Posted on 05/16/2005 6:22:30 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Three city employees linked to a pension-fund scandal have resigned amid deepening federal probes into city finances.
The officials left to "pursue other professional interests," City Manager Lamont Ewell wrote Monday to Mayor Dick Murphy and the City Council.
Ewell did not elaborate on the timing or circumstances that led to the departures of Patricia Frazier, the deputy city manager for development services; Cathy Lexin, human resources director; and Mary Vattimo, who was city treasurer until being reassigned recently to a lower-profile purchasing job.
Messages left with Lexin, Frazier and Vattimo at their offices were not returned. All have figured prominently in the city's pension-fund scandal that led to the mayor's resignation last month.
Frazier was deputy city manager for finances until she was recently reassigned. In her previous job, she was responsible for preparing financial documents.
Lexin was deeply involved in decisions in 1996 and 2002 that allowed San Diego to escape payments to its retirement fund and - at the same time - enhance pension benefits, according to a report by an outside law firm hired by the city.
Vattimo, according to a report by City Attorney Michael Aguirre, conspired with other city officials to keep taxpayers "in the dark" about its deteriorating pension system and avoid including negative information in the city documents to sell bonds.
Last week, the former acting assistant auditor was placed on administrative leave amid withering criticism of her role in the city's financial woes. Terri Webster, a longtime trustee of the San Diego City Employees Retirement System, voted with the majority on the pension board in 2002 to let the city off the hook for $500 million in payments to its retirement fund.
The city's pension deficit has swelled to $1.37 billion, largely a result of decisions in 1996 and 2002 that allowed San Diego to escape payments to the retirement fund and - at the same time - enhance pension benefits.
The U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the city's financial practices in February 2004 amid questions about whether city officials hid bad news about its pension obligations from investors and taxpayers. No charges have been filed.
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like becoming lobbyists in Sacramento, I suspect. :-)
FOR VOTES??? Promises to unions, get their votes, and then let their pension fund go bankrupt.. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Talk about getting royally screwed from beginning to end. Hey, but they got their guy in office... that's all that matters right?
And the plot thickens!
Roger Hedgecock looks like Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" compared to what's going on in SD these days.
Have you seen this?
Oh yea, The more I see this stuff, the more thankful
I am that we don't have the problems LA has with
their choice for Mayor, etc.
Hey, but they got their guy in office
That is just it, they don't. The republican mayor
was not their guy. Our form of gov. is city mgr not
mayor. Our city mgrs. for yrs have been democrats.
Do the people in SD elect their city mgrs? Where does the oversight belong on city employee pensions? Is there a city auditor, or an independent one brought in from outside? Ol' Gray Davis brought in some pretty slick guys to hide billions of red ink.
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