SAN DIEGO'S FINANCIAL CRISIS: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

According to an article published in the San Diego Union Tribune on June 8, 2010, “The County Grand Jury issued a report Tuesday reviewing the city’s troubled finances and recommending a slate of measures it says would avoid future fiscal crises.

The report, available on the Grand Jury's web site, reviews the series of city officials’ missteps in 1996, 2000 and 2002 that led to a massive underfunding of the city’s pension plan, and proposes strategies that the current city administration could take.

“The city leadership should acknowledge the financial crisis that the city is facing and make fundamental changes in how our government operates in order to avoid future crises,” the report said. “Not until the city of San Diego reasserts itself as a viable financial entity will it be able to reclaim the title of America’s Finest City.”

Among the recommendations:

• Not allow any workers to join the deferred retirement option plan, also known as DROP, if an actuarial analysis demonstrates it is not cost neutral. The DROP plan has been decried as a source of double dipping for retirees.
• Aggressively market long-term leases of city-owned properties such as parkland in Mission Bay, Balboa Park, Torrey Pines and the Qualcomm stadium area.
• Consider outsourcing the city’s library system
• Evaluate whether to continue having San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System serve as manager of the city’s pension assets. The report notes that the SDCERS spends $28 million for investment advice from 23 firms
• Pursue a ballot measure that would repeal the 1919 law that prohibits the city from charging for residential trash collection.
• Convene a panel of bankruptcy experts to discuss the legal and financial ramifications of the city filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy."