Saturday, June 25, 2011

Pension reform: San Diego style

Think the Chief of Police here in San Diego would be above politicizing and demogoguing the issue of benefit reform for his employees? Think again.

Statement: "In the last five years, I've had 345 officers leave the city of San Diego and go to other cities for better benefits, higher wages, and better vehicles and equipment. In that same five-year period I've had only 35 officers come to the city of San Diego," San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne said at a law enforcement conference in April.

Determination:....








But Lansdowne's numbers don't match the Police Department's official counts. Between the 2006 and 2010 fiscal years, the department counted 182 officers leaving for other agencies and 18 being hired from other agencies. Lansdowne's numbers were proportional to the department's counts, but exaggerated the impact to total staffing.

Check out the rest of Voice of San Diego's analysis, here.


We love our Blue, our fire fighters and first responders. Please refrain from jerking us around, however, when it comes to serious discussions involving city budget matters and explicit threats to cuts in services.

1 comment:

B-Daddy said...

Everyone on the government payroll, local, state and federal has to contribute to solving the budget woes. Federal workers are under a two year pay freeze that may be extended. Years ago federal workers primary retirement system moved to a 401(k) style plan. The police chief should be proposing his own efficiencies rather than just whining about his fate.