One of the key concessions San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio made in the Grand Republican Pension Compromise was to exclude police officers from a ballot measure that would switch new city employees from pensions to 401(k)s. His original ballot measure included cops in the 401(k) system, but a different one pushed by now-coalition-mates Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilman Kevin Faulconer did not.
DeMaio, though, hasn’t changed his mind. City Council could switch new police officers into a 401(k) system any time it wants, and a provision in the ballot measure reinforces that point. He believes the council will vote to give new cops 401(k)s based on the city election results in 2012.
“There’s a better than three-quarters chance that you have police officers in the 401(k) at the same time that firefighters are in the 401(k),” DeMaio said in an interview Monday.
DeMaio is likely a candidate for mayor and would face a June 2012 primary the same time that the 401(k) measure would be on the ballot. Also, five City Council races — four of which are expected to be competitive — will be happening at the same time.
Please contact Liam Dillon directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/dillonliam.