As we reported last week, the city of San Diego has not yet closed two controversial pension benefit programs that they negotiated to shutter in labor negotiations 18 months ago.
Council members said the City Attorney’s Office was responsible for not preparing the basic paperwork that was needed to codify the changes in city law; City Attorney Mike Aguirre said he held off on drafting the legislation because he didn’t want it to hurt his ongoing lawsuit.
The council was assured that it would be able to vote on the changes to DROP and the purchase of service-credit program Monday, but arrived to the meeting with another request by Aguirre to postpone making the legal tweaks.
Deputy City Attorney Mark Blake asked council members to delay the vote until Dec. 6 so that Aguirre, who was in Superior Court arguing his legal challenge to past pension deals, could advise them in person. Blake also said the office had legal concerns that arose this weekend about the changes.
Several council members voiced their displeasure with Aguirre’s office, which has been criticized for not submitting timely information to the council.
“It’s become the norm, in many cases, rather than the exception,” Councilman Jim Madaffer said. “If it’s scheduled, by golly, it needs to happen.”