Vigil STAFF WRITER December 19, 2006 City Attorney Michael Aguirre has delayed an appeal of the decision that upended his attempt to slice pension benefits for San Diego employees, opting instead to file objections with the judge by the end of the month. MORE>>> | 12/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Pensions,
a Political Firestorm, Flicker as Legal Issue The city of San Diego's pension dealings captured the attention of the local citizenry and national headline writers alike as news of their devastating impact on the city's finances seeped out of City Hall over the past few years. MORE>> |
12/18/2006 | VSD |
| 12/16/2006 | SDUT | |
| 12/16/2006 | SDUT | |
| City's
Silver Bullet a Blank The silver bullet for the city of San Diego's pension problems turned out to be a blank. For those of you who had hoped that a resolution of the city's financial troubles could be simple and painless, minus the burden of scaled back services, bankruptcy or tax increases, Thursday wasn't your day. MORE>>> |
12/15/2006 | VSD |
| Judge
Hacks City Pension Case City Attorney Mike Aguirre's hallmark pension lawsuit, which seeks to roll back a decade's worth of employee benefits, came to an abrupt halt Thursday when a judge ruled that legal obstacles prevent the majority of the case from moving forward. MORE>>> |
12/15/2006 | VSD |
| Judge's
pension ruling a blow to Aguirre A Superior Court judge levied a devastating blow today to City Attorney Michael Aguirre's bid to eliminate increased pension benefits granted to San Diego employees in 1996 and 2002. MORE>>> |
12/14/2006 | SDUT |
| Concerns
of judge strike at U.S. case. Pension-fraud jurist awaits appellate court's
guidance In a significant commentary yesterday, the judge in the federal pension-fraud case expressed concern about whether the case should proceed if the separate state prosecution is ultimately dismissed. MORE>>> |
12/14/2006 | SDUT |
| First
part of pension trial near conclusion - Ruling set on legal foundation of
case Former Mayor Dick Murphy called the 2004 legal settlement that required San Diego to stop underfunding its retirement system “a first step on a long journey toward pension reform.” MORE>> |
12/13/2006 | SDUT |
| Court's
delay of pension trial helps defense State's case is put on indefinite hold
Defense attorneys in the federal pension-fraud case have notified the judge of a favorable development in the separate state pension case that they say will have “a profound impact” on both prosecutions. MORE>>> |
12/13/2006 | SDUT |
| If
Aguirre wins pension case, chaos could follow Lawyers doing battle in Superior Court over San Diego's pension fund use the tame word “remedy” to describe the fix that may be required if city retirement benefits are ruled illegal. MORE>>> |
12/11/2006 | SDUT |
| For
The Record: Hooray, We Found a Billion Dollars - Commentary by Pat Shea
Monday Oops, I Did It Again: The Daily Transcript had an interesting item (registration required) this past week about new asset numbers out from the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System, which show (get this) that SDCERS has another billion dollars of assets. They just found it -- lying there. Hooray - we're saved! There's no pension deficit crisis after all. We found a billion more. MORE>>> |
12/11/2006 | VSD |
| Another
shell game - San Diego ignores retiree health debt crisis - Editorial The contrast couldn't be more striking: Last week the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to save taxpayers from runaway retiree health costs, slashing $1.8 billion in unfunded obligations to a relative handful of well-compensated public employees. The decision was fair, honest and sure to solve the problem. MORE>>> |
12/10/2006 | SDUT |
| County
retirement board angry - Health benefit cuts are at issue County retirement board members bristled yesterday at an attempt by county supervisors to force a cutback in retiree health care benefits. MORE>>> |
12/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Ruling Due Dec. 14 Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Barton told lawyers involved in the city's major pension lawsuit that he will issue ruling on the opening phase of the ongoing trial by Dec. 14. MORE>>> |
12/08/2006 | VSD |
| Retirement
board trial is postponed The Superior Court trial for six former members of the San Diego city retirement system board has been postponed indefinitely while an appellate court decides key legal questions in the case. MORE>>> |
12/06/2006 | SDUT |
| Health
care benefits cut - County supervisors vote to stop paying subsidies to
thousands of retirees The county will stop paying some $30 million annually for health care for thousands of current and future retirees, virtually assuring the benefit will disappear, under a plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors yesterday. MORE>>> |
12/06/2006 | SDUT |
| Props
B, C Enacted by Council The San Diego City Council kick-started the payroll-trimming ballot propositions that voters overwhelmingly approved a month ago Tuesday when it sided with Mayor Jerry Sanders on the laws' final details. MORE>>> |
12/06/2006 | VSD |
| 12/05/2006 | SDUT | |
| 12/05/2006 | SDUT | |
| What
Do San Diegans Really Pay? - Commentary by Jon Dunchack In their ongoing exchange, both Pat Shea and Joe Flynn make substantial points about local taxes, but neither tells us what San Diegans currently pay in total for their local government. It's important that we answer this basic question as objectively and as fully as possible, because the back-and-forth of "we pay too much, we don't pay enough" doesn't get us to the real issues. MORE>>> |
12/01/2006 | VSD |
| DA's
Pension Case Sent Back Six former retirement trustees' request to dismiss a ruling that they stand trial must be reviewed more thoroughly by an appellate court, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday . MORE>>> |
11/30/2006 | VSD |
| Expensive
snafu Costly DROP retirement perk lives on and on More than a year ago the City Council took a very modest step toward reducing San Diego's overweening pension debt when it voted to eliminate three costly retirement perks for new hires only. The axed benefits included the notorious DROP program, which enables city workers to retire with pension checks that are higher than their highest-year salaries; the so-called 13th monthly check, a bonus that is both unwarranted and financially reckless; and the discounted purchase of years of service never actually worked, a tactic that allows retirees to pad their pension checks even further. MORE>>> |
11/30/2006 | SDUT |
| 'Chaos'
seen if pension gains voided Lawyers opposing City Attorney Michael Aguirre said yesterday during closing arguments in San Diego's pension case that if he succeeds in persuading the court to nullify two rounds of pension benefit increases, the action will throw the city into disarray. MORE>>> |
11/30/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Trial's First Stage Set The opening phase of the city of San Diego's showcase pension trial ended Wednesday, as municipal employees made their last push to head off a drawn-out courtroom battle over retirement benefits that will likely spill over well into the next year if it proceeds. MORE>>> |
11/30/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
consultant has settled suit by city S.F.-based Callan to pay $4.5 million
San Francisco-based Callan Associates, a prominent pension consultant that has advised San Diego's retirement system since 1982, will pay San Diego $4.5 million under a legal settlement the City Council approved yesterday. MORE>>> |
11/29/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
heroes - County can save system with subsidy cuts A fiscal freight train is bearing down on San Diego County taxpayers. At last, two local leaders have the good sense to pull us off the tracks. Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Pam Slater-Price have designed an elegant solution to the county government's looming crisis of crushing pension debt and runaway health care spending for retirees. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council should pay attention. MORE>>> |
11/29/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
ends his part of trial phase - Employee groups' rebuttals Monday City Attorney Michael Aguirre rested his case yesterday in the early stages of the San Diego pension trial, which could stretch into February, should Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Barton's estimate hold true. MORE>>> |
11/17/2006 | SDUT |
| Secret
deals - San Diego wants to know who committed fraud - Editorial The Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its probe of financial wrongdoing at City Hall, finding multiple “violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.” Yet, despite the enormity of the offenses – officials deliberately concealed damaging information from bond investors – the SEC's “cease and desist” order leaves San Diegans to wonder: Who, exactly, committed these violations? MORE>>> |
11/16/2006 | SDUT |
| 2
former officials testify on pensions -Vortmann, Herring called by Aguirre
One witness in San Diego's ongoing pension trial explained his misgivings yesterday regarding a proposal to underfund the employee pension system, while another noted his faith in an expert who ultimately cleared the way for the plan. MORE>>> |
11/16/2006 | SDUT |
| Sanders
outlines 5-year fiscal plan - Mayor challenges racking up debt November 16, 2006 Before unveiling a five-year financial plan yesterday, Mayor Jerry Sanders said San Diego's “destructive behavior” of amassing long-term obligations without money to pay for them “must change within this next budget.” MORE>>> |
11/16/2006 | SDUT |
| S.D.
may go further than SEC requests Let's just say the Securities and Exchange Commission has some trust issues when it comes to the city of San Diego. The federal agency has ordered the city to hire an independent consultant within 60 days to ensure the city doesn't defraud investors when borrowing money – a violation the SEC ruled Tuesday the city committed five times in 2002 and 2003. MORE>>> |
11/16/2006 | SDUT |
| SEC's
Separation of City, Officials Rare In September 2004, the San Diego City Council directed its attorneys to negotiate a settlement for the city with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The council's direction came with a condition: Any settlement that struck on the city's behalf would have to include the council members, according to a closed session report that detailed the meeting. MORE>>> |
11/16/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders
outlines job cuts in budget -S.D. mayor to unveil five-year fiscal plan
Mayor Jerry Sanders wants to cut 470 mostly vacant positions and 100 management or supervisory jobs from the next city budget, a year after being elected in part on a promise to substantially reduce San Diego's payroll. MORE>>> |
11/15/2006 | SDUT |
| Feds'
mirror reflects ugly truth about San Diego San Diego city officials lied to Wall Street about the pension system and its deficit, and despite a spate of resignations and other corrective actions, City Hall still isn't quite trustworthy. MORE>>> |
11/15/2006 | SDUT |
| SEC
slams city on pension debt The city of San Diego's black eye turned a darker shade yesterday as the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that the city defrauded investors in 2002 and 2003 by not disclosing a massive pension deficit. The SEC found that the city “knew or was reckless in not knowing that its disclosures were materially misleading” in committing securities fraud. The commission laid the blame on unnamed officials still under SEC investigation. MORE>>> |
11/15/2006 | SDUT |
| SEC:
San Diego Committed Fraud The Securities and Exchange Commission today sanctioned the city of San Diego on securities fraud violations for failing in 2002 and 2003 to disclose important information to investors regarding its looming pension and retiree health care obligations. MORE>>> |
11/14/2006 | VSD |
| Actuary:
Deals Added $900M in Benefits The two pension deals being contested by City Attorney Mike Aguirre added nearly $900 million in new benefits to the pension system, a city-hired actuary told a judge Monday. MORE>>> |
11/14/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
fraud case indictment is called vague - But judge denies dismissal request The judge in the federal pension fraud case said the indictment is riddled with vague language and unclear accusations but stopped short of ordering prosecutors to clarify it. MORE>>> |
11/10/2006 | SDUT |
| Without
Paperwork, Reforms Lie Idle City Attorney Mike Aguirre has dedicated the bulk of his first two years in office on an ambitious legal attack against two past pension deals that cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars, steadfastly working despite the cries of skeptics that his case is a long-shot. But for all of the attention Aguirre has focused on ripping the city's past pension dealings in the press and in various courtrooms around town, he has lagged until now in assembling the paperwork needed to bring to a halt two controversial benefit programs that he has blasted time and again. MORE>>> |
11/10/2006 | VSD |
| Taking
back City Hall Passage of Props. B, C is mandate for change - Editorial Despite well-financed opposition from San Diego's potent public employee unions, voters overwhelming approved Propositions B and C, giving Mayor Jerry Sanders a mandate to overhaul the stultifying practices of City Hall. MORE>>> |
11/09/2006 |
SDUT |
| Voters
Hand Sanders 'Reform Tools' San Diegans elected Jerry Sanders to the Mayor's Office a year ago in hopes that the former police chief would turn around the flailing city. On Tuesday, Sanders received a second vote of confidence when voters tweaked the city's bylaws to give themselves final say over employee pension boosts and permit the mayor to outsource city services to the private sector. MORE>>> |
11/08/2006 | VSD |
| Tension
high as McGrory ends pension testimony - Lawyers wrangle during questioning Former San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory concluded his testimony in the city pension trial yesterday, after the judge cut off a barrage of questions from dueling attorneys. MORE>>> |
11/08/2006 | SDUT |
| McGrory
Defends 1996 Former City Manager Jack McGrory said the 1996 agreement between the city, its retirement system and labor unions -- now one of the foci of the current pension trial -- was a "fiscally responsible" approach to accommodating costs expected to soar in later years. MORE>>> |
11/07/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
trial pace expected to pick up - Key witnesses are set to testify Imagine Department 69 of San Diego Superior Court as a snow globe, and City Hall as the little village within the orb. As the fight over San Diego's pension benefits proceeds, the courtroom offers a vision in miniature of what has taken root in city government, and it's not remotely idyllic. MORE>>> |
11/05/2006 |
SDUT |
| Handling
of pension business defended - Attorney for city says his statements misinterpreted
An assistant city attorney defended inconsistencies yesterday in his handling of pension business as the trial continued in the case of San Diego's contested retirement benefits. MORE>>> |
11/03/2006 | SDUT |
| Jury's
Out City Attorney Mike Aguirre will begin arguing the first portion of San Diego's ongoing pension trial Monday, following the presiding judge's denial of a request Aguirre made today to empanel a jury as early as next week. MORE>>> |
11/02/2006 | VSD |
| Reforming
of pension plan called too slow - Budget analyst calls for municipal code
revisions The City Council's budget analyst scolded San Diego leaders yesterday for moving too slowly on a range of financial and administrative fixes for the city's pension system. MORE>>> |
11/01/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
Wants Unions, City Council to Settle During opening arguments Tuesday, City Attorney Mike Aguirre told the judge presiding over San Diego's major pension case that the only way to save the city's retirement system from running dry is to roll back $500 million worth of employee benefits. MORE>>> |
11/01/2006 | VSD |
| Unions
Open Up Pension Battle City employees led off the trial over their disputed pension benefits Monday, as their lawyers used their opening statements and remaining motions to try to deconstruct City Attorney Mike Aguirre's legal attack and limit the boundaries of the sprawling case. MORE>>> |
10/31/2006 | VSD |
| SEC
Might Not Be Done After City Settlement When the City Council approved in closed session last week a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, San Diego took a major step toward ending a two-and-a-half year investigation that sullied its financial reputation and garnered it national attention. MORE>>> |
10/31/2006 | VSD |
| San
Diego pension trial nears start line - Judge tries to rein in sparring by
lawyers Attorneys haggled over last-minute preparations yesterday for San Diego's pending pension trial, a case that in its early stages will pit City Attorney Michael Aguirre against representatives of city unions trying to protect their members' pension benefits. MORE>>> |
10/27/2006 | SDUT |
| City
Council OKs settlement for segment of pension fight - Pretrial motions will
begin today On the eve of what could be a lengthy trial, San Diego agreed to resolve a limited portion of its complex battle with the city's retirement system, City Attorney Michael Aguirre said yesterday. MORE>>> |
10/26/2006 | SDUT |
| City
Agrees to Settle SEC Case A source close to the city of San Diego's negotiations with the Securities and Exchange Commission said the City Council agreed to settle with the federal regulators Tuesday that would not include fines for the embattled municipality. MORE>>> |
10/25/2006 | VSD |
| Council
mum about SEC settlement - Members would not say if vote has taken place San Diego City Council members considered a possible settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission behind closed doors yesterday, then were as tight-lipped as they have ever been about the nearly three-year investigation. MORE>>> |
10/25/2006 | SDUT |
| S.D.
City Council to address possible pension case deal - Executive session set
for tomorrow The City Council will hold another in a series of special meetings, this one at 8 a.m. tomorrow, to discuss the possible end to at least part of San Diego's central legal battle over its disputed pension benefits. MORE>>> |
10/24/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre,
pension fund to take the stage - Stakes in trial to be enormous for parties Attorney Michael Aguirre will enter a courtroom this week to argue the case that is likely to define his four-year term. Michael Aguirre to lead team of eight lawyers. Aguirre, virtually without pause during his first two years in office, has used the term “illegal benefits” to describe increases in San Diego city employee pensions that were granted in 1996 and 2002. MORE>>> |
10/23/2006 | SDUT |
| City
Expected to Settle with SEC Agenda documents released Friday indicate that the San Diego City Council will vote Tuesday on a final settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and sources say the agreement does not include any final resolution of the fates of individual city officials. MORE>>> |
10/21/2006 | VSD |
| SDCERS
Tweaks Deficit Calculations The San Diego City Employees' Retirement System's board met Friday with its actuary to discuss suggestions he made for changing the way the pension plan bills the city. MORE>>> |
10/20/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
drops secondary lawsuit - City employees had been targeted City Attorney Michael Aguirre has withdrawn a lawsuit that targeted current and former city employees in his attempt to eliminate pension benefits he contends were granted illegally. MORE>>> |
10/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Judge
has 'some questions' about pension-fraud case - Prosecutor balks at bench's
request A judge in the federal pension-fraud case sided with defense attorneys yesterday who contended the grand jury indictment against five former San Diego pension officials is so vague that the defendants don't understand what they allegedly did wrong. MORE>>> |
10/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Largely
Intact, Pension Case Heads for Trial The city of San Diego's major pension lawsuit is not an open-and-shut case, but rather a unique dispute involving complex legal issues that have never clashed in a court of law before, a Superior Court judge said Monday. MORE>>> |
10/17/2006 | VSD |
| Financial
statement doesn't pass go - City Council members balk at approving draft
of 2003 report The San Diego City Council rebuffed Mayor Jerry Sanders yesterday, rejecting a recommendation to approve city management's first annual financial report since a suspect one in 2002 masked myriad problems. MORE>>> |
10/17/2006 | SDUT |
| Hedge
Fund Flames Out - By Don Bauder Few things are more repugnant than wannabe alpha males. They're like high school boys snapping locker-room towels at each other. In the financial world, hedge funds are the youthful towel snappers -- barking and boasting and strutting, but wilting under pressure. MORE>>> |
10/12/2006 | RDR |
| Labor
Sidelined in Ballot Bout San Diego's public employee unions have made strides politically by playing integral roles in the election of city officials in an otherwise conservative, business-oriented town. While still dwarfed by the fundraising prowess of the local business community, organized labor has traditionally provided an effective counterbalance. But in the Nov. 7 election, when city workers have so much at stake -- including their very livelihood as city workers -- the municipal unions are maintaining an unusually quiet tack with the end of the campaign less than a month away. MORE>>> |
10/10/2006 | VSD |
| Prop.
B has counterpart in S.F. law Politically, San Diego and San Francisco have little in common, with one city tagged as conservative and the other as liberal. But there are commonalities: Both cities are popular vacation spots, and their real estate values soared in recent years. Soon there may be a third, and it's political. MORE>>> |
10/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
deficit's size gets clearer - Officials appear closer to agreeing on a figure The size of San Diego's pension deficit has been in dispute for years, leaving many to wonder what civic services would be cut if consensus ever came on what was owed thousands upon thousands of retired city workers. MORE>>> |
10/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Council
wrangles over deal with SEC - Members could recuse themselves, Aguirre says San Diego moved no closer to ending a lengthy investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday after a private meeting to discuss a proposed settlement broke down into heated exchanges. MORE>>> |
10/06/2006 | SDUT |
| San
Diego to weigh tentative SEC offer - Settlement just one financial fix needed
San Diego's possible preliminary agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission represents a move toward a significant milestone in the city's saga of financial wrongdoing, but it is just one step in what has become a momentous challenge. MORE>>> |
10/05/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
loss estimated at $105 million - County system invested in Amaranth hedge
fund The San Diego County pension system's estimated loss in the Amaranth hedge fund collapse has grown to $105 million, the retirement association's CEO said yesterday. MORE>>> |
10/05/2006 | SDUT |
| A
covert deal - What City Hall doesn't want you to know - Editorial As the Securities and Exchange Commission closes in on San Diego's financial wrongdoing, a perilous conspiracy of secrecy enshrouds City Hall. Mayor Jerry Sanders isn't talking publicly. The City Council isn't talking publicly. City Attorney Mike Aguirre isn't talking publicly. MORE>>> |
10/03/2006 | SDUT |
| S.D.
debt is worse than first thought Revised audit for 2003 released San Diego's financial hole is much deeper than previously suggested. A retiree health care liability has grown from $978 million to $1.38 billion, and the city's share of the pension deficit has increased from $1.39 billion to $1.76 billion. MORE>>> |
10/03/2006 | SDUT |
| SEC
Settlement Moves Step Closer The city of San Diego and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a tentative settlement over the weekend that would end the commission's two-and-a-half year investigation of the city, a source said Monday. MORE>>> |
10/03/2006 | VSD |
| Stop
stalling - SEC can help prod City Council on reforms Mayor Jerry Sanders' meeting today with senior officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington comes amid more disturbing signs that some City Council members hope to thwart his reform plans. Council opposition to the mayor's sweeping remediation blueprint is a key reason why the SEC must add its regulatory weight to the reform effort in San Diego. MORE>>> |
10/02/2006 | SDUT |
| Will
Prop. C lead to competition or fuel corruption? - Jobs measure to test fault
for fiscal mess, support for Sanders Mayor Jerry Sanders and a mountain of business supporters tout his November ballot measure to have more contractors bid on San Diego city work as managed competition. MORE>>> |
10/01/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Trial to Begin Oct. 25 Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Barton said a trial for City Attorney Mike Aguirre's major pension lawsuit will begin Oct. 25 if his tentative ruling, which allows a trimmed-down version of the original legal challenge to move forward, stands. MORE>>> |
09/30/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre,
mayor going to D.C. to see the SEC Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Attorney Michael Aguirre will travel within days to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Securities and Exchange Commission, one of several agencies examining San Diego's handling of its finances over the past decade. MORE>>> |
09/29/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Case Faces Final Stretch Before Trial With the city of San Diego's main pension lawsuit nudging closer to trial, a judge said during a Thursday hearing that he continued to grapple with one of the case's key points: whether the city can void employee pension benefits because of conflict-of-interest charges. MORE>>> |
09/29/2006 | VSD |
| Peters'
Move Peters Out City Council President Scott Peters has dropped his motion to disqualify City Attorney Mike Aguirre from the city's main pension lawsuit, days before the dispute was slated to be argued in court. The move allows the landmark case to move closer to the scheduled October trial date. MORE>>> |
09/27/2006 | VSD |
MORE>>> |
09/23/2006 | SDUT |
| Tentative:
Corbett Roadblocks Aguirre A tentative judgment issued Thursday in the city of San Diego's main pension case could drastically reshape the stakes of the legal challenge pushed by City Attorney Mike Aguirre for the last year. MORE>>> |
09/22/2006 | VSD |
| Crash
of hedge fund echoes over county pension system Questions are mounting over whether the county's pension system is too heavily invested in risk-taking hedge funds, days after suffering a multimillion-dollar loss from the precipitous crash of one such fund. MORE>>> |
09/22/2006 | SDUT |
| County
pension may have lost millions in fund - Hedge investment made just last
year The crash of the Amaranth hedge fund could have sizable repercussions for San Diego County's retirement system, which invested $175 million with Amaranth just last year. MORE>>> |
09/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
loses appeal in pension fight - The case will go to trial in October An appeals court has rejected a plea from San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre to overturn a judge's decision that Aguirre's primary legal challenge to a decade's worth of controversial pension benefits should go to trial. MORE>>> |
09/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Ex-cop
pleads for pension - Disabled retirees' benefits cut after recalculation
A retired San Diego police officer who lost his left leg in the line of duty made an emotional plea to the City Council yesterday to restore pension benefits recently cut for him and about 180 other former city workers on disability retirement. MORE>>> |
09/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Sanders
shifts gears on sale of city land - Effort to pay down deficit stalled by
limits in charter Mayor Jerry Sanders, who during last year's election campaign promoted selling San Diego land to reduce a massive pension deficit, said yesterday he now opposes the idea because of restrictions in the city charter. MORE>>> |
09/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Message
needed - SEC must not give a pass to individuals - Editorial In a closed-door meeting last week, John Hartigan, the lawyer hired to represent San Diego before the Securities and Exchange Commission, warned five City Council members they individually could face SEC civil charges for their role in violations of federal securities laws. MORE>>> |
09/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
Appeal Denied An appellate court denied City Attorney Mike Aguirre's request on Monday to forego a trial and find that the pension benefits he is challenging are illegal. MORE>>> |
09/19/2006 | VSD |
| City
Pumps out Draft Audit With a 40-year-old wastewater pump station as a backdrop, Mayor Jerry Sanders said his office's release of a draft audit for 2003 this week puts the city on track to begin borrowing to make upgrades to its antiquated wastewater system and other infrastructure by June. MORE>> |
09/19/2006 | VSD |
| Public
'safety net,' or 'a charade'? - Prop. B puts pension crisis on Nov. ballot
No area of San Diego's financial morass has drawn more attention than the employee pension system. A whistle-blowing former pension board member first called the city's and public's attention to the retirement fund nearly four years ago, pulling the first wayward string of what soon became a rapidly fraying quilt. MORE>>> |
09/18/2006 | SDUT |
| No
More Suits, for Now - Editorial The Voice of San Diego in an editorial states that they agree with City Attorney Mike Aguirre's announced plans last week to persuade the public to support a possible lawsuit against Kroll Inc., the high-priced consultants who told city residents a lot of what was already known and charged more than $20 million for the service, but now is the the time to pursue a new lawsuit. MORE>> |
09/13/2006 | VSD |
| Angry,
untrusting constituents give council an earful - Residents react to Kroll
report Trust issues. It's the kind of thing that rolls off Dr. Phil's lips regularly, but you don't hear it at City Council meetings much. That changed Wednesday, when the five San Diego council members implicated in a consultants' report on the city's financial meltdown – Council President Scott Peters, Toni Atkins, Donna Frye, Jim Madaffer and Brian Maienschein – heard the T-word come up over and over again from residents at a special meeting. MORE>>> |
09/10/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre's
steady pace not yielding many victories After a July 10 news conference, City Attorney Michael Aguirre stood in a hallway in the warren of offices in his legal department, appearing weary but far from dejected. MORE>>> |
09/10/2006 |
SDUT |
| Aguirre's
Roadshow The Voice of San Diego reports that City Attorney Mike Aguirre said he's preparing to start making the rounds to community groups and planning meetings throughout the city to present his argument that he should sue Kroll Inc., the firm that staffed the city's audit committee, under the False Claims Act. MORE>>> |
09/08/2006 | VSD |
| And
Now From Within the Box - The Pension Board -- SDCER's - Commentary
by Peter Q. Davis I recently accepted the mayor's request that I join the SDCER's pension board. I knew there would be a lot of work to do, but frankly, I had no idea how much. I have been there but a few months, but in that time, I have come to some findings I think help to understand my beliefs in Kroll's recommendations for this organization. MORE>>> |
09/08/2006 | VSD |
| Stop
Paying the Legal Benefits? - Commentary
by Mark Sullivan SDCERS trustee Mark Sullivan in a Voice of San Diego commentary responds to those who want the board to stop the alleged "illegal payments". MORE>>> |
09/08/2006 | VSD |
| THE
KROLL REPORT - Financial fixes OK'd in principle The SDUT reports that the City Council approved the plan in principle yesterday, but several council members stressed they may still adjust parts of it before they act by year's end on all 121 recommendations that the mayor's office developed from the consultants' report. The link to the report is in the "Press Articles" section of the Members-Only area. MORE>>> |
09/07/2006 | SDUT |
| Council
Contemplates Role in City's Ills A number of City Council members Wednesday confronted their roles in the city's legal and financial meltdown during their first public meeting following the release last month of an investigative report into City Hall finances. MORE>>> |
09/07/2006 | VSD |
| Now,
the reckoning - City Council must act today on recovery plan - Editorial To put it plainly, the hour has arrived for the City Council to take decisive steps to resolve San Diego's financial upheaval. Council members have run out of excuses for delay and inaction. There are no more pretexts for putting off the inevitable reckoning. This is the day to act. MORE>>> |
09/06/2006 | SDUT |
| A
Benefit, Not a Cost After two pension trustees questioned the retirement system's calculation of the city's share of annual employee pension costs, the system's top staffer replied Wednesday to the trustees' hunch that employees were not paying their fair share. MORE>>> |
09/01/2006 | VSD |
| City:
Bond Timeline OK City Hall's top financial official said the city remains on track to begin borrowing on the public markets by June, despite rumblings at last Friday's retirement board meeting that the board could dump its auditors -- who are working on financial statements necesary to move the city closer to Wall Street. MORE>>> |
09/01/2006 | VSD |
| Dubious,
dangerous - Aguirre's plan seeks to inflate his own power Editorial The self-serving remediation plan proposed by City Attorney Mike Aguirre is the most graphic illustration yet of his recklessness. This is not a serious financial recovery plan. Rather, it is a highly politicized scheme aimed at inflating Aguirre's power. MORE>>> |
08/31/2006 | SDUT |
| Turf
Tiff Divides City Hall Ignored and despised by the City Council majority during his first year in office, San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre has enjoyed an important ally in Mayor Jerry Sanders since the mayor began his tenure last winter. MORE>>> |
08/31/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
touts his plan for reform over mayor's - Contentious debate expected to
continue The warning issued last week by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders that he wouldn't tolerate any obstacles to the city's financial reform appears to be falling on deaf ears. MORE>>> |
08/30/2006 | SDUT |
| A
Wall Street Gamble, Continued - Editorial Last week in an editorial, we expressed worry about the gamble that public pension systems were making on the stock market. They artificially lower the amount they owe to the system every year based on what they assume they are going to earn from investment earnings. MORE>> |
08/30/2006 | VSD |
| Ballpark
Pitched to Pension System With more than a dozen lawsuits hanging overhead, the city of San Diego's attempts to revive the downtown ballpark project appeared stagnant in 2002. The city had only months to find a financier to put up the $169.7 million that was needed for its share of a project that was to be a jewel of downtown redevelopment. With the usual lenders spooked by the well-known prospect of litigation that could jeopardize the bonds, the city looked to a familiar source for extra cash: its employees' pension fund. MORE>>> |
08/29/2006 | VSD |
| Kroll
Fall Out Some thought heads would roll after the release of the Kroll report. Well, at least one head has rolled, though it might not be so recognizable. Mayor Jerry Sanders has asked Conny Jamison, former city treasurer and pension trustee, to step down from her seat as board member of the Data Processing Corp. MORE>>> |
08/29/2006 | VSD |
| Reform!
Everyone Else! This is interesting. -Commentary The mayor apparently decided that former City Treasurer Conny Jamison isn't fit to serve any longer on the board of the city's quasi-independent technology provider because she was named as having breached her fiduciary duty when she sat on the board of the city's pension system. MORE>>> |
08/29/2006 | VSD |
| Now,
the hard part - Mayor must aggressively cut pension costs - Editorial In unveiling his comprehensive plan to overhaul San Diego's wretched financial management practices, Mayor Jerry Sanders candidly acknowledged that “what...the plan will not solve is the city's financial problems.” He's absolutely right. The mayor's remediation plan is the easy part. The hard part is yet to come – reducing bloated pension benefits that threaten to drive San Diego into insolvency. MORE>>> |
08/27/2006 | SDUT |
| Judge
removes self from city case - Delay expected in Aguirre's suit The judge in one of San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre's two major lawsuits to roll back controversial pension benefits removed himself from the case yesterday because he is being sued by the city in a minor, unrelated litigation. MORE>>> |
08/26/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Bill Breakdown Some retirement trustees are questioning their actuary's calculation for splitting the annual pension cost between the city and its employees, saying the City Charter states that workers should be picking up a bigger chunk of the cost. MORE>>> |
08/26/2006 | VSD |
| Mayor
Outlines Next Steps, Hints at Cuts, Layoffs Mayor Jerry Sanders embraced point-by-point a 121-step remediation plan laid out earlier this month in the Kroll report, calling for a fundamentally smaller government -- in both employees and services -- in order to fund reform efforts and bring the city's basic costs in line with its revenues. MORE>>> |
08/25/2006 | VSD |
| Politicians
Dismissed Whistleblower as Crazy, Vengeful City Councilman Scott Peters was impressed by Diann Shipione at first, calling her "attractive and intelligent." But as smart as Shipione was in Peters' eyes, the councilman and the majority of other city officials shrugged off the pension whistleblower's warnings, chalking up her misgivings as a crusade to settle a political score; however, she is considered to be a hero to many people, locally and nationally. MORE>>> |
08/22/2006 | VSD |
| Police
Suit Adds KPMG The police union has added a new defendant to its lawsuit against the city and its officials: audit house KPMG. MORE>>> |
08/21/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre's
Worst Enemy - Opinion by Scott Lewis Monday A lot has been said about City Attorney Mike Aguirre recently.Scott Lewis has written an interesting opinion about City Attorney Mike Aguirre recently. MORE>>> |
08/21/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders,
unions prep for skirmish - Future labor talks key on pension reform New fronts are opening in the battle over benefits at San Diego City Hall, where the next two years of labor negotiations are expected to be as crucial and contentious as any. MORE>>> |
08/21/2006 | SDUT |
| San
Diego confidential - Mayor responds to Kroll report on pension fund scandal The team of independent auditors that investigated alleged wrongdoing in San Diego's municipal finances presented its findings, known as the Kroll report, to the City Council on Aug. 8. The SDUT editorial Board conducted a Q&A session with the Mayor regarding the findings. MORE>>> |
08/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
fund may stay tax-exempt - Lawyers believe program is OK San Diego's tax troubles, as depicted in the $20.3 million investigative report released last week, should not force the pension system out of an Internal Revenue Service compliance program it has been part of for more than a year, according to attorneys for the fund. MORE>>> |
08/18/2006 | SDUT |
| THE
KROLL REPORT - Leaders' interviews opened to City Clerk Former San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy and his council colleagues had fuzzy memories when independent investigators asked them about what they knew and when they knew it as the city's financial problems mounted. MORE>>> |
08/16/2006 | SDUT |
| Extra!
Extra! Kroll Interview with Mayor Dick Murphy The Voice of San Diego reports that interviews with former Mayor Dick Murphy and summaries for the interviews conducted with all 68 people from the Kroll report were released today. MORE>>> |
08/16/2006 | VSD |
|
THE
KROLL REPORT - Ex-City Attorney Gwinn called 'negligent' in pension fund
mess |
08/16/2006 | SDUT |
| Five
on City Council lambasted - Political ambitions may be damaged San Diego's elected officials knowingly broke the law, overcharged residents to lessen the burden on businesses, and displayed incompetence and neglect in leading the city in pension fund and other matters. MORE>>>. |
08/15/2006 | SDUT |
| THE
KROLL REPORT - Ballpark built despite city's fiscal ills In a hurry to get shovels back at work on the Padres' new ballpark, San Diego officials buried a heap of bad financial news that would have imperiled the project in 2002. MORE>>> |
08/14/2006 | SDUT |
| Kroll
Pulled a Punch
- Commentary Scott Lewis, in a Voice of San Diego commentary, states that in 1993, when Arthur Levitt Jr. took over the Securities and Exchange Commission and soon began to make municipalities around the country tremble in their boots; however,he let the City Council of the hook. MORE>> |
08/14/2006 | VSD |
| San
Diego Report: Crimes Led to Crisis Numerous violations of federal securities law and other state and federal laws are at the root of San Diego's pension and bond disclosure crisis, according to a city-commissioned report that was released yesterday. MORE>>> |
08/12/2006 | The Bond Buyer |
| IRS
investigation could be next for beleaguered city The Internal Revenue Service could join the crowd of federal investigators and regulators burrowing into San Diego's finances, based on revelations in a $20.3 million report released this week by a group of outside investigators. MORE>>> |
08/12/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
hits report for no transcripts - Levitt is called 'flimflam artist' The supporting documents for a $20.3 million report into allegations of wrongdoing by San Diego officials don't include any transcripts of the investigators' 68 interviews. MORE>>> |
08/11/2006 | SDUT |
| Audit
could give a whiff of criminal indictments - Some find clues about focus
of investigations The Kroll report identifies more than three dozen current and former San Diego city officials as wrongdoers with varying degrees of culpability in the city's pension fund scandal. Only eight of them have been charged with corruption-related crimes so far. Could the report be a predictor of indictments to come? MORE>>> |
08/11/2006 | SDUT |
| In
Kroll's Aftermath, Aguirre Continues Attack The city attorney maintained that his legal analysis of politicians' actions was superior to that of the audit committee Thursday and pushed for the release of the transcripts of 68 interviews conducted for its report. MORE>>> |
08/11/2006 | VSD |
| Mayor
favors consultants' suggestions on finances - He will submit plan to council
next month Mayor Jerry Sanders said yesterday that he intends to push through the Kroll report's recommendations on correcting the city's financial problems. After a day reviewing dozens of recommendations for scrubbing the stain of dishonesty from San Diego government, Mayor Jerry Sanders said he could heed the expert advice – for which the city paid $20.3 million – without exception. MORE>>> |
08/10/2006 | SDUT |
| A
Stark Choice Much has been made about former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt's repeated comments to the San Diego City Council that what the city faces is not a financial crisis but rather a political crisis. But then his firm's long report on the city goes on to describe a fiscal problem of such magnitude, it's hard to imagine what he might mean. MORE>> |
08/09/2006 | VSD |
| Report
Skeptical of Sanders' Borrowing Plan Arthur Levitt, the former Securities and Exchange Commission chief, predicted a new beginning for the much-maligned city of San Diego. The city, he said, "can learn from its mistakes and it can chart a rebirth to bring back people's confidence in its government." What won't bring it back, according to the audit committee, is Mayor Jerry Sanders' plan to borrow more than a half a billion dollars to manage the city's $1.4 billion pension deficit. MORE>>> |
08/09/2006 | VSD |
| Report
Puts City Among Elite Group of Frauds A culture of obfuscation and denial so corrupted San Diego's financial management that its meltdown reached the historic levels of such poster children of governmental and corporate malfeasance as Orange County, Enron and WorldCom, according to a long-awaited report released Tuesday. MORE>>> |
08/09/2006 | VSD |
| THE
KROLL REPORT - City must answer the biggest question: Where to find money?
The voluminous Kroll report suggests light at the end of the tunnel for San Diego – but the city may have to crawl over broken glass to get there. MORE>>> |
08/09/2006 | SDUT |
| THE
KROLL REPORT - 'Reckless and wrongful' - Leaders broke laws, but not intentionally,
consultants say A wide circle of San Diego officials, including former Mayor Dick Murphy and past and present City Council members, broke a string of laws meant to protect municipal pension and sewer systems and ensure accurate bond disclosures, according to a highly anticipated report released yesterday. MORE>>> |
08/09/2006 | SDUT |
| Findings
of the Kroll report The Kroll report shows that the City Council and pension board acted illegally and improperly in 1996 and 2002 when they approved plans that allowed the city to underfund the pension system. MORE>>> |
08/09/2006 | SDUT |
|
THE
KROLL REPORT - Key players |
08/09/2006 | SDUT |
| Moving
forward ... Now comes tough task of real reform Editorial With release of the audit committee's sweeping condemnation, Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council now must act aggressively to uproot the corrupt culture documented so thoroughly by the Kroll report. The long-standing ineptitude and lack of accountability that also contributed to the pension fund upheaval must be replaced by determined leadership and transparent financial controls. MORE>>> |
08/09/2006 | SDUT |
|
City
Fell Prey to Enron-like Mismanagement, Report Finds |
08/08/2006 | VSD |
| Kroll
Report Could Foreshadow SEC Action The long-awaited report into San Diego's financial dealings, overseen by former SEC officials, could telegraph the enforcement actions by the SEC. The report is expected to name names, including, perhaps, those of politicians past and present. MORE>>> |
08/07/2006 | VSD |
| Hour
of decision Report on - City Hall wrongdoing finally at hand Editorial This week will mark a crucial turn in San Diego's financial upheaval when the findings of the long-awaited audit committee investigation will be delivered to the City Council. The 370-page report is likely to document wide-scale misconduct by a raft of city officials – including potential violations of federal securities laws. Some sitting members of the City Council may be among the most prominent officials cited in the report. MORE>>> |
08/06/2006 | SDUT |
| After 18 months, report on city finances is due-Consultants investigated allegations of wrongdoing It has been billed as the first step on a road to recovery for a city dogged by distrust over accounting irregularities and faulty bond disclosures. The high-profile consultants who spent 18 months and $20.3 million investigating numerous allegations of wrongdoing by San Diego's city officials are poised to give a final report to the City Council on Tuesday morning. MORE>> | 08/06/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
system gets cash infusion San Diego has deposited more than $260 million into its employee pension system in the past six weeks, fulfilling budget promises made by Mayor Jerry Sanders. MORE>>> |
08/05/2006 | SDUT |
| McGuigan
Goes to Council The City Council will weigh Monday the settlement of a pension lawsuit that a former employee and city leaders tentatively struck in June. MORE>>> |
08/04/2006 | VSD |
| Kroll report, quarreling both have early start -Details of 8 a.m. meeting next week upset leaders A $20.3 million report on who's to blame for San Diego's fiscal collapse doesn't arrive until next week, but city officials are already sparring over it. MORE>>> | 08/03/2006 |
SDUT |
| Pension
case can go to trial, judge rules A Superior Court judge ruled yesterday there is enough evidence to send the criminal conflict-of-interest case against six former pension trustees to trial, affirming a ruling by another judge in January. MORE>>> |
08/03/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
fund proposal may collapse - $100 million already paid in settlement Pension case can go to trial, judge rules A proposed $173 million settlement by San Diego officials to end a lawsuit over underfunding of the city's pension system could be falling apart, lawyers said yesterday. MORE>>> |
||
| Kroll
review to arrive next week Firm to give report on S.D. finances The report that San Diego City Hall has been awaiting for months will arrive next week when consultants reveal the results of an investigation into the city's troubled fiscal past at a special morning City Council meeting. MORE>>> |
08/02/2006 | SDUT |
| City sues Texas law firm for $10 million over pension issue - Vinson & Elkins handled the SEC The city sued a Houston law firm yesterday, seeking at least $10 million in damages for work that allegedly failed “to protect the city's interests,” according to documents filed in San Diego Superior Court. MORE>>> | 07/28/2006 | SDUT |
| City
Prepares to Sue Former City Hall Investigators Setting the stage for another in a line of lawsuits against the outside professionals tied to the city's financial meltdown, City Attorney Mike Aguirre released the latest installment in his series of interim reports Wednesday, claiming that law firm Vinson & Elkins failed to properly investigate allegations of wrongdoing at City Hall. MORE>>> |
07/27/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
drops pension suit filed by Aguirre- Some council members criticize city
attorney The city of San Diego has agreed to drop a lawsuit filed by City Attorney Michael Aguirre against the retirement system's former top lawyer and pay her nearly $75,000 in legal fees. MORE>>> |
07/26/2006 | SDUT |
| Tax-for-pensions
proposal falls flat again - City Council brushes off request by labor union
The notion of raising taxes on San Diego property owners to pay city worker pensions resurfaced at City Hall on Friday – more than a year after it was first torpedoed – in a new request from the largest municipal union. MORE>>> |
07/25/2006 | SDUT |
| Union
Says City Obligated to Levy Pension Tax City Hall's largest employee union is insisting that Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council not only should impose a new tax on San Diego property owners to cover pension costs, but are legally obligated to do so. MORE>>> |
07/24/2006 | VSD |
| Attorney
ousted in pension fraud case A judge disqualified a defense lawyer yesterday in the federal pension fraud case over fears that a conflict of interest might come up when former city of San Diego retirement fund officials are on trial. MORE>>> |
07/20/2006 | SDUT |
| More
on Prop. G - Commentary by Joe Flynn It is amazing how so many editorial statements can be generated on so little information, and your recent editorial "Attack on Prop G" was truly amazing. A couple points are worthy of mention. MORE>>> |
07/17/2006 | VSD |
| Peters'
Power Play The city's ongoing pension dilemma has pitted several members of the City Council against City Attorney Mike Aguirre over the past year, but one council member has been quietly but significantly working to derail Aguirre's efforts to challenge a decade's worth of pension deals. MORE>>> |
07/14/2006 | VSD |
| Just
Give Us the Draft - Opinion by April Boling Mayor Jerry Sanders has reached the end of his rope with Kroll Inc., and I’m darn glad to see it. However, it sure seems to me that we ought to be able to do something more than just publicly embarrass these thieves. MORE>>> |
07/13/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
to summon Kroll for answers - Officials upset report on finances isn't done Mayor Jerry Sanders delivered his anticipated criticism of a private inquiry into San Diego's finances to the City Council yesterday, which prompted council members to call for the officials conducting it to appear before them within three weeks. MORE>>> |
07/12/2006 | SDUT |
| Motion
Denied. The Voice of San Diego reported that the judge in the city of San Diego's high-stakes pension-benefit case denied City Attorney Mike Aguirre's request for a summary judgment today, ruling that a number of factual issues under dispute must be considered in a full jury trial. MORE>>> |
07/10/2006 | VSD |
| Judge
asked to uphold pension Unions say boost in benefits was legal. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that attorneys for San Diego's pension system and four employee groups asked a judge yesterday to end a bitter battle over the retirement fund, a decision that could result in protection of the city's contested pension benefits. MORE>>> |
07/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Important
Distinction. The Voice of San Diego reported that as reporters, city employees, attorneys and residents alike await the judge's ruling in the pension-benefits case, it's probably a good idea to consider the following things that may have gotten buried in news stories: MORE>>> |
07/07/2006 | VSD |
| High-Stakes
Pension Case Heads Back to Court. The Voice of San Diego reported that Attorneys in the city of San Diego's high-stakes battle over a decade's worth of employee pension benefits returned to court Wednesday to argue the relevance of an appeals court decision that came down last week in the middle of the judge's deliberations. MORE>>> |
07/06/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
case judge calls for new hearing Says conflict ruling may affect outcome. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the judge handling a dispute over contested San Diego pension benefits is calling attorneys back into court today because a separate appeals court decision released last week may affect his decision. MORE>>> |
07/05/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
System Seeks to Solve IRS Issues. The Voice of San Diego reported that in order to fall back into the good graces of the Internal Revenue Service, the city's troubled pension system will likely be asking the City Council sometime soon to do two things: pay a surprise $33.8 million bill and figure out a different way to pay for those retirees whose pension checks top $13,000 a month. MORE>>> |
07/05/2006 | VSD |
| The
Harder they Fall - The search continues for truth in San Diego's pension
morass. MORE>> |
07/04/2006 | SDM |
| Judge
Calls New Hearing in Pension Case. The Voice of San Diego reported that the judge overseeing the challenge to a decade's worth of employee pension benefits has called a special hearing for Wednesday after an appellate court issued a ruling that could impact City Attorney Mike Aguirre's contention that pension deals in 1996 and 2002 are void. MORE>>> |
06/30/2006 | VSD |
| New
Pension Ruling. The Voice of San Diego reported that the judge hearing the challenge to a decade's worth of employee pension benefits today called a special hearing for Wednesday morning after an appellate court issued a ruling that could impact City Attorney Mike Aguirre's contention that pension deals in 1996 and 2002 are void. MORE>>> |
06/29/2006 | VSD |
| Come
Work Here: $81K Per Page! The Voice of San Diego reported in February 2005, the city of San Diego signed a contract with Kroll Inc., a New York-based company that bills itself as “the world’s leading risk consulting company,” to “independently” investigate the city’s pension crisis. Kroll’s original contract was to cost $250,000 with the company’s resulting 250-page report to be released in December 2005. To date, Kroll has yet to complete its report and the Kroll consultants -- headed by former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Arthur Levitt -- have appeared before the San Diego City Council on numerous occasions to request additional time and funds to complete their work. The price of Kroll’s contract is now $20.3 million and the company expects to release its report this summer. MORE>>> |
06/29/2006 | VSD |
| The
Lost Claim in the Big Pension Case. The Voice of San Diego reportrd that with the maturation of local governments across the country in 1800s came growing pains and, soon there after, reforms. MORE>>> |
06/29/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre:
Kroll Has Two Weeks. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre said the outside audit committee has two weeks to show up to a City Council meeting with a report detailing the investigation they've been conducting since last February. Failure to do so would spur the city attorney to pursue a fraudulent business case against Kroll, whose consultants comprise the committee, he said. MORE>>> |
06/27/2006 | VSD |
| The
U-T's Inappropriate Boast. The Voice of San Diego reported. I've held my tongue for a week, but the Union-Tribune's new marketing campaign touting itself as a "Watchdog" has now become too absurd to ignore. Sunday, the print edition of the U-T, ran a full-page declaration touting that paper's coverage of the city's pension crisis. MORE>>> |
06/26/2006 | VSD |
| Judge
delays ruling in S.D. pension case He needs more time for complex matter.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that calling the facts being debated “extraordinarily complex legally,” a Superior Court judge said yesterday that he needs more time to evaluate San Diego's main pension case before issuing a ruling on a request by City Attorney Michael Aguirre. MORE>>> |
06/27/2006 | SDUT |
| The
Taxpayer Solution By Scott Lewis. The Voice of San Diego reported that When you think about the city of San Diego's ongoing pension crisis, you're likely to fall into one of two camps. The first camp believes it's not a problem. Members of this brigade, of course, have seen many comrades fall to criminal indictments, resignations in disgrace and complete disregard. MORE>>> |
06/26/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
Benefits Get Their Day in Court. The Voice of San Diego reported that the city of San Diego's landmark battle over more than decade's worth of employee pension benefits took to the courtroom Monday after more than a year of hot exchanges in the public and press, as City Attorney Mike Aguirre asked a Superior Court judge to take a scalpel to the "cancers" plaguing the city's troubled pension system. MORE>>> |
06/27/2006 | VSD |
| Auditors,
2 agencies reviewing S.D. report Findings on fiscal woes not ready yet for
public. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that a taxpayer-funded report that assigns blame for San Diego's fiscal collapse is being reviewed by the city's private auditors and two federal agencies investigating wrongdoing here, but copies have not yet been made public. MORE>>> |
06/24/2006 | SDUT |
| Judge’s
Ruling Offers More Questions Than Answers. The Voice of San Diego reported that the judge handling City Attorney Mike Aguirre's landmark pension case issued a tentative ruling Friday filled with questions surrounding the fairness and viability of repealing a decade's worth of city employees' pension benefits. MORE>>> |
06/24/2006 | VSD |
| Trustees
Dropped from Suit. The Voice of San Diego Reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre has dropped the individual defendants from his primary lawsuit that seeks to halve the city's $1.4 billion pension deficit by rolling back the retirement benefit enhancements that were provided to workers over the past decade. MORE>>> |
06/15/2006 | VSD |
| Council
panel questions actuary on pension gap. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that as San Diego officials work to reduce a $1.43 billion pension deficit, debate continues over how much the city should pay each year to close the gap. MORE>>> |
06/15/2006 | SDUT |
| Actuary:
$162M Payment is 'Defensible'. The Voice of San Diego reported that the consultant that calculates how much the retirement board should bill the city every year defended his $162 million estimate for the coming year in front of a handful of City Council members Wednesday. MORE>>> |
06/15/2006 | VSD |
| Actuary
is Elusive for Aguirre. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre, a pension critic, tried to grill SDCERS actuary Gene Kalwarski about the amount of the bill he calculated that the city must pay it's beleagured retirement fund. But the actuary refused, saying that he was given legal advice to not answer questions from the city attorney because he was slated to give him a deposition for one of the ongoing pension lawsuits. MORE>>> |
06/14/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
Settlement Reached. The Voice of San Diego reported that City officials and a former city worker forged a tentative settlement Thursday that would allow the city to use borrowed money to make up for nearly a decade's worth of pension underfunding. MORE>>> |
06/09/2006 | VSD |
| San
Diego settles pension lawsuit $173 million will go into retirement fund.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that San Diego officials agreed yesterday to a $173 million settlement to end a retiree's lawsuit over the city's previous practice of failing to meet its full annual obligation to the employee pension system. MORE>>> |
06/09/2006 | SDUT |
| Price
of Admission. The Voice of San Diego reported that the city, with the help of hired legal guns, has sent to Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss its responses in the lawsuit that could force the city to make a $175 million payment into its retirement fund. MORE>>> |
06/05/2006 | VSD |
| UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL A $20,665 error City Attorney Aguirre right to pay court fine. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that San Diego taxpayers should be grateful the City Council has decided to hire an outside lawyer to take over a key pension-related lawsuit. City Attorney Mike Aguirre has made such a muddle of the case that a Superior Court judge has threatened to impose a crushing $175 million judgment against the city. MORE>>> |
06/04/2006 | SDUT |
| Council
approves $2 million for mounting legal fees. The San Diego Union Tribune reportrd that the specter of rising legal fees has become a familiar one to San Diegans who follow the ongoing pension drama, and the fees kept piling up this week, with three City Council decisions to spend more than $2 million. MORE>>> |
06/01/2006 | SDUT |
| Clearing
Up. The Voice of San Diego reported that we've received some complaints today regarding the headline "Aguirre Replaced in Suits." The headline refers for our account of the City Council's actions Tuesday to bring in outside attorneys to work on two high-profile legal cases that were dealt setbacks in court last week. MORE>>> |
05/31/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
Replaced on Major Cases. The Voice of San Diego reported that | the San Diego City Council decided to hire outside lawyers to defend two hefty lawsuits Tuesday, less than a week after the city suffered court defeats that threaten to force a behemoth payment to the pension plan and the rollback of an affordable housing law. MORE>>> |
05/31/2006 | VSD |
| City's
Vital Reserve Parched. The city has burned through its emergency reserves
this fiscal year, leaving vulnerable one of the important pillars of its
financial foundation. Top city financial officers call the situation serious.
The Voice of San Diego reported that when the City Council’s independent budget analyst finds a few extra bucks of revenue, she doesn’t recommend they get funneled into San Diego’s famously underfunded pension system. She wants the new cash plugged into the city's depleted reserves. MORE>>> |
05/30/2006 | VSD |
| Council
May Clip Aguirre's Wings. The Voice of San Diego reported that fresh off two tough legal losses this week, City Attorney Mike Aguirre could be removed from two high-stakes court cases Tuesday if the City Council approves proposals by Council President Scott Peters. MORE>>> |
05/27/2006 | VSD |
| UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL A reckless budget City Council set to perpetuate pension crisis.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that three years into San Diego's debilitating pension fund crisis, the City Council is poised to approve a truly reckless budget that continues to underfund the retirement system by tens of millions of dollars and depletes the city's already perilously thin reserves. Have Mayor Jerry Sanders and the council learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from the financial upheaval of the last three years? MORE>>> |
05/27/2006 | SDUT |
| S.D.
could pay $175 million in case Judge warns Aguirre in a retiree's lawsuit. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that San Diego continues to face a court loss that could result in a $175 million judgment against the city, after a judge yesterday let stand a scathing tentative ruling in a retiree's lawsuit. MORE>>> |
05/27/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
Stung By Court Delays. The Voice of San Diego reported that a Superior Court judge said Thursday that he is frustrated with San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre's handling of a pension-related lawsuit and will force the city to surrender the case -- and pay about $175 million into its pension fund -- if Aguirre doesn't get his act together within a week. MORE>>> |
05/26/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
faces threat of a default judgment Pension case ruling could cost millions. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that aSuperior Court judge threatened yesterday to issue a default judgment against the city in a pensioner's lawsuit, a decision his attorney said could result in a loss of at least $175 million to an already cash-starved San Diego. MORE>>> |
05/26/2006 | SDUT |
| No
End in Sight. The Voice of San Diego reported that San Diego City Employees' Retirement System Administrator David Wescoe told the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee yesterday that the retirement plan's attorneys have advised him that litigation costs for the next fiscal year will be about the same as this year' expenses. MORE>>> |
05/25/2006 | VSD |
| Decision
delayed on transcripts' release. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the San Diego City Council yesterday postponed a decision on whether to release transcripts of two closed-door meetings to a judge handling one of the city's pension-related legal cases. MORE>>> |
5/24/2006 | SDUT |
| Telecommute
Hung Up. The Voice of San Diego reported that the pension system's actuary will not be phoning in his report to the council's Budget and Finance Committee meeting tomorrow because he may present in-person to the full council within the next few weeks, a council aide said today. MORE>>> |
05/23/2006 | VSD |
| Council
Delays Waiver. The Voice of San Diego reported that the San Diego City Council decided today to not release the transcripts of a closed session meeting where the council approved City Attorney Mike Aguirre's lawsuit against the pension system until after the presiding judge rules June 26 whether the pension enhancements Aguirre is challenging can be rolled back. MORE>>> |
05/23/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
Appeal Denied. The Voice of San Diego reported that the Fourth District Court of Appeals has denied City Attorney Mike Aguirre's appeal to a judge's ruling that he is not the rightful attorney to advise the retirement system on legal matters. MORE>>> |
05/23/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
pension board OKs retirement benefits for pair The San Diego Union Tribune reported that a pair of controversial figures, including the president of San Diego's largest employee union, will collect retirement benefits they helped broker in 2002. MORE>>> |
05/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
board rejects Aguirre's questions. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that City Attorney Michael Aguirre clashed yesterday with members of San Diego's pension board, when the panel's president stopped him from questioning an expert who studied the retirement fund's obligations and investment performance. MORE>>> |
05/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Italiano
Delay Retired. The Voice of San Diego reported that the city's retirement board approved the presidential retirement benefit for Municipal Employees Association President Judie Italiano on Friday despite warnings by the City Attorney's Office that appeared earlier to have thrown a wrench in Italiano's already-delayed retirement plans. MORE>>> |
05/19/2006 | VSD |
| Change
of Schedule? The Voice of San Diego reported that the San Diego City Employee's Retirement System's actuary attended Friday's pension board meeting to render his opinion of the amount the SDCERS board should bill the city in the upcoming year. MORE>>> |
05/19/2006 | VSD |
| Those
Pesky Assumptions. The Voice of San Diego reported that the board of administration of the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) is about to hand its 2007 bill to the mayor and City Council. Stand by for a barrage of opinions about whether the actuarial assumptions incorporated into that bill are or aren't reasonable. MORE>>> |
05/19/2006 | VSD |
| City
pension system said to be improving Officials still worry about underfunding. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that after years of absorbing hits caused by increasing obligations and investment losses, San Diego's retirement system is gaining some ground, according to a pension expert hired to evaluate the fund. MORE>>> |
05/19/2006 | SDUT |
| City
Could Pay More. The Voice of San Dioego reported that the city is required by the terms of a legal settlement to put $162 million from the fiscal year 2007 budget into the pension system, according to a report from the pension system's actuary released today. MORE>>> |
05/18/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre,
ex-officials' lawyers argue pension issues in court. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that City Attorney Michael Aguirre squared off again yesterday with lawyers representing former city officials in the dispute over the legality of San Diego's employee pension benefits. MORE>>> |
05/18/2006 | SDUT |
| Momentum
on Pension Changes. The Voice of San Diego reported that obscured by months of criminal intrigue and roiling political drama, a number of accounting and economic reforms important to repairing the city of San Diego's battered pension system remain simmering on the backburner. MORE>>> |
05/18/2006 | VSD |
| Prez
Benefit Delayed? The Voice of San Diego reported that Judie Italiano announced last week that she was stepping down as president of the city's largest union once the retirement board approved her pension, but the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System board has hinted that it will not sign off on her pension as expected Friday because of questions the City Attorney's Office raised about the benefit. MORE>>> |
05/17/2006 | VSD |
| The
Cart and the Horse. The Voice of San Diego reported that Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Barton is slated to rule June 23 on City Attorney Mike Aguirre's assertion that pension deals struck between the city and its retirement board in 1996 and 2002 are illegal, but Aguirre's legal opponents want him to prove that he has the authority to bring the case before Barton's judgment is made. MORE>>> |
05/17/2006 | VSD |
| Council
Shy on Revenue Plans. The Voice of San Diego reported that when beachgoers flock to San Diego's shorelines in the summertime, many will tote along an oversized beach bag or backpack containing a towel, volleyball, sun block -- and most importantly for beach-area business owners like Nima Abrahim -- a wallet. MORE>>> |
05/17/2006 | VSD |
| EDITORIAL
Wrap It Up, Aguirre. The Voice of San Diego reported that just Tuesday, City Attorney Mike Aguirre announced the creation of the Lease and Contract Task Force, whose job will be to "investigate major leases and contracts between the city and private parties." MORE>>> |
05/17/2006 | VSD |
| No
'High Noon' in budget talks City attorney faces council members. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that what had been billed as a possible showdown between the City Council and City Attorney Michael Aguirre yesterday over his proposed fiscal 2007 budget instead turned into a relatively mild affair. MORE<<< |
05/16/2006 | SDUT |
| Public
Applauds, Lashes Aguirre. The Voice of San Diego reported that tensions ran high at the San Diego City Council's consideration of City Attorney Mike Aguirre's budget Monday, as council members politely couched their queries to avoid confrontation, members of the audience at times shouted at each other, and Aguirre accused the council president of conspiring with his opponents to overload public testimony against him. MORE>>> |
05/16/2006 | VSD |
| Legal
Opinions. The Voice of San Diego reported that anticipating today's budget hearing, City Attorney Mike Aguirre blasted e-mails to his supporters last week, calling on them to ask the City Council to approve the mayor's proposal to increase his office's funding for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. MORE>>> |
05/15/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
Budget, Office Get Focus. The Voice of San Diego reported that the San Diego City Council allotted City Attorney Mike Aguirre extra funding in the current year's budget, but council members say they want assurance that Aguirre secured a hearty return on the cash-strapped city's investment before agreeing to an even bigger budget that the mayor is proposing for next year. MORE>>> |
05/15/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
tangles with city employee union President allegedly misused credit card. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that with a feud simmering between rival factions in San Diego's largest employee union, the City Attorney's Office has launched an investigation into allegations that the group's president misused a union credit card. MORE>>> |
05/13/2006 | SDUT |
| County
Pension Case Dead. The Voice of San Diego reported that the California Supreme Court decided this week that it will not hear two county retirees' appeal that the county retirement plan unfairly recalculated the pension deficit to benefit the county, effectively ending the case. MORE>>> |
05/12/2006 | VSD |
| The
Suit Behind the Suit. The Voice of San Diego reported that the city of San Diego's request to reconsider a January ruling that ordered the city to pay the legal bills of former and current city employees who are named in several pension-related lawsuits was denied this week. MORE>>> |
05/11/2006 | VSD |
| Union
leader faces criminal inquiry. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the San Diego City Attorney's Office announced yesterday that it has begun a criminal investigation into whether Judie Italiano, the retiring president of the Municipal Employees Association, misused a union credit card. MORE>>> |
05/12/2006 | SDUT |
| Boss
of city labor union is retiring. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the longtime leader of San Diego's largest employee union plans to retire next week, but her departure could spark another legal battle over the city's pension system. MORE>>> |
05/11/2006 | SDUT |
| February
trial set in pension fraud case. But lawyers for defense contend that's
too soon. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the judge in the federal pension fraud case yesterday set a Feb. 6, 2007, trial date despite protests from defense lawyers who said they couldn't be ready in time. MORE>>> |
05/11/2006 | SDUT |
| Italiano
Steps Down. The Voice of San Diego reported that the longtime president of the city's largest union is stepping down after 21 years as a key player in the rise to union power at City Hall that included a recent role as a staunch defender of pension dealings that have been attacked in the courts of law and public opinion over the past few years. MORE>>> |
05/11/2006 | VSD |
| Court
Date Set. The Voice of San Diego reported that a federal judge set Feb. 6 as the trial date in the corruption case against five former San Diego pension officials today. MORE>>> |
05/10/2006 | VSD |
| Tobacco
Deal Finalized. The Voice of San Diego reported that the City Council on Monday put the final touches on the mayor's plan to sell $10.1 million of the city's annual tobacco settlement revenues in order to borrow $100 million for the troubled pension system. MORE>>> |
05/09/2006 | VSD |
| Judge:
No Dice The Voice of San Diego reported that a Superior Court judge has tentatively denied the city of San Diego's request to reconsider a January ruling that ordered the city to pay the legal bills of former and current city employees who are named in several pension-related lawsuits. MORE>>> |
05/09/2006 | VSD |
| Revote
on S.D. council records delayed. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the San Diego City Council delayed a revote yesterday on a plan to submit confidential records to a judge, a move that City Attorney Michael Aguirre opposes. MORE>>> |
05/09/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
Sues Over Fees. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre sued the retirement system again Friday, arguing that the retirement board approved paying the legal fees for two former staff members without demonstrating that the board had an obligation to do so under state law. MORE>>> |
05/08/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre,
council resume sniping Call for depositions is latest point of contention.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that as San Diego City Council members sat through budget meetings last week, behind the scenes their already fragile relationship with City Attorney Michael Aguirre threatened to come apart completely. MORE>>> |
05/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Judge:
Aguirre Denied. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre's request that the Superior Court reverse its decision that permitted the retirement system to have its own legal department was denied last week. MORE>>> |
05/08/2006 | VSD |
| UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL Open the door City Council must air conflict with Aguirre. The San Diego Union Tribune reported a bitter clash playing out behind closed doors between City Attorney Mike Aguirre and most members of the City Council has potentially far-reaching implications for San Diego's pension fund crisis. Yet, because the matter has been kept tightly under wraps, the public has no way of gauging its importance. MORE>>> |
05/05/2006 | SDUT |
| New
vote required on consultant's pay. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the San Diego City Council must vote again on the $10.6 million it has agreed to pay Kroll Inc. because the wife of a councilman held stock in its parent company, a report by City Attorney Michael Aguirre concludes. MORE>>> |
05/05/2006 | SDUT |
| Council
Maps Own Budget Route. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Council members continue to make comments that they plan to carve out a budget for the upcoming year that is different than the mayor's proposal, with many saying they want to better fund the cash-strapped city's police force and graffiti removal efforts. MORE>>> |
05/05/2006 | VSD |
| UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL Reality check San Diego moves toward an honest budget. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the name Andrea Tevlin may not be on the lips of very many San Diegans, but it should be. As the City Council's new independent budget analyst, Tevlin takes a resolutely no-nonsense approach to the city's annual spending plan, which for decades has been shrouded in bureaucratic gimmicks designed to keep the public ignorant about San Diego's deteriorating finances. MORE>>> |
05/04/2006 | SDUT |
| Ex-pension
officers face trial in November The San Diego Union Tribune reported that aSan Diego Superior Court judge has set a Nov. 11 trial for six former members of the city pension board accused of breaking state conflict-of-interest law when they voted on a now-discredited pension funding plan in 2002. MORE>>> |
05/04/2006 | SDUT |
| Council:
Plan Lacks Funds, Clarity. The Voice of San Diego reported that the City Council began examining the mayor's budget proposal department-by-department Wednesday, focusing on the spending plans for two of the most visible workings of city government -- parks and libraries. MORE>>> |
05/04/2006 | VSD |
| Who
Authorized What? The Voice of San Diego reported that the simmering imbroglio continued today over whether or not the City Council authorized City Attorney Mike Aguirre to bring his big pension lawsuit on behalf of the city of San Diego, as the city attorney and Council President Scott Peters reiterated their claims that the other is misrepresenting what was authorized in a closed hearing last August. MORE>>> |
05/03/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
Sues Madaffer, Atkins. The Voice of San Diego reported that the focus of San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre's courtroom attack on retirement benefit increases has widened to include some former and current elected officials -- meaning that the city of San Diego is suing two of its sitting council members. MORE>>> |
05/03/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
is drawing a line on pension board legal bills
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the city of San Diego will no longer provide blanket legal protection for pension board members whose actions lead to criminal charges, but those already awaiting trial need not worry. Their legal bills will still be paid. MORE>>> |
05/03/2006 | SDUT |
| Venue
change sought in pension case. Extensive news coverage cited. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that defendants in the federal pension fraud case have asked a judge to move the trial out of San Diego County, saying that publicity has made it impossible to seat an impartial jury. MORE>>> |
05/03/2006 | SDUT |
| Council
will send records to judge. Transcripts related to pension case. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the battle between City Attorney Michael Aguirre and the City Council over San Diego's troubled pension system intensified yesterday when the council decided to release confidential documents to a judge overseeing a prominent case involving disputed benefits. MORE>>> |
05/03/2006 | SDUT |
| Diminishing
Returns? The Voice of San Diego reportrd that City Attorney Michael Aguirre said today that the city could not possibly valuate returns on pension obligation bonds because it does not have the proper financial statements to do so. MORE>>> |
05/01/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders'
borrowing plan seen as risky Mayor wants to sell bonds to bolster pension
system. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that it's a gamble that governments big and small have taken with mixed results for two decades: borrow money at low interest rates and pump the cash into sagging pension systems whose savvy managers count on high investment returns. MORE>>> |
04/30/2006 | SDUT |
| IBA:
Change Police, Pension Funds. The Voice of San Diego reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders' plan to borrow $374 million and inject it into the struggling pension fund should be stricken from his $1.38 billion general budget proposal because of uncertainty surrounding the ambitious plan, according to a report released Friday by the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst. MORE>>> |
04/29/2006 | VSD |
| Cut
budget by millions, mayor told by analyst City may be unable to sell pension
bonds. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders should pare $374 million from his proposed budget for next year because the sum would come from selling pension bonds that the city may not be able to obtain, San Diego's independent budget analyst concluded in a report released yesterday. MORE>>> |
04/29/2006 | SDUT |
| Two
want Aguirre off city case. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that former Mayor Dick Murphy and Council President Scott Peters are calling on a judge to disqualify City Attorney Michael Aguirre and the lawyers he oversees from arguing a crucial case involving San Diego's employee pension system. MORE>>> |
04/28/2006 | SDUT |
| Murphy
Challenges Aguirre. The Voice of San Diego reported that former Mayor Dick Murphy left the limelight of City Hall after the city's pension problems dragged him down, partly because of the flurry of public statements City Attorney Mike Aguirre made about the former mayor's handling of the retirement plan. MORE>>> |
04/27/2006 | VSD |
| Another
Stab at It. The Voice of San Diego Reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre asked a Superior Court judge today to reconsider his March decision that the pension system can choose its own legal counsel, arguing in court that his office should be representing the plan because it is a department of the city. MORE>>> |
04/28/2006 | VSD |
| FBI
searches pension fund ex-chief's office. The San Diego Union Tribune reportrd that atwo-year FBI investigation into San Diego's embattled pension system grew this month to include its former president, Frederick Pierce IV, when federal agents seized computers and unspecified documents from his workplace. MORE>>> |
04/26/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre,
councilmen trade barbs over pension issues Council may try to reduce budget
of attorney's office. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that the cease-fire in San Diego appears to be over. City Attorney Michael Aguirre and a pair of City Council members ended the brief reprieve from bickering since Mayor Jerry Sanders took office in December by attacking each other yesterday in a very public way. MORE>>> |
04/26/2006 | SDUT |
| Defending
Thy Elders. The Voice of San Diego reported that the San Diego City Council balked again at a proposal Tuesday to defend former elected officials after City Attorney Mike Aguirre opined that the current council had to sit out the vote because their interests were too closely aligned with those seeking legal defense. MORE>>> |
04/26/2006 | VSD |
| Fee
Fallout. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre opined that every sitting member of the City Council, with the exception of Kevin Faulconer, will have to sit out today's vote on whether to pay the legal bills for former elected officials. MORE>>> |
04/25/2006 | VSD |
| Peters:
Is it Worth It? The Voice of San Diego reported that Council President Scott Peters asked the Mayor's Office in a memo Tuesday to reevaluate what could be won in court if City Attorney Mike Aguirre's pension lawsuits prevail, reiterating his claim that Aguirre's attack on pension increases isn't worth the effort. MORE>>> |
04/24/2006 | VSD |
| Council
Inhales Sanders' Offering. The Voice of San Diego reported that the City Council took its first official step toward using borrowing as a primary tool in managing San Diego's pension deficit Monday, approving a $100 million bond package that the Mayor's Office said doesn't guarantee the city any savings, but brings it in compliance with its labor contracts MORE>>> |
04/25/2006 | VSD |
| Council
approves borrowing proposal Tobacco settlement funds to aid pension. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders' plan to inject $100 million into San Diego's pension system by borrowing against tobacco settlement money won City Council approval yesterday. MORE>>> |
04/25/2006 | SDUT |
| Clock
ticking on pension-fund plan. Rising interest rates strain Sanders' borrowing
proposal. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders' plan to pump $100 million into San Diego's sagging pension system this year has turned into a race against rising interest rates, but top city officials say the borrowing proposal is still prudent. MORE>>> |
04/24/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Cases Trimmed. The Voice of San Diego reported that the two lawsuits challenging the retirement benefit increases doled out by the city of San Diego over the past decade have been whittled down in their scope, but the high-profile cases remain alive, slogging their way through quiet pre-trial hearings. MORE>>> |
04/24/2006 | VSD |
| UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL Blitzkrieg politics. Aguirre recklessly hampers pension plans. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that this news alert won't surprise you: Mike Aguirre is playing politics with the City Attorney's Office. Only trouble is, this is not politics as usual. Rather, Aguirre is employing the dangerous tactic of blitzkrieg destruction, aimed at crushing efforts by Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council to reduce San Diego's $1.43 billion pension fund deficit. MORE>>> |
04/21/2006 | SDUT |
| IBA:
Bonds Maybe OK. The Voice of San Diego reported that yesterday City Attorney Mike Aguirre pooh-poohed $574 million of the $674 million in loans that Mayor Jerry Sanders wants to inject into the pension system. The remaining $100 million is another story. Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin issued a report late today blessing the mayor's proposal to sell city's share of its annual tobacco settlements in exchange for $100 million upfront -- if the city attorney rules that the borrowing plan complies with labor contracts. MORE>>> |
04/20/2006 | VSD |
| Mayor's
Response. The Voice of San Diego reported that we failed to include a PDF of Mayor Jerry Sanders' written response to City Attorney Mike Aguirre's opinion yesterday that the mayor couldn't go ahead with his financial recovery plan without a public vote. MORE>>> |
04/20/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre:
Sanders' bond plan is illegal Pension allies clash but stay diplomatic The San Diego Union Tribune reported that City Attorney Michael Aguirre lashed out yesterday at Mayor Jerry Sanders' plan to borrow $574 million to reduce San Diego's pension deficit, calling it illegal and irrational in the pair's first clash since Sanders took office in December. MORE>>> |
04/20/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
Spikes Mayor's Plan. The Voice of San Diego reported that the lynchpin of Mayor Jerry Sanders' financial recovery plan hit a major snag Wednesday after the city attorney opined that the mayor must seek voter approval before borrowing more than a half a billion dollars for San Diego's troubled pension fund. MORE>>> |
04/20/2006 | VSD |
| 'Transparent'
Plan Unclear to Some. The Voice of San Diego reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders' budget proposal for the coming year won high praise upon its initial release for being more easily navigable than the tomes presented in past budget seasons, but members of the public and the City Council said Wednesday that they are frustrated with the lack of detail included. MORE>>> |
04/20/2006 | VSD |
| The
Consultant Pretzel. The Voice of San Diego reported that at the same time Mayor Jerry Sanders relies on a speedy reentry to the municipal bond markets to realize his financial recovery plan, city and pension officials say they're uncertain which of the many firms working on pending audits and probes will be the next to move the city toward that goal. MORE>>> |
04/19/2006 | VSD |
| Editorial. A Good Debate, Nothing Personal. The Voice of San Diego reported in an Editorial that during the presentation of his first budget proposal to the City Council on Monday, Mayor Jerry Sanders challenged those who question his ambitious $674 million borrowing plan and budget to not "just say no." "Don't raise roadblocks just for sport," he said. MORE>>> |
04/19/2006 | VSD |
| Council
Hears Mayor's Budget. The Voice of San Diego reported that for the first time in San Diego's modern history, an elected official proposed to the City Council on Monday how the city's money should be spent for the coming year. Mayor Jerry Sanders, assuming the new powers bequeathed to the Mayor's Office on Jan. 1, put forth a $3 billion budget outline that now heads to the public and council for nearly a month and a half of dissection. MORE>>> |
04/18/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders
launches budget talks to craft spending plan for 2007. The San Diego Union Tribune repoprted that no further service, job cuts in proposal. Mayor Jerry Sanders formally introduced his budget proposal to the City Council yesterday, kicking off two months of talks as San Diego embarks on a new process for shaping its primary spending plan. MORE>>> |
04/18/2006 | SDUT |
| The
Incredible Vanishing Crisis. The Voice of San Diego reported that any taxpayer should have the right to clearly see the following line items in the City's budget: payroll, annual pension contribution, health care costs, and other related retirement benefits. We haven't been able to do that in the past. The latest proposed budget is a bit easier, but this may help even more. MORE>>> |
04/17/2006 | VSD |
| The
New Mayor's Budget. The Voice of San Diego reported that releasing a budget that he says will begin to stabilize San Diego's financial doldrums but not solve them, Mayor Jerry Sanders capped off a week of budget announcements Friday that sketch the route the mayor will follow the next three years as he attempts to be the sentinel of the city's financial recovery. MORE>>> |
04/15/2006 | VSD |
| The
Attorney-Mayor Test. The Voice of San Diego reported that on the same day Mayor Jerry Sanders continued to slowly roll out a budget whose success will be judged in the short-term on the city's ability to again borrow money, City Attorney Mike Aguirre on Thursday released a report recommending that the consultants responsible for that effort be fired and promptly sued. MORE>>> |
04/14/2006 | VSD |
| The
Mayor and the Attorney. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre today released the latest in his series of reports on city finances and related endeavors, concluding in Interim Report No. 8 that the high-priced consultants investigating city finances have breached their duty to the city of San Diego. The attorney recommended they be fired and sued. MORE>>> |
04/13/2006 | VSD |
| Check
That -- Worse Than Murphy. The Voice of San Diego reported that what a great week for the mayor! He's going to give $38 million more this year to the police and fire departments. He's going to budget more money for parks, libraries and cultural projects. MORE>>> |
04/13/2006 | VSD |
| Cancel
That Suit. The Voice of San Diego reported that plaintiffs' attorney Michael Conger, who has two pending lawsuits against the city of San Diego that would force it to put hundreds of millions of dollars into its pension system, said this afternoon that Mayor Jerry Sanders' plan to borrow $674 million for the struggling system would satisfy his lawsuits. MORE>>> |
04/12/2006 | VSD |
| Forecasted
Bump for Public Safety. The Voice of San Diego reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders is planning to boost the city of San Diego's fire and police spending by nearly $38 million in the coming year, a portion of the increased revenues he expects the city to reap as a result of the strong local economy. MORE>>> |
04/12/2006 | VSD |
| Analysis:
Mayor's Plan No Sure Thing. The Voice of San Diego reported that pinned against the wall by the demands of labor contracts and a skin-tight budget, Mayor Jerry Sanders has chosen a complex borrowing plan to combat San Diego's pension ills that relies on a bouquet of assumptions, many of which are out of his hands. MORE>>> |
04/11/2006 | VSD |
| Budget
spares libraries, parks Sanders' plan keeps operating hours intact. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that this is the time of year that some users of San Diego's libraries, swimming pools and recreation centers have come to dread because the City Council has slashed operating hours at these spots to balance its budget since 2003. MORE>>> |
04/12/2006 | SDUT |
| Sanders
unveils borrowing plan $674 million would help pay down pension deficit.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders yesterday outlined a new plan to prop up San Diego's sagging pension system by borrowing $674 million over the next two years to pay down nearly half the city's $1.4 billion pension deficit. MORE>>> |
04/11/2006 | SDUT |
| Aguirre
Follow Up. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre called back today to clarify the earlier statement found in the This Just In below. MORE>>> |
04/10/2006 | VSD |
| 'That's
Inaccurate' The Voice of San Diego reported that this morning City Attorney Mike Aguirre rebuffed an assertion made in today's story that his office has "blessed" a complex bond package to be proposed today by Mayor Jerry Sanders. MORE>>> |
04/10/2006 | VSD |
| Dick
Murphy Returns! The Voice of San Diego reported that last Thursday, most every political reporter in town along with a gaggle of folks friendly to Mayor Jerry Sanders packed into Channel 10's studios for a special meeting of the Catfish Club, wherein Sanders and his chief financial officer promised a show about the new budget they're unveiling this week. MORE>>> |
04/10/2006 | VSD |
| Mayor:
Borrow $674M for Pension. The Voice of San Diego reported that the city of San Diego would borrow $674 million to inject into its deficit-laden pension system in the next two and a half years, according to a plan Mayor Jerry Sanders is scheduled to unveil Monday. MORE>>> |
04/10/2006 | VSD |
| Mayor
Changes Budget Tune. The Voice of San Diego reported that months after winning an election singularly focused on the ragged state of the city of San Diego's finances, Mayor Jerry Sanders on Thursday offered a new, upbeat assessment of the city's fiscal future and his upcoming 2007 budget. MORE>>> |
04/07/2006 | VSD |
| Tobacco
on Hold. The Voice of San Diego reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders' much-publicized plan to borrow $100 million and plug it into the pension system was delayed today because of lingering concerns that it doesn't go far enough to comply with labor contracts. MORE>>> |
04/04/2006 | VSD |
| Boarded
Up. The Voice of San Diego reported that the City Council confirmed Wayne Kennedy's nomination to the retirement board today, and only one seat remains vacant after several months of turbulence on the board. MORE>>> |
04/03/2006 | VSD |
| Take
Two. The Voice of San Diego reported that after being a no-show to Tuesday’s City Council hearing, Wayne Kennedy will get another shot at being appointed to the retirement board next week. MORE>>> |
03/30/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
PR Bills. The Voice of San Diego reported that the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System spent $61,092.47 on public relations and strategic communications from mid-2003 until early 2005, according to SDCERS records. MORE>>> |
03/30/2006 | VSD |
|
Pension
Cure Smoked Out. |
03/30/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
Pension Board seeks court's help Filing involves the legality of disputed
benefits. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that in the latest phase of a complex case, San Diego's pension board has asked a judge to order the city to pay the amount it shortchanged the retirement system over the past decade – if the judge voids funding deals in 1996 and 2002 that lowered the city's pension payments and increased retiree benefits. MORE>>> |
03/30/2006 | VSD |
| SDCERS
Strikes at Pension Deals. The Voice of San Diego reported that the retirement board has asked a court to invalidate two controversial pension funding deals that allowed the city of San Diego to skirt its annual pension bill for nearly a decade, requesting in a court filing that the city make good on "hundreds of millions" of dollars in back bills. MORE>>> |
03/29/2006 | VSD |
| Emergency
Fund Tapped Tuesday. The Voice of San Diego reported that the City Council tapped into its emergency reserve fund today to pay for legal bills connected to the ongoing investigations into City Hall finances, explicitly opening the reserve fund for the first time in its fiscal crisis. MORE>>> |
03/29/2006 | VSD |
| New
funds approved for city's legal bills $1.4 million OK'd by unanimous vote.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported that as the investigations continue into San Diego's financial practices and pension debacle, the legal bills keep piling up. See the report in the "Press Articles" section of the Members-Only area. MORE>>> |
03/29/2006 | SDUT |
| Two
of mayor's top measures will go before public Nov. 7. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that two of Mayor Jerry Sanders' more prominent campaign proposals – one to outsource more city jobs, another to make future pension increases subject to voter approval – will be in the hands of San Diego voters in November. MORE>>> |
03/28/2006 | SDUT |
| UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL. Pushing reform. Council should let public vote in November. The San Diego Unin Tribune in an editorial reported that a great deal is riding on tomorrow's scheduled vote by the City Council on two pension reform measures sought by Mayor Jerry Sanders for the November ballot. MORE>>> |
03/26/2006 | SDUT |
| Sanders
faces test on ballot text approval. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that nearly four months into his term, Mayor Jerry Sanders will face his biggest political test tomorrow when he tries to persuade the San Diego City Council to put two proposals born as campaign promises on the November ballot. MORE>>> |
03/26/2006 | SDUT |
| 5
defendants likely being pulled from pension case.Tentative ruling issued
in lawsuit by city attorney. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that a judge said this week he is likely to drop five of eight former city and pension officials from a lawsuit San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre filed in an effort to roll back pension benefits he contends the retirement board illegally approved. MORE>>> |
03/25/2006 | SDUT |
| Another
Stab at SDCERS. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre is pursuing his goal to regain his office's jurisdiction over the retirement system's legal affairs from a different angle, filing a lawsuit Thursday against former San Diego City Employees' Retirement System general counsel Lori Chapin. MORE>>> |
03/23/2006 | VSD |
| This
Just In. Step Into My Office. The Voice of San Diego reported that three City Council members confirmed Wednesday that they were handed subpoenas from the City Attorney's Office that seek the officials' depositions. MORE>>> |
03/23/2006 | VSD |
| Treaty
Talk in Pension Wars. The Voice of San Diego reported that for the first time in San Diego's drawn-out pension battle, San Diego officials sat down Wednesday to talk with the slew of parties currently combating City Hall in various courtrooms around town -- although opinions were mixed about the success of the meetings. MORE>>> |
03/23/2006 | VSD |
| This
Just In.$700K in Pension Bills. The Voice of San Diego reported that the pension system has paid out nearly $700,000 in legal bills for its current and former board members and staff in connection with the system's strife and the Justice Department's ongoing federal investigation. MORE>>> |
03/22/2005 | VSD |
| There's
a Way to Pay More. The Voice of San Diego reported that on Friday, the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System's (SDCERS) actuary presented preliminary numbers related to the unfunded liability (UAAL) and the required payment for fiscal year 2007. Before we get too excited about why it is so low, let's remember the ground rules. MORE>>> |
03/21/2006 | VSD |
| A
Few Facts, Mr. Aguirre. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre's continual screeching that San Diego's financial sky is falling has reached a point where it's not only counterproductive, it's become harmful to the city's recovery. MORE>>> |
03/20/2006 | VSD |
| The
Pinch that Never Came. The Voice of San Diego's Scott Lewis reported. So I was wrong. I don't know what I was thinking trusting the mayor and city attorney that something had changed this year and that the city's retirement system was going to hand over a bill to San Diego taxpayers this year that might actually reflect how much the city would need to pay to start making everything that's wrong right. MORE>>> |
03/20/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
treadmill. City is losing, not gaining, on retirement debt. The San Diego Union Tribune reported in an editorial that San Diego continues to sink deeper into a dangerous quagmire of debt. To his credit, Mayor Jerry Sanders has taken steps to expose the true dimensions of the financial crisis. But neither the mayor nor the City Council has yet taken concrete action to stem the relentless accumulation of debt, which increasingly jeopardizes the city's solvency. MORE>>> |
03/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Legal
quarreling begins in pension corruption case. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that five ex-officials still do not have set attorneys.The legal wrangling has commenced in the federal corruption case against five former San Diego pension officials, and the most pressing issue is giving prosecutors heartburn. MORE>>> |
03/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Few
solid answers on pension Estimate of city's contribution called 'good starting
point'. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that anyone seeking a clearer picture of what San Diego must pay its troubled employee pension system will have to keep waiting, despite the unveiling yesterday of an eagerly anticipated calculation by an expert for the retirement fund. MORE>>> |
03/18/2006 | SDUT |
| Public
to pick up legal tab for 2 ex-board members. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that saying employees need to know they can trust their employer, San Diego's retirement board voted yesterday to make taxpayers pick up the legal expenses for two former pension system officials who are under federal indictment. MORE>>> |
03/18/2006 | SDUT |
| Actuary
has task of crunching variables. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that pension industry lingo is thick with terms not used on a daily basis. One type of industry expert, an actuary, has been part of the numerous subplots in San Diego's ongoing pension drama. MORE>>> |
03/18/2006 | SDUT |
| This
Just In. $162M Pension Payment Due. March 17 - The Voice of San Diego reported that the city's pension deficit grew by a marginal amount to $1.39 billion in the past year and City Hall will be asked to pay $162 million to the fund in July, roughly the same it paid last year. MORE>>> |
03/17/2006 | VSD |
| Meeting
to reveal S.D. pension deficit. High figure would lead to budget cuts. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that if you want to be among the first in San Diego to find out how much money the city must pay into its sagging pension system – and as a result the likelihood of service cuts and layoffs – show up early today. MORE>>> |
03/17/2006 | SDUT |
| This
Just In. Big Day Friday. The Voice of San Diego reported that people often wonder how a far-off, multi-billion dollar pension deficit really affects them. After all, all those billions of dollars aren't immediately due today, right? MORE>>> |
03/17/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre:
City Needs to Know, Soon. The Voice of San Diego reported that San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre on Thursday asked a Superior Court judge to rule within the next three months on the legitimacy of pension benefit enhancements he is challenging in hopes that he can lessen the burden of the city's payment into the troubled pension fund come July. MORE>>>. |
03/17/2006 | VSD |
| This
Just In. Legal Bills Back on Table. The Voice of San Diego reported that the board overseeing the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System will reconsider picking up the tab for two former pension officials who were indicted in January. MORE>>> |
03/15/2006 | VSD |
| A
Promise Tree's Poisonous Fruit. The Voice of San Diego reported that after more than three years of enduring the pension crisis, the city of San Diego and its leaders have undergone an incredible evolution. MORE>>> |
03/16/2006 | VSD |
| City
Owes $1B in Retiree Health Care. The Voice Of San Diego reported that the city of San Diego owes employees and retirees nearly $1 billion in retiree health care costs, according to a report released Tuesday that put the first official tally on a lesser-known but equally burdensome dimension of the city's pension problems. MORE>>> |
03/15/2006 | VSD |
| Reform?
Is that a Joke? The Voice of San Diego reported that in his March 7 op-ed entitled "Pension Reforms Are Underway," board trustee Mark Sullivan commends fellow board members on their efforts to reform the retirement system. MORE>>> |
03/15/2006 | VSD |
| City
retiree health care liability at $1 billion. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that new accounting rules put benefits under scrutiny. It's a financial problem that could steamroll cities across the country – including San Diego – that have promised to provide medical benefits for their retirees but failed to set aside money to cover those future costs. MORE>>> |
03/15/2006 | SDUT |
| This
Just In. Sanders: Workers Should Stay. The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre on Thursday told city workers they would be better off finding work elsewhere because the service they perform for the city won't earn them the pension they were promised. The city doesn't have the money to pay it, he said. MORE>>> |
03/10/2006 | VSD |
| This
Just In. Peters on Promises. The Voice of San Diego reported that at his weekly press briefing, Council President Scott Peters sharply rebuked City Attorney Mike Aguirre's comments about the city not honoring its pension promises to employees. MORE>>> |
03/09/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
Says City Workers Better Off Finding New Employment. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that City Attorney Michael Aguirre says San Diego's municipal employees would be better off finding employment elsewhere because the pension benefits they were promised will not be there when they retire. MORE>>> |
03/10/2006 | SDUT |
| Can't
Pay But Not Bankrupt
March 8 - The Voice of San Diego reported that a halt to the city's cash flow would give City Hall grounds to file municipal bankruptcy, an attorney advised several trustees who oversee San Diego's pension system Wednesday. MORE>>> |
03/08/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
Reforms Are Underway The Voice of San Diego reported that contrary to what you might think, the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) Board members are not waiting for the Kroll Group or the U.S. attorney to complete their investigations before initiating reforms at the retirement system. In fact, our reform efforts began on January 20, 2006 with the release of the Navigant Report and the formation of the Navigant Report Committee (NRC). MORE>>> |
03/07/2006 | VSD |
| S.D.
liable for pension case defense The San Diego Union Tribune reported that San Diego taxpayers will continue to be on the hook for the legal defense of seven former pension board members after the City Council failed yesterday to rescind a broad 2002 decision to indemnify them. MORE>>> |
03/07/2006 | SDUT |
| Punches
in Bunches The Voice of San Diego reported that City Attorney Mike Aguirre suffered a pair of pension-related setbacks both in court and at the City Council on Monday, damaging his plans to become the retirement system's attorney and injuring his push to keep the city from covering the legal tabs of former employees. MORE>>> |
03/07/2006 | VSD |
| City
Hall's March Madness The Voice of San Diego reported that this is a big month for the mayor, his new best friend the city attorney and pretty much everyone else who works at City Hall. MORE>>> |
03/06/2006 | VSD |
| Mayor:
Let's Step Outside The Voice of San Diego reported that San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has asked city labor unions to agree to mediate key legal disputes about their pensions, but accepting the mayor's invitation would be a departure from the unions' long-held belief that there is no ground to give. MORE>>> |
03/04/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders
urges mediation in pension battle. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Mayor Jerry Sanders asked the lawyers for four San Diego employee unions to consider mediation yesterday as the cheapest and quickest way to resolve a benefits dispute that could drag through the courts for years. MORE>>> |
03/04/2006 | SDUT |
|
This
Just In.Who Appoints Whom? |
03/03/2006 | VSD |
| Older
City Retiree Woes The San Diego Reader reported that while working 30 years for the City's Water Department, Yvonne Paczulla wrote an in-house column with news of births, marriages, and other domestic matters. She called it Under Water. She didn't realize how prescient she was. A retiree since 1988, she now grumbles, "I am very upset about the pension plan," which she knows is underwater by at least $2 billion. MORE>>> |
03/02/2006 | RDR |
| Bankruptcy
Idea Has New Champion. The Voice of San Diego Reported that it seems like everyone is getting ready for the city of San Diego to enter into a Chapter 9 bankruptcy. That is, everyone except city officials. MORE>>> |
02/27/2006 | VSD |
| Doctors
object to ultimatum on health care. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Sharp wants every senior on one plan. MORE>>> |
02/26/2006 | SDUT |
| Seeing
Red over Black and White City Attorney Mike Aguirre called the consultants' reports commissioned to clear up the pension system mess a whitewash. MORE>>> |
02/24/2006 | VSD |
| Get
Back to the Table Mayor Jerry Sanders began walking this month the fragile line between staying true to his campaign promises and upsetting the employee unions he needs to lure back to the bargaining table where he hopes to install his ambitious recovery plan. MORE>>> |
02/21/2006 | VSD |
| Aguirre
bid for pension fund goes on - He wants judge who said no to reconsider
City Attorney Michael Aguirre has insisted for more than a year that he should oversee the legal affairs of San Diego's $4 billion pension fund. MORE>>> |
02/19/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
case defense lawyer targeted - Prosecutors allege conflict of interest Prosecutors have asked a judge to disqualify a defense lawyer in the federal case against five former San Diego pension officials because of an alleged conflict of interest. MORE>>> |
02/17/2006 | SDUT |
| Hearing
Both Sides Should the city's beleaguered retirement system be allowed to have its own legal representation, or should it be advised by the elected city attorney like every other municipal department? MORE>>> |
02/16/2006 | VSD |
| Ruling
seen as setback for Aguirre City Attorney Michael Aguirre cannot replace the legal counsel for the city's troubled pension system, a San Diego Superior Court judge said yesterday in a tentative ruling. MORE>>> |
02/15/2006 | SDUT |
| Privacy
becomes pension case issue Two former San Diego retirement board members fighting federal criminal charges and asking for government-paid lawyers want to keep financial details of their lives not only from the public, but from prosecutors as well. MORE>>> |
02/15/2006 | SDUT |
| Saathoff
Still Wearing the Pants For two decades, no one person in City Hall has had more influence or institutional knowledge than the man at the heart of the state and federal criminal cases sprouting out of San Diego's pension crisis. MORE>>> |
02/14/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders
Man Knows Bootleg Money Game In his 56 years, James T. Waring has worn many hats: real estate developer, attorney, high-tech investor, environmentalist, and close advisor to a Las Vegas mobster's wealthy daughter. Waring was also involved with the late gangster's trust and with his daughter's charity, the Angelica Foundation, based in tony Rancho Santa Fe. MORE>>> |
02/09/2006 | RDR |
|
Port,
airport stalled in shielding pension stakes - Amended contracts may violate
tax laws |
02/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Council
OKs Pension Bond The City Council approved in concept Monday a creative financing plan to borrow $100 million to inject into its struggling pension system, a move that supporters hailed as an important step in curing San Diego's pension ills but that opponents said would have a negligible impact on a stifling deficit. MORE>>> |
02/07/2006 | VSD |
| Unions
vs. citizens - Reform plans would take back city government Two reform measures advanced by Mayor Jerry Sanders pose the first big test of whether San Diego's politically muscular public employee unions still hold dominion over the City Council. MORE>>> |
02/06/2006 | SDUT |
| Struggle
brewing on pension board legal counsel - Trustees against Aguirre taking
job Pension board members who have been in City Attorney Michael Aguirre's gun sight for months were stunned three weeks ago when Mayor Jerry Sanders backed Aguirre's proposal to take over as the system's legal adviser. MORE>>> |
02/06/2006 | SDUT |
| Questions
linger on pension autonomy - Lack of independence from city blamed for problems
Struggle brewing on pension board legal counsel Thomas Hebrank had a question.
The pension system he volunteers to serve as a trustee, the one that has
made him a political target, is it independent? Quasi-independent? What?
MORE>>> |
02/06/2006 | SDUT |
| Up
in smoke - How did city spend millions from Big Tobacco? (Editorial) 'Follow the money,” went the infamous directive by super-source Deep Throat to Watergate reporters for The Washington Post in the early 1970s. We now offer the same admonition to Mayor Jerry Sanders – and we wish him luck. MORE>>> |
02/05/2006 | SDUT |
| Severance
Package Most of the faces at City Hall and the retirement system have changed since the controversial dealings that now play out in courtrooms and consultant reports took place several years ago, but even their replacements are struggling to grasp the two institutions' relationship with one another. MORE>>> |
02/03/2006 | VSD |
| Legal
Fee-For-All As lawsuits, court cases and investigations related to the city's pension dealings and financial practices press on, former pension officials are bearing the burden of legal fees that have become too pricy for some. MORE>>> |
02/02/2006 | VSD |
| Court:
Lay Off County Pension Three years ago the county of San Diego worried that it would have to cut jobs and services unless the board that handled its pension system gave it a break on a big bill that was coming due. MORE>>> |
02/01/2006 | VSD |
| Rolling
Tobacco into Pensions Stuck with a sunken credit rating and a sinking pension system, city of San Diego officials have formulated what they describe as a creative way to inject $100 million in public loans into a pension fund estimated to have a deficit approaching $2 billion. MORE>>> |
02/01/2006 | VSD |
| Legal
Defense Retired for Ex-Staff The two former pension staff members indicted this month on corruption charges will not have their legal defense paid for by the city's retirement system, as a motion to do so failed during a pension board hearing Monday. MORE>>> |
01/31/2006 | VDS |
| Pension
system reaches out to IRS S.D. - Officials volunteer for compliance program Most people avoid the Internal Revenue Service like the plague, but not the officials at San Diego's employee pension system. MORE>>> |
01/30/2006 | SDUT |
| How
do you spell pension reform? Opinion by Ed Miller, former U.S. and city
assistant attny. When a coach finds it necessary to replace his entire team in the middle of a critical game, it is usually a sign that things are not going well. That is precisely what Mayor Jerry Sanders has signaled with his call for a newly appointed retirement board and the reinstatement of the city attorney as its general counsel. MORE>>> |
01/27/2006 | SDUT |
| Amended
city pension deals sought - Port, airport board try to shield assets The port and airport authority are proposing amending their agreements with the troubled San Diego system to better insulate their investments in case of bankruptcy or default. MORE>>> |
12/26/2006 | SDUT |
| The
Other Obligation Plopped amid the hundreds of pages of a consultant's investigative report into the pension system is a recommendation for how the pension board must remedy the mistakes of its predecessors. The board is obligated, the report states, to recoup from the city the money it has shortchanged the pension system since 1996. MORE>>> |
01/24/2006 | VSD |
| A
Scheduling Conflict The former chairwoman of the city's Pension Reform Committee is now taking on the county's employee retirement system, arguing that the way the plan bills the county government makes no progress in eliminating its current $1.4 billion deficit. MORE>>> |
01/24/2006 | VSD |
| What
a Joke In case you're one of those whose eyes roll back into your head every time somebody starts saying the words "pension," "consultants" and "millions" there is a way to think about all these current crises and convulsions creatively. MORE>>> |
01/23/2006 | VSD |
| Retiring
the Doubt Political dealing and accounting gimmicks allowed the city of San Diego to divert money from its pension system and boost employee benefits for more than a decade, practices that an investigative report released Friday blames for the city's unsound pension fund. MORE>>> |
01/21/2006 | VSD |
| Candidate
to run city pension rejects job offer Missouri retirement chief avoids what he sees as a quagmire. MORE>>> |
01/21/2006 | SDUT |
| Pension
report finds laws were violated - Investigators say deals breached public's
trust Pension system administrators and board members engaged in a cozy relationship with San Diego city officials that paved the way for agreements to underfund the retirement system, moves that contributed to a deficit of at least $1.4 billion. MORE>>> |
01/2102006 | SDUT |
| Declarations
of Independence Officials overseeing two agencies crucial to San Diego's exit from financial and legal crises are bristling at structural changes and political maneuvers that would allow Mayor Jerry Sanders more involvement into their affairs. MORE>>> |
01/20/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
Board to Sanders: Nope Mayor Jerry Sanders' attempt last week to personally reshape the pension system's board of trustees appears to have been tripped up by his own announcement the following night supporting the city attorney's push to become the troubled system's lead attorney. MORE>> |
01/19/2006 | VSD |
| This
Really SOX City Attorney Mike Aguirre and former Mayor Dick Murphy agreed on perhaps only one thing in the tumultuous period between Aguirre's inauguration in December 2004 and Murphy's resignation last July: the hiring of the audit committee. Eleven months ago, on Valentine's Day, the two warring officials came together to bring forth what were hailed as the final resolution of the city's pension and securities nightmare. MORE>>> |
01/17/2006 | VSD |
| Keep
retirement board independent - Opinion by John M. Kaheny January 16, 2006 San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Attorney Mike Aguirre appear to have united in a campaign to take over the Board of Administration of the San Diego City Employees Retirement System, or SDCERS, but to what end? MORE>>> |
01/16/2006 | SDUT |
| Suggesting
Aguirre for pension job unpopular The Mayor's call to install City Attorney Michael Aguirre as the counsel for San Diego's troubled pension system. has irritated everyone from City Council members to labor unions to pension officials. MORE>>> |
01/14/2006 | SDUT |
| Judge:
DA's Pension Case OK A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the district attorney's corruption charges against six former San Diego city pension trustees are sound enough for a full jury trial. After nearly four weeks. MORE>>> |
01/14/2006 | VSD |
| Sanders
to Pension Board: Get Out In one of the first displays of his mandated might, new Mayor Jerry Sanders on Wednesday asked all City Council-appointed trustees of the city's troubled pension system to step down. MORE>>> |
01/12/2006 | VSD |
| Pension
case legal bills being kept under wraps Private attorneys for former Mayor Dick Murphy and four City Council members have adamantly opposed releasing their legal bills from the ongoing pension investigation and have threatened to take the city to court to keep the information from getting out. MORE>>> |
01/1102006 | SDUT |
| Pension
Hearing May Close This Week The defense rested its case Tuesday in the pre-trial hearings where six former members of the city's retirement board face corruption charges, a day after it began calling witnesses to chop away at the district attorney's claim that the trustees illegally allowed the city to skirt its pension bill in 2002. MORE>>> |
01/1102006 | VSD |
| Sorting
It Out By Attorneys defending the six former retirement trustees who are facing state corruption charges took aim at the prosecutors' bread-and-butter argument Monday, contending that the slack their clients cut the city on its pension bill in 2002 was not tied to the pension boosts they received that same year. SORT>>> |
01/10/2006 | VSD |
| Thunder
Stolen, DA's Case Moves Forward Pre-trial hearings in the district attorney's corruption case against six former retirement trustees resume Monday, three days after the grand jury handed down criminal fraud charges related to the same controversial pension deal that sent the city of San Diego into unprecedented political and financial chaos. MORE>>> |
01/09/2006 | VSD |
| 'Smooth
operator' put city on rough road (letter
to the editor by Dave Wood) SDREA association member Dave Wood responds to the SDUT watch dog report discussing whether or not former City Manager Jack McGrory's responsibility for the pension scandal leaves the impression that it was someone else's screw-up, not his. A related letter by Richard Albrecht follows Dave's letter. MORE>>> |
01/08/2006 | SDUT |
| Whistle-blower
was right, but feels no vindication Diann Shipione listened during a meeting held last January to promote open government. During tension-filled months at San Diego's pension board, where trustee Diann Shipione repeatedly warned of abuses in the city retirement system, her colleagues and system bureaucrats would privately dismiss her as a gadfly. MORE>>> |
01/07/2006 | SDUT |
| City's
financial picture worse than ever, Sanders says Two hours after federal indictments were announced yesterday, Mayor Jerry Sanders delivered the grim news that San Diego's finances, dismal for two years, are worse than ever. MORE>> |
01/07/2006 | SDUT |
| Federal
grand jury issues 20-count indictment Four former top officials in San Diego's city pension system and the system's lawyer were charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud in a 20-count indictment issued by a federal grand jury Friday. MORE>>> |
01/06/2006 | SDUT |
|
Aguirre:
Undo or be Sued |
01/05/2006 | VSD |
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