I just got word that the deputy city attorneys union has signed on (tentatively) to the pension reform proposal Mayor Jerry Sanders wants on the November ballot.
The proposal, the result of a compromise between Sanders and City Council President Scott Peters, is scheduled to go before City Council on Tuesday. Click here for my most recent story on the issue.
Here is a statement by Andrew Jones, the president of the San Diego Deputy City Attorneys Association:
This agreement adopts the compromise plan endorsed by the Mayor and Council President Scott Peters. Although the plan does not solve all of the issues raised at the table by the DCAA, it is a vast improvement on the Mayor’s original proposal and represents what true compromise can accomplish. We look forward to working with the Mayor to achieve approval by the membership and the Council.
The deputy city attorneys are one of three unions affected by the proposed ballot measure. The others are the white-collar Municipal Employees Association and the blue-collar employees union, Local 127. City cops and firefighters are exempt from Sanders’ pension reform plans.
MEA and Local 127 leaders denounced the compromise when it was unveiled last month, and have not indicated publicly that they have changed their minds. I’ve had a hard time getting these officials to call me back in recent days, but I’ll keep trying, and report anything they have to say.
One thing to keep in mind regarding the deputy city attorneys is that City Council will also be presented Tuesday with another proposed ballot proposition that would extend to them civil service protection. Right now deputy city attorneys are “at will” employees and much easier to fire than they would be with civil service protection.