Ron Saathoff - President, San Diego City Firefighters Local 145
Cathy Lexin
Posted on 05/17/2005 12:18:10 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
SAN DIEGO -- Six former and current members of the San Diego municipal employees pension board were charged today with felony conflict of interest for benefiting from lavish and controversial increases in the city pension plan while also voting to under-fund the system.
The charges, filed by District Atty. Bonnie Dumanis, are the first criminal charges levied in the controversy over the city's nearly $2 billion pension deficit. Each of the six face a possible sentence of three years in prison, a spokesman said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating the city's failure to disclose the deficit when filing a bond prospectus. The U.S. attorney's office also is investigating for possible wrongdoing.
The controversy has led to a shake-up in the city administration. Three high-level employees resigned Monday. Last year, the city auditor retired and the city manager was forced out amid revelations about the deficit, which has become the biggest financial problem in city history.
Mayor Dick Murphy, under criticism for not acting more quickly to stem the deficit, announced last month his resignation, effective July 15, to give the city "a fresh start."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
...but SS is in good hands.
Ron Saathoff - President, San Diego City Firefighters Local 145
Cathy Lexin
I fear my retired sister will get a note in the mail saying 'Sorry -we blew your money!' and the pols will go Scott Free. If the pension goes broke, I think the retirerees should be able to pick five of the politicans reponsible and hang their corpses from the city paid for art work by the bay, across from the County Admin Building!
More to come in the future.
I've read that the SD pension board was dominated by union flacks. Sending a bunch of them to jail would have a positive influence on the CalPers board I would think.
AP's cut at it..
Criminals charges filed against six San Diego pension trustees
http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/5526077p-5508675c.html
By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
Posted: Tuesday May 17th, 2005, 11:05 AM
Last Updated: Tuesday May 17th, 2005, 12:05 PM
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Six current and former trustees of the board that oversees the city's battered pension fund were charged Tuesday with felony conflict-of-interest violations for votes from which they personally profited, the district attorney's office said.
The criminal case against Ron Saathoff, John Torres, Sharon Wilkinson, Mary Vattimo, Terri Webster and Cathy Lexin contained the first charges in the pension-fund scandal that prompted the resignation of Mayor Dick Murphy.
"We believe this is the first step in restoring public trust in our government institutions," San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said. "This prosecution will send a message that the district attorney's office is watching and no one - let me repeat, no one - is above the law."
The charges were another blow to the city, where two council members are on trial in a separate case on charges of accepting bribes from a strip-club owner.
The San Diego City Employees Retirement System 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 six defendants were each charged with a violation of state law that prohibits them as trustees from having a financial interest in matters up for consideration by the pension fund board, said Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the district attorney's office.
The announcement of the charges came a day after the resignations of three city officials, including Vattimo and Lexin, linked to the scandal.
Last week, Webster was placed on administrative leave for allegedly failing to cooperate with federal investigators.
The U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the city's financial practices amid questions about whether city officials hid bad news about its pension obligations from investors and taxpayers.
I guess San Diego will have to sell the trolley, or Petco Park or something...how about the convention center?
Nawww, none of that stuff. Balboa Park would probably fetch a cool bil or 2 and make Ernie Hahn or another developer VERY happy.
It's a shame. I guess they can't blame this fiasco on illegals, huh?
Our Republican DA cleaning up the democrat and union mess.
Just glad I don't live in LA with your new Mexican mayor.
Pax Mexicana is my motto.
How did they profit from these votes? That is not clear to me.
Hopefully this and other pension scandals will make the need for individualized/personalized retirement accounts clear to the public.
Ooooh, it was sweet. Every one of these critters got a very nice bump in their own pensions by voting for this. Saathof really made out: his pension went up by $2530.23 a month, to $9703.66! Imagine - almost $10K a month in pension benefits.
I hope DA Bonnie wins big and all six do the max (3 years) in prison.
AHA!
Thanks for explaining that to me.
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