2:11pm | If you’ve been keeping up with local politics, or even if you haven’t cared to, you’ve probably heard the brewing kerfuffle over pensions. Pensions, not unlike the Ancient Mariner’s Albatross, once hailed a city that rewards its workers for their service and returns it in financial security after their service has ended. But now the albatross of pension obligations hangs like a lead weight on our city’s scanty budget. February 15th was promised to be an exciting night of hammering pension reform, and it certainly lived up to that promise (that is, if you find pension reform exciting). But first, the council needed to pop off to the market for a few things.
On this week’s city grocery list was police cruisers, license plate readers, and polyethylene pipes. The police cruisers, which total 130 of the 2011 model Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, will be purchased from a Ford dealership in Costa Mesa, at a cost no more than $3,690,269. Councilwoman Schipske questioned the wisdom of using a non-Long Beach dealership, which was explained by Erik Sund as a problem with Worthington Ford of Long Beach submitting their bid too late for consideration. Additionally, the Costa Mesa location has offered a sizeable discount based on early payment. The council stated it will be meeting with Nick Worthington to go over the proper procedure for submitting bids, as the council has had previous issues with Worthington Ford. The Automated License Plate Recognition Systems, which are both mobile and stationary, are employed to identify wanted vehicles and aid police investigations. The total price tag on these plate readers (or ALPRs, if you’re into acronyms) is approximately $900,000. The pipes will be provided by Ferguson, Inc. of Long Beach, and the total contract with them is $525,500.
Now, the main event: Pensions. The first to step up and wrestle the beast were the City Attorneys and Prosecutors, who increased their own CalPERS contributions by giving up a contractual raise and rewrote their pension rules. Their new rules mean that pensions will grow slower, and be calculated differently to make smaller awards. Additionally, any new employees will be directly funding their CalPERS contributions with 8% of their salary. CalPERS, short for California Public Employees’ Retirement System, uses a base 8% of salary as their standard contribution. This contribution, however, is usually footed in large part by employers (such as the city of Long Beach) or outside contributors. According to CalPERS statistics for 2009-2010, member contributions make up less than ten percent of CalPERS’ contributions.
Related: Co-founder of Long Beach Taxpayers Association, Long Beach Post reader and guest columnist Kathy Ryan urges the City Council to take immediate pension reform action in this op-ed.
The Long Beach Managers’ Association had no raise to subdue for pension contributions, but they adopted a similar position as to new employees and benefit calculations. Councilmember DeLong suggested an amendment that would remove a week of executive non-discretionary leave, but members of the council and the mayor viewed this is an unnecessary delay with no financial benefit. Mayor Foster stressed the importance of swift action on pension reforms, “This has to get done.” Both votes passed unanimously.
A motion was made by Councilmember Schipske that the council and Mayor take greater responsibility for their contributions to CalPERS, subtracting out of their own salaries the 8% contribution. This was well-received by all, and passed unanimously, making the mayor and council some of the first groups to be hit by the hard decisions of pension reform.
The meeting marks some of the first hard decisions made by the city in its battle against the looming pension crisis. Mayor Foster, who has already vowed to avert the crisis by any means necessary, showed the same forcefulness in the meeting. His attitude was one of utter doggedness (a change from a man normally given to humorous exchange in council meetings) and the motions offered hurdled like track stars over the usual council meeting palaver. This is only the city’s first step in hard reforms for pension logistics, and there is much still to do, but this does seem to suggest that the process will not be hamstrung by a lethargic city council.