Pensions

Charles Mooney is long on comments, but short on solutions ( "I have doubts about Costa Mesa's Outsourcing," Commentary, Feb. 15). After reading Mooney's comments, I have doubts about Costa Mesa's long-term financial stability. Costa Mesa already spends $19 million of its $101 million annual revenues on pensions and retiree health benefits. Yet Mooney discounts City Council cost-saving measures, bashes the charter proposal and offers no real alternatives. According to California Public Employees' Retirement System's October 2012 memos, police pensions are short $74 million for 300 people, fire pensions are short $52 million for 200 people, and "miscellaneous" pensions are short $70 million for 700 people.

Newport Beach firefighters will pay more toward their pensions, and newly hired firefighters will receive less in their retirement, according to a union contract the City Council unanimously approved Tuesday. With the increased contributions and a less generous retirement plan, Newport joins a growing roster of California cities reforming their pensions and saving long-term employment costs. "This is about finding balance about what is fair for our dedicated employees, and what is fair for taxpayers," said Councilwoman Leslie Daigle.

Newport Beach could become the next battleground in the escalating fight for control of public-employee pensions. The City Council may give voters the final say over pension increases. But it’s still unclear whether Councilman Keith Curry — who proposed the pension discussion — is brewing up a major battle between employee unions and fiscal conservatives, or a tempest in a teapot. “I believe our pension benefits are currently fair and equitable, but I think we need to have this kind of control to ensure that future councils don’t overspend,” Curry said.

It would take new sales or parcel taxes for the city of Costa Mesa to meet its long-term pension obligations, a Stanford University professor told the City Council on Tuesday night. Joe Nation said the scenario surrounding the difference between the amounts promised to retirees versus projected available funding to meet those commitments to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is "stark. " Nation, a Democrat speaking before four of the five Republicans on the council, said his bleak assessment was about math and numbers, not "beating up anybody.

He could be working in any major Southern California hospital, with his master's in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University and bachelor's from UCLA. Instead, Kevin Selna, 33, chose a different public health setting: the beach. Selna, who patrols the coastline of Crystal Cove State Park, is one of about 70 lifeguards-peace officers for the state park system who watch the shores and enforce laws up and down the coast. While he carries a gun and a badge, most full-time lifeguards do not. So when news reports revealed guards' generous pensions — one of the reasons Selna took the job — and the nearly $150,000 in salaries paid to Newport Beach supervisors, people around the world got furious.

Predominately by renegotiating pensions for its employees and offering them incentives for early retirement, the city of Newport Beach is on track to trim $10 million from its 2010-2011 fiscal year budget deficit. The City Council will make final adjustments to the $187.7 million operating budget before Tuesday's regular council meeting, when it could adopt the budget. The savings come in the face of a $12.5 million deficit that was originally forecast in January. Declining revenues and outstanding spending commitments forced the city to make cuts.

In an effort to guard against rising sea levels, the Newport Beach City Council is set to award a $1.3-million contract Tuesday that would start the design of new seawalls around Balboa and Little Balboa islands. Replacing the aging concrete barriers is increasingly necessary, city leaders say, as high tides and storm surges already lap over the walls and threaten the low-lying homes. A 2011 study found that waters around Balboa Island could rise as much as four feet by the end of the century, as the sea warms and expands due to climate change.

COSTA MESA — Six months after more than 200 city workers were told they could lose their jobs to outsourcing, the City Council took its first concrete step in that direction Tuesday night. Officials put the first batch of city services out for bid. In three 4-1 votes, with Councilwoman Wendy Leece dissenting on each, the council approved soliciting bids for the city's jail services, building inspection and video production services. Leece said she didn't vote in favor because she thinks the process is politically motivated.

I received a lot of comments and calls about last week’s column (“Things look bad for California,” Rigonomics, Sept. 5). Some thought I was being too negative. Believe me, it is a lot more fun doing happy stories. I have always been a “cup half full” kind of guy. My closest business partners will tell you that in the face of calamity, I always put a positive spin on things to the point that they think I see the world with rose-colored glasses.

In a study session before its meeting Tuesday night, the Newport Beach City Council took a first look at the city's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget, which must be submitted at least 35 days before the beginning of the 2013-2014 year, which starts July 1, will be up for public comment at a June 11 hearing, according to a staff report. Among the year's priorities will be continued work to decrease pension costs by eliminating 16 full-time and the equivalent of 14 full-time positions in part-time jobs from the city payroll and increasing employees' contributions, the report said.

The coming week is a busy one for Costa Mesa government, with at least seven meetings scheduled, two of which include the City Council going over future goals and objectives with other city groups. The council and Planning Commission are set to discuss planning goals in a joint meeting at 4:30 p.m. in Conference Room 1A on the first floor of City Hall, 77 Fair Drive. The commission in its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers will go over various developments in the Eastside, including a proposed five-unit condominium complex at 2573 Elden Ave. and two homes on an empty 8,250-square-foot lot at 2590 Orange Ave. City staff are recommending that the commission deny the Elden project, partially because the developer is seeking an unjustifiable variance from the city's open-space requirements.

An "out of control" financial situation. An "ugly situation. " A city that's "handcuffed. " Not just a "Costa Mesa problem. " Those were a few of the words used to describe the city's employee pension program through the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, during the inaugural session of the Pension Oversight Committee on Wednesday afternoon. Eight of the nine newly appointed committee members, as well as Mayor Jim Righeimer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, attended the meeting in a City Hall conference room.

Letter writer Charles Mooney says Costa Mesa has a pension problem. [" Outsourcing could make unfunded pension obligations worse, Mailbag, Feb. 26]. Yet many do not seem to understand the seriousness or magnitude: $196 million unfunded CalPERS pensions (66% funded) and $34 million unfunded retiree medical, (0% funded). That's more than $2,000 for every Costa Mesan — man, woman and child. Joe Nation from Stanford University, a former six-year Democratic Assemblyman, presented his analysis to the City Council on Feb. 26. It is sobering (see pension information at http://www.costamesaca.gov .)

Pension reform is not exactly a hot topic at my dinner table. In fact, I can assure you that the words have never been mentioned at any family meal. Tuesday evening's Cost Mesa City Council study session about the city's unfunded public pension liabilities revealed that it's not an easy subject to swallow, let alone fully digest. Hired by the city to shed some light on what we're really facing, Stanford economics professor and former state legislator Joe Nation painted a bleak picture for the four council members and dozen or so community members in attendance.

It would take new sales or parcel taxes for the city of Costa Mesa to meet its long-term pension obligations, a Stanford University professor told the City Council on Tuesday night. Joe Nation said the scenario surrounding the difference between the amounts promised to retirees versus projected available funding to meet those commitments to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is "stark. " Nation, a Democrat speaking before four of the five Republicans on the council, said his bleak assessment was about math and numbers, not "beating up anybody.

I read Jeff Arthur's Feb. 21 letter, "Mailbag: Commentary overlooked C.M. pension obligations," which contained complaints about my previous letter, "Commentary: I have doubts about Costa Mesa's outsourcing. " I would like to respond to his complaints and point out a few other facts. Arthur complained that I offered no real alternatives to addressing the underfunded pension obligation. I will comment on that statement below. However, I would like to point out that there were no alternatives suggested in his letter, unless you consider his non-specific suggestion that we send our ideas to the City Council and that we support the council's efforts to be fiscally responsible.

The Costa Mesa City Council approved the creation of a committee earlier this week tasked with overseeing the city's looming pension obligations. The unanimous decision, with Councilwoman Wendy Leece absent, came not without its doubts, however, on a topic that has become central within the city's political dialogue in recent years. The Pension Oversight Committee, suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger — whose campaign last November included pension reform — will have nine at-large commissioners who will publicly discuss the city's unfunded pension and medical liabilities.

Charles Mooney is long on comments, but short on solutions ( "I have doubts about Costa Mesa's Outsourcing," Commentary, Feb. 15). After reading Mooney's comments, I have doubts about Costa Mesa's long-term financial stability. Costa Mesa already spends $19 million of its $101 million annual revenues on pensions and retiree health benefits. Yet Mooney discounts City Council cost-saving measures, bashes the charter proposal and offers no real alternatives. According to California Public Employees' Retirement System's October 2012 memos, police pensions are short $74 million for 300 people, fire pensions are short $52 million for 200 people, and "miscellaneous" pensions are short $70 million for 700 people.

Re. "Outlook is sunny for Newport" (Feb. 10): If Newport Beach is so "financially strong and economically vibrant," why does Stanford University think tank research show Newport Beach's current unfunded pension liability at $256 million or $2,983 per resident? Mayor Keith Curry's answer is that "more needs to be done" to cut costs. Really? And, if I'm not mistaken, Newport Beach contracted with Stanford for this particular independent analysis. What, with other city waste and mismanagement, is it any wonder why many Newport Beach residents succumb to the "temptation to be part of the cynical and disengaged" as Curry would put it?