The following passage was just culled from Mayor Dick Murphy’s interview with the private consultants from Kroll Inc. When asked about the pension underfunding deal at the heart of the city’s legal and financial troubles, Murphy responded:
Mayor Murphy noted that he was very busy at that time with the library project and other issues arising in Sacramento. Moreover, Mayor Murphy explained that, because he ran Closed-Session hearings, he would have to keep tabs on who wanted to speak, read notes that people were sending him, and keep the many “prima donnas” in check. Thus, it was difficult for him to focus on the substantive conversation taking place.
The summaries for the interviews conducted with all 68 people from the Kroll report were released today. Below you’ll find a sampling from some of the interviews. Simply click on the name of the person below and you can read the entire summary of the interview.
More from former Mayor Dick Murphy on his understanding of the pension system:
Mr. Romano asked Mayor Murphy whether he had a sense that his Council colleagues understood the complexities of information underlying the Retirement System. Mayor Murphy responded, “I don’t think anyone understood the pension system and how it was funded.” … Mayor Murphy noted that since he was having a hard time understanding the issue, he would assume that the other Council members likely also had a hard time getting a grasp of the subject.
And here’s a snippet from Council President Scott Peters‘ interview. When asked about a memo on the pension underfunding deal:
Councilmember Peters explained that he tended to give memoranda prepared for closed session meetings (such as this one) less attention than others because he received them on Fridays at which time he was usually out of the office seeing constituents or playing golf.
Councilman Jim Madaffer said pension whistleblower Diann Shipione “got lucky” with her allegations of widespread misconduct. He said he believed that Shipione “reinvented the world in her own mind, and did not see what actually happened.”
Also, the report said Madaffer:
… described himself as a [sic] entrepreneur, businessman and community activist, and noted that he is also a pilot and scuba diver. Councilmember Madaffer began his business career in 1981, working as a manufacturer of Jacuzzi covers. He sold his business in 1987 and started a business making card decks, until he began his involvement in civic affairs, where he was a ‘citizen volunteer’ for various boards and commissions.
Click on the remaining council members’ names to read the text of their interview summaries: Brian Maienschein, Toni Atkins and Donna Frye.
Also, in his interview, Murphy’s former chief of staff, John Kern, said that Murphy didn’t originally have 10 goals for his tenure.
“Mr. Kern stated that there were originally nine goals,” the interview states, “but Mayor Murphy added an extra goal because he liked round numbers.”