The Honorable Chuck Reed
Mayor, City of San Jose
200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor San Jose, CA 95113
RE: Letter of opposition to your proposed pension ballot initiative
Dear Mayor Reed:
We are writing to express our opposition to your proposed ballot measure regarding the pensions of California’s firefighters, police officers, teachers, school employees, and other public employees.
Like most Californians, we believe pension matters are best decided locally and addressed at the bargaining table
rather than at the ballot box. Our cities have been successful in doing just that – as have the overwhelming majority of those in California.
According to CalPERS, more than 386 jurisdictions have negotiated more than 538 changes to pension benefits that have resulted in higher employee contribution levels, reduced employer costs and reduced benefits. We believe that engaging our public servants in constructive dialogue rather than political battles is a more effective way of achieving balanced budgets.
We also are extremely concerned about several specific provisions of your measure that will likely increase costs to California’s cities by hundreds of millions of dollars. We believe those dollars are better spent on local services and attracting and retaining quality public employees than in reducing their retirement security.
Last year, Governor Brown and the Legislature enacted sweeping pension measures that will save our communities and the state nearly $100 billion. Combined with the actions we are taking in our communities, we believe this will address the concerns about retirement benefits that your measure proposes to address. As a result, we urge you to withdraw your measure and engage with us in constructive dialogue with public employees to address the pension challenges facing our communities.
Signed,
Mayor Pete Aguilar
City of Redlands
Mayor Rusty Bailey
City of Riverside
Mayor Connie Boardman
City of Huntington Beach
Mayor Aja Brown
City of Compton
City Councilwoman Erin Carlstrom
City of Santa Rosa
Supervisor David Chiu
City and County of San Francisco
Mayor Gary Davis
City of Elk Grove
Mayor Marie Gilmore
City of Alameda
City Councilman Mark Johannasen
City of West Sacramento
Mayor Joe Kravoza
City of Davis
Mayor David Lim
City of San Mateo
Mayor Evan Low
City of Campbell
Councilman Kevin McCarty
City of Sacramento
Supervisor Mike McGuire
Sonoma County
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin
City of Richmond
Scott P. Bartley
Mayor, City of Santa Rosa
Mayor Jean Quan
City of Oakland
Mayor Andre Quintero
City of El Monte
Mayor Gina Papan
City of Millbrae
Mayor Jason Scott
City of Corona
Mayor Tony Spitaleri
City of Sunnyvale
City Councilman Dan Wolk
City of Davis
Mayor Jim Wood
City of Oceanside
Vice Mayor Jim Wood
City of Healdsburg
City Councilman Victor Gordo
City of Pasadena