Mayoral Debate Pushes for Pension Reform Specifics

The four major candidates for mayor of San Diego argued over pension reform Monday in the second televised debate of the campaign.

In a series of exchanges in the one-hour forum broadcast on NBC7/39, Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, was confronted on the topic by Councilman Carl DeMaio and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

Filner said he would end annual payouts to retirees of $100,000 or more, negotiate a five-year deal with employees and refinance the debt in the San Diego City Employees Retirement System.

"Your plan is to refinance the pension debt—that's kicking the can down the road," DeMaio said. "Prior city leaders did that, prior city leaders decided to push the debt off into the future by defending the unsustainable benefits."

The benefits themselves need to be reformed, DeMaio said.

Filner responded by saying he agreed about the last point, but added that Proposition B, of which DeMaio is a chief backer, would not save money and was "a fraud."

The proposition, on the June 5 ballot along with the mayoral primary, would offer most new employees a 401(k) plan instead of enrolling them in the SDCERS and, for the next five years, limit pension calculations to base compensation.

Filner said there will be "a decade of litigation" if the ballot measure passes.

Dumanis told Filner he needed to issue a written plan on the subject.

"Bob, you don't have a plan, you have a talking point," Dumanis said.

Filner has been criticized repeatedly during the campaign about not issuing a written plan, but he said, "You'll see the numbers."

Fletcher said the exchanges showed how all sides needed to come together for a wider discussion on the city's issues.

DeMaio said Fletcher wanted to sweep pension reform under the rug, but Fletcher responded by charging that DeMaio wants to make San Diego the "Wisconsin of the West, defined by paralysis."

His reference was to an attempt by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to limit the collective bargaining rights of state workers. He now faces a recall.

In a twist, the panelists—NBC7/39 reporter Gene Cubbison and anchor Catherine Garcia, along with Scott Lewis of voiceofsandiego.org—presented each candidate with a hypothetical situation they might face as mayor.

Dumanis said she would immediately activate the city's emergency operations center and "have a calming influence" on residents in case of a major earthquake. If the stock market crashed, Fletcher said he would assemble his senior managers to prioritize essential services.

DeMaio said he would maintain transparency if a major supporter brought a big plan forward, so that he could avoid problems faced by Mayor Jerry Sanders when he pushed through a Qualcomm promotion at the city-owned stadium over the objection of City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.

Filner said he might be willing to outsource the operations of underperforming municipal assets, but was generally skeptical of the savings the city would receive from privatizing services.

While the candidates have appeared at numerous forums during the campaign, it wasn't until last week when their debates hit the airwaves, the first a joint event hosted by KPBS and KGTV. NBC7/39 plans another gathering of the candidates on May 20.

-City News Service