|
Press Articles Index Article source: Period Covered: 2008 |
||
| Quicker start to pension trial urged - Prosecutors point to appeals court ruling Federal prosecutors are seeking to accelerate the trial of former San Diego pension board members, using as leverage a recent appellate court decision that they contend undercuts a key defense argument. MORE>>> |
12/25/08 | SDUT |
| Pension Investment Chief Retires Doug McCalla announced today his retirement as chief investment officer of the city of San Diego's pension fund. The fund has been back in the news in recent weeks as the its deficit has more than doubled to an estimated $2.78 billion in the wake of the global economic meltdown and the city's financial struggles. MORE>>> |
11/20/08 | VSD |
| Trying to DROP the Budget Deficit As the denizens of City Hall search every financial nook and cranny for ways to close the city's gaping budget hole, some sights have been set on the DROP program, the now famous pension perk that has long been the target of fiscal reformers. The city could save in the neighborhood of $750,000 annually if the 13-member board of the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System votes to cut in half the guaranteed 8 percent interest rate paid on money city employees have in the program, according to a back-of-the-napkin estimate by Joseph Esuchanko, the city's actuary. MORE>>> |
11/19/2008 | VSD |
| Pension problems not going away soon The news from San Diego City Hall last week was grim – the deficit in the city's pension system for retired workers has swollen to $2.7 billion. Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council will have to grapple with how to come up with additional money needed to fund the city's escalating contribution to the system. That will be at least $166 million this year, more in future years. MORE>>> |
11/17/08 | SDUT |
| Revived pension crisis - Galloping costs threaten San Diego's recovery - Editorial The latest actuarial figures make it glaringly plain yet again that San Diego's staggering pension costs are simply unsustainable. Unless Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council take strong steps to control the retirement system's runaway debt, the city's financial recovery will be promptly aborted. MORE>>> |
11/14/08 | SDUT |
| Aguirre wins one, loses one in pension lawsuits A week after voters decided to toss him out of office, City Attorney Michael Aguirre was handed a setback yesterday in his signature lawsuit to roll back pension benefits, but he scored a win in a second lawsuit. MORE>>> |
11/14/08 | SDUT |
| Pension shortfall has grown to $2.7 billion, analysis says A new analysis of San Diego's pension system shows the gap between promised benefits and money to pay them has widened to $2.7 billion, wiping out progress the city made toward shoring up a sagging retirement fund. The shortfall eclipses the $1.6 billion gap in 2005, at the peak of a city pension crisis that drew national attention. City leaders created the problem by boosting pension benefits in exchange for pension board approval of inadequate funding of the system. MORE>>> |
11/13/08 | SDUT |
| Goldsmith claims city attorney post San Diego voters repudiated the tempestuous tenure of City Attorney Michael Aguirre Tuesday, ousting him in favor of a judge who campaigned unswervingly on an oath to refocus the office from politics to the law. Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith's resounding defeat of Aguirre removes someone Mayor Jerry Sanders saw as an obstacle at City Hall – but also takes away an excuse if Sanders can't move his agenda forward. MORE>>> |
11/05/08 | SDUT |
| The People Fire Their Attorney On Tuesday night, as San Diego reverberated in blue and Democrats across the county rejoiced and partied, a small side room of a Greek restaurant a short distance from Golden Hall sat empty and undecorated. The room, which was allegedly party central for City Attorney Mike Aguirre's campaign, remained cold and silent throughout the night, without supporters to show solidarity with the incumbent, who made a brief presentation to the press before disappearing into the night. MORE>>> |
11/05/08 | VSD |
| Pension Problems: They're Back The Voice of San San Diego reports that recent snapshots of the city of San Diego's pension fund have revealed staggering investment losses stemming from the world-wide stock market meltdown. An unaudited report to the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System's investment committee early this month showed fund assets of $4.22 billion on Oct. 2. That is a $440 million drop from the fund's value on June 30 and $830 million less than it was at the end of 2007, according to figures released by City Attorney Mike Aguirre. MORE>>> |
10/30/08 | VSD |
| City pensions in crisis, Aguirre says - $789 million lost since Sept. 2007 San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre said yesterday that the nation's financial crisis has sapped $789 million from the city's pension system in the past year, and he faulted Mayor Jerry Sanders for not stopping the slide. Aguirre held a news conference yesterday – 11 days before voters will decide whether he should get a second term – to highlight the pension system losses and accuse city officials of trying to hide the depth of the problem. MORE>>> |
10/25/08 | SDUT |
| Murphy's Big 2005 Labor Contract Goes Bust The city of San Diego is being forced to return several millions of dollars to its employees that were originally conceded as part of a much-ballyhooed labor contract forged under former Mayor Dick Murphy. As a result of the city's failure to abide by provisions of the 2005 contract, millions of dollars that were supposed to be diverted into the city's deficit-laden pension system will now be returned back to employees. In closed session Tuesday, the City Council voted to return what's estimated to be between $4.3 million and $6.5 million to the white-collar employees represented by the Municipal Employees Association. MORE>>> |
10/24/08 | VSD |
| Experts eye gap between pension case indictments - Three-year interval described as unusual The surprise filing of a second indictment in the federal prosecution of five former officials with the San Diego retirement system shifted the case onto new ground. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego added charges to the case last week, nearly three years after the first indictment was handed down. They also submitted an expanded account of fraud and deceptions the five defendants are accused of. MORE>>> |
10/20/08 | SDUT |
| Charges added in pension fund case - 5 defendants accused of conspiracy, fraud Federal prosecutors have broadened the scope of a long-running case against five former members of the city of San Diego's retirement system by filing a new indictment with additional charges. MORE>>> |
10/16/08 | SDUT |
| Unions OK pension trims for city's future workers
Hoping to avoid a November ballot measure, San Diego's labor unions instead gave in to many of Mayor Jerry Sanders' demands in a last-minute deal that reduces retirement benefits for future city employees. MORE>>>. |
07/23/2008 | SDUT |
City pension compromise may be on ballot
|
06/25/2008 | SDUT |
| City settles with law firm that probed pension crisis The firm would be the fourth to settle lawsuits related to financial and legal troubles from the city practice of increasing employee pension benefits while cutting funding for them. MORE>>> |
06/13/2008 | SDUT |
| For Mayor, There Were Other Pension Options During his months-long labor negotiations with city unions, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders focused squarely on one proposal for a new pension system despite a number of equally effective proposals floating around City Hall. Implementing a less expensive, hybrid pension plan for new city employees, with the exception of police and firefighters, has been central to Sanders' platform since his 2005 campaign, and has been the dominant issue in five months of negotiations between the administration and the city's three non-public safety unions. MORE>>> |
05/22/2008 | VSD |
| Judge in pension case refuses to step down In a sharply worded rebuke, the judge presiding over the criminal case against five former members of the San Diego retirement system ruled he won't step down as federal prosecutors have asked him to do. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez said the arguments from prosecutors that he could not be impartial were “thin” and “weak.” MORE>>> |
05/17/2008 | SDUT |
| Mayor: City Back to Wall Street The Mayor's Office just announced that the city of San Diego has regained access to Wall Street, a significant milestone that ends the city's nearly four-year struggle to regain its suspended credit rating. MORE>>> |
05/15/2008 | VSD |
| Late Night Labor Talks Lead to Confusion As the dust settled after Monday's lengthy labor battle at City Council, the future of three City Hall unions' labor contracts remained unclear. In fact, some involved aren't even sure what to make of Monday's marathon council hearing over the stalemate between the unions and the Mayor's Office, which included a last-minute mayoral concession that some found surprising, as well as unlawful. MORE>>> |
05/14/2008 | VSD |
| Sanders Kind of Debates - Commentary by Andrew Donohue Yesterday I moderated a two-hour debate hosted by the City of San Diego Retired Employees Association. I like their debates, they're good and long so you really get a chance to go in-depth with the candidates and touch on a wide range of issues. Plus, the questions come from the audience, and there isn't a more engaged group that the former city workers. MORE>>> |
05/14/2008 | VSD |
| SEC Charges Five Former City Officials
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed securities fraud charges against five former city of San Diego officials in connection with the city's financial meltdown, the first action against individuals in its long-running investigation into City Hall. Federal regulators filed charges in federal court in San Diego against former City Manager Michael Uberuaga, former Auditor and Comptroller Ed Ryan, former Deputy City Manager Patricia Frazier, former Assistant Auditor and Comptroller Teresa Webster and former City Treasurer Mary Vattimo. MORE>>> |
04/07/2008 | VSD |
| Council approves pension changes If it sometimes seems as if San Diego's financial troubles and political conflicts will never end, yesterday's City Council meeting bolstered the point. Everyone from pension and tax specialists to the attorney hired to monitor city compliance with a 2006 Securities and Exchange Commission order appeared during a 10-hour meeting. MORE>>> |
04/02/2008 | VSD |
| At First Debate, Conservative Crowd Jeers Aguirre, Cheers Goldsmith
In a hotel ballroom packed with dark-suited business leaders, politicians, VIPs, media hacks, television cameras and a smattering of City Hall gadflies, the five contenders to become San Diego's next city attorney faced off against each other Tuesday in the first debate in the race for Mike Aguirre's seat. In many ways the seating of the candidates and their body language reflected the tone of the debate, which was organized by the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, a conservative business association. MORE>>> |
03/13/2008 | VSD |
| The Aguirre Transcripts We just got a copy of the closed session transcripts that were sought by State Bar investigators as part of their probe into City Attorney Mike Aguirre, and the documents show that the City Council authorized Aguirre to pursue his pension litigation -- but on the condition it was done in his name only. MORE>>> |
02/28/2008 | VSD |
| Maienschein Announces City Councilman Brian Maienschein officially announced his candidacy for city attorney today at the end of a cul-de-sac in Rancho Bernardo. After his staff asked workers who were busy rebuilding homes on the street that burned in last year's Witch Fire to stop their work and turn off their noisy power tools, Maienschein gathered with a throng of local homeowners and made his official announcement. MORE>>> |
02/28/2008 | VSD |
| A Close One for Aguirre Earlier today, it looked like Mike Aguirre was headed for another legal setback. Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt Jr. issued a tentative ruling on one of the lawsuits Aguirre has filed against the pension system. The judge had initially ruled that Aguirre doesn't have the legal authority to bring lawsuits on behalf of the city of San Diego without first getting the City Council's permission. But in a hearing this afternoon on the issue, the judge backpedaled. MORE>>> |
02/22/2008 | VSD |
| Aguirre's Bar Investigation The City Attorney's Office went into defensive mode today over an investigation into Mike Aguirre by the state Bar. One element of that investigation, reported in today's Union-Tribune, focuses on whether or not Aguirre went beyond the authority given to him by the City Council in a lawsuit related to the city of San Diego's pension crisis. MORE>>> |
02/19/2008 | VSD |
| Council Releases Transcript It just announced that the City Council has voted 8-0 to release a transcript of a 2005 meeting in which they discussed whether or not to give City Attorney Mike Aguirre permission to proceed with a pension-related lawsuit. MORE>>> |
02/19/2008 | VSD |
Peters Is In (Definitely) |
02/18/2008 | VSD |
Peters explains reversal
- Councilman to announce city attorney bid today |
02/18/2008 | SDUT |
| DA takes sides in city attorney race
- Dumanis denounces Aguirre, backs a foe
The county's district attorney waded into the San Diego city attorney election yesterday, criticizing incumbent Michael Aguirre and endorsing one of Aguirre's opponents. MORE>>> |
02/15/2008 | SDUT |
Peters Plays to Win - Commentary |
02/14/2008 | VSD |
| Peters, not Bersin, reportedly to run
- 2 met, decided on city attorney race San Diego City Council President Scott Peters will run for city attorney, but former San Diego schools Superintendent Alan Bersin will not, a person who attended a weekend meeting with the two men said yesterday. MORE>>> |
02/13/2008 | SDUT |
| Maienschein for City Attorney City Councilman Brian Maienschein will run for city attorney, according to a conservative blog. MORE>>> |
01/17/2008 | VSD |
| Ex-city union leader Italiano loses retirement package Pension system officials have cut off the entire retirement package of a former San Diego union president who received a perk that the Internal Revenue Service determined was improper. Judie Italiano, president of the Municipal Employees Association until 2006, was told last month that her annual benefit, more than $70,000, would no longer be paid. She received her final check in November. Her access to health coverage was also dropped. MORE>>> |
01/09/2008 | SDUT |
Articles Index: 2007 2006
Return to Members-Only Area
Return to Home Page