Monday, May 25, 2009 | I read with interest Rani Gupta‘s story “Bombshell Dropped on Labor Plan, Putting Savings in Peril.” The lies and political doublespeak from the mayor’s office is pathetic. The sad nature of San Diego politics, is this type of unethical behavior has become common-place and bears no adverse response. Why? The lies told by Goldstone about the actions of the mayor and his outside negotiations team, are but the tip of the iceberg.
A Confidential Memorandum sent to Mike Rivo in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office from Jeffrey Sloan of the Law Firm Curiale, Dellaverson, Hirschfeld, Kraemer and Sloan dated September 23, 2003, was in response to questions asked by the City regarding DROP. In this memorandum Sloan opined; “City Charter Section 143.1 putatively allows changes to the vested defined rights of retirees if approved by a majority of such retirees.” Sloan went on to say, “We would note that vested rights are personal in nature and we do not believe they may be waived by majority vote.”
In 2005, after the mayor made attempts at making changes to DROP, he received a similar letter from SDCERS advising him of the requirements of Charter Section 143.1. For him or anyone in his office to deny they knew anything of this is a flat-out lie. It is their arrogance that fuels their flaunting of the law. The mayor has an agenda and the law be damned.
The arrogance and complete disregard for the truth is appalling and a clear window into the thought processes of the mayor and his people. The mayor knew; his people knew, Bill Kay knows; Joan Dawson (City Attorney) knows; Timothy Davis should know; Scott Chadwick knows and others in the City Attorney’s Office know changes to DROP or anything to do with Retirement Benefits are protected by the Charter and cannot be unilaterally changed as demanded by the mayor.
This is but the start of the collapse of the house of cards the mayor built. He will not be able to sustain the lies and deceit as the papers start to surface and the truth is known. The blame game has started and there will be no end to it, if history repeats itself; knowing how the mayor works. His tyrannical methods will soon cause his downfall and ouster from City Hall. It cannot come soon enough. The City is facing an astronomical deficit and the mayor’s posturing has done nothing to help address the problem. Politics have no place in the realities of the critical issues created by incompetence and arrogance. When will it end?