The Morning Report
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City Councilwoman Donna Frye told me she’s still interested in the council discussing two items relating to retirement benefits and asked new Council President Ben Hueso on Wednesday to place the items on the council’s agenda.
She was reacting to this interview with Hueso, in which he said former council president Scott Peters was right not to place the items on the council’s agenda because they were closed-session items. Frye said Hueso “must have been confused” about what items she was talking about.
Frye said she doesn’t understand what’s secret about the issues: asking the Internal Revenue Service whether the city’s deferred retirement option program (known as DROP) is lawful, and amending the city code to require both the deferred retirement program and a program allowing city employees to buy years of credit be cost neutral to the city.
But even if there are some aspects that must be discussed behind closed doors, Frye said, those still should be docketed for a closed-session meeting. “It would be irresponsible not to get it on the docket,” she said.
Hueso spokeswoman Michelle Ganon said Hueso’s staff is analyzing Frye’s Wednesday requests. But Ganon said the memos are the same ones Peters got in 2007, and court rulings may have resolved some of the issues since then.
“Since the memos were just handed to Ben without any updating whatsoever, it is extremely unclear at the moment what the council can do or is interested in doing or what it might be able to do — to tease out the pieces that are even relevant anymore that haven’t already been dealt with,” Ganon said.