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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.a.3) General Manager Written Announcements5.a.3) Board Meeting of February 16, 2012 Written Announcements: District Retirements a) General Manager Jim Kelly Retirement General Manager Jim Kelly will retire on Friday, March 30, 2012 after 28 years of service. b) Director of Administration Randy Musgraves Retirement Director of Administration Randy Musgraves will retire on Friday, March 30, 2012 after 10 years of service. c) Capital Pro*ects Division Manager Tad Pilecki Retirement Capital Projects Division Manager Tad Pilecki will retire on Friday, March 30, 2012 after 25 years of service. Pension Reform Update d) Suspension of Campaign for Two Pension Reform Initiatives The California Pension Reform group that had proposed two pension reform initiatives announced this week that it is suspending its campaign to put either measure on the November ballot. One proposal would have given new government employees a defined benefit contribution plan, which is the same retirement benefit offered to private sector employees. The other would have been based on a hybrid plan similar to what Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed. While blaming the analysis of the initiatives by the Attorney General's office, California Pension Reform has had serious difficulty in raising the more than $2 million necessary to collect enough signatures to put only one initiative on the November ballot. Two articles on this item are attached. Written Announcements February 16, 2012 Page 2 of 3 Compensation Update e) Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association Cost -of- Living Adjustment The Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association (CCCERA) Board met on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. The only item of interest to the District is the Board's adoption of a 3% cost -of- living adjustment (COLA) effective April 1, 2012. The increase is determined by the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the San Francisco - Oakland -San Jose area (with 1982 -84 as the base period). Training /Conferences Human Resources Human Resources Manager Christopher Ko and Safety and Risk Management Administrator Shari Deutsch were invited by the Northern California Chapter of the International Public Management Association — Human Resources (NCCIPMA -HR) to teach a half -day, advanced level workshop on the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Return -to- Work, and Workers' Compensation. As the Board may recall, the District received the 2010 NCCIPMA -HR Agency Award for Excellence and 2011 Western Region IPMA -HR Agency Award for Excellence for its coordination on ADA, FMLA, Return -to -Work, and Workers' Compensation process. The District hosted the workshop on February 1, 2012, and approximately 30 public sector human resources professionals attended, including agencies such as Dublin San Ramon Services District, Union Sanitary District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Contra Costa County, City of Concord, City of Pittsburg, San Ramon Valley Fire District, and the State Controller's Office. The overall feedback was very positive, and the NCCIPMA -HR Board of Directors extended its gratitude to District staff for hosting this special training. Written Announcements February 16, 2012 Page 3 of 3 g) Assistant Engineer Wesley Adams's Presentation/ Attendance at North American Society of Trenchless Technology 2012 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee on March 11, 2012 On August 2, 2011, Assistant Engineer Wesley Adams was notified that his paper entitled "Guided Boring and the Lafayette /Pleasant Hill Road Trunk Sewer" has been accepted for presentation at the North American Society of Trenchless Technology (NASTT) 2012 No -Dig Conference in Nashville on March 11, 2012. The Lafayette /Pleasant Hill Road Trunk Sewer was designed by staff and constructed in 2011. This project used an innovative no -dig technology called guided boring for installation of a new sewer pipeline crossing heavily traveled Pleasant Hill Road in Lafayette. NASTT is the premier trenchless conference and equipment show in the United States and provides an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the area of trenchless pipeline installation. Trenchless construction methods are less disruptive to the public, very cost effective, and are used extensively in pipeline rehabilitation. Funds were included in the Fiscal Year 2011 -12 Training and Conference budget to cover the costs of attendance. Project Updates h) Announcement for Public Bidding of San Ramon Pumping Station Upgrades, DP 6003 In 2004, the San Ramon Pumping Station underwent a major renovation. At that time, two existing smaller pumps which were appropriate for the initial stage of the Dougherty Valley Development were not replaced. Currently, due to the development, the pumping station receives increased flows and one of the two smaller pumps needs to be replaced with a larger pump. This project will be advertised on February 17 and 22, 2012. The bids will be opened on March 20, 2012. The construction cost is currently estimated at $310,000. The Board will be asked to approve the construction contract on April 5, 2012. Group suspends California public pension reform ballot effort - Sacramento Politics - Cali... Page 1 of 3 THE SACRAMENTO BEE . Group suspends California public pension reform ballot effort jortiz @sacbee.com Published Thursday, Feb. 09, 2012 The cause of pension reform in California took a significant body shot Wednesday when a group hoping to put an overhaul measure before voters this year suspended its campaign. Beleaguered by fundraising problems and questions about the viability of its proposals, California Pension Reform shut down its efforts. The group's officials blamed the demise on a "false and misleading" summary of the plan by Attorney General Kamala Harris, a charge the Democrat denied. The death of California Pension Reform's efforts also wounded Gov. Jerry Brown's pension proposals to the Democratic - controlled Legislature, one analyst said, by removing the threat of a more draconian measure going before voters. "The prospect of the (California Pension Reform) ballot initiative would have given the governor some leverage to push for concessions," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California and a former GOP strategist. "It's going to be a lot harder for him to get those concessions without the prospect of a more hard -line alternative." Recent polls have shown growing support for a public pension overhaul. In December, 83 percent said pensions were a problem, while strong majorities said workers should pay more and the system should fundamentally change. Despite that, the pension issue has always been a tough sell to deep - pocketed donors in the business community who are more interested in backing causes with an immediate impact. The pension reform group filed two complex initiative proposals with the state. One would have eliminated traditional pensions for future employees and placed them in 401(k) -style defined contribution savings accounts. The other plan mirrored Brown's idea to put new hires in "hybrid" plans that kept a smaller guaranteed benefit supplemented with a defined contribution component. All three plans, the two written by California Pension Reform and Brown's proposal, featured provisions to eliminate pension spiking, push back the retirement age for full benefits and end additional retirement service credit purchases for future workers. They also require higher pension contributions from most current employees. http: / /www.sacbee.coml 2012 /02 /09 /v- printl4250305 /group- suspends- califomia- public.html 2/9/2012 Group suspends California public pension reform ballot effort - Sacramento Politics - Cali... Page 2 of 3 Brown unveiled official language for his 12 -point plan last week, hoping it would garner the two - thirds vote from both chambers of the Legislature needed to put the measure on the November ballot. Although a labor coalition hammered the proposal as an ill -timed "bomb," the governor has said that pension "arithmetic doesn't add up" because pension funds' obligations exceed their ability to pay them long term. Some estimates peg those unfunded liabilities at $250 billion or more. Rising pension costs and falling pension fund investments have strapped some local governments in the last few years. Moreover, Brown wants a pension overhaul measure on the November ballot to illustrate the state's seriousness about cutting government costs at the same time he asks voters to approve a tax increase he and Democrats want. California Pension Reform officials said Harris skewed official descriptions that are used to explain the measures during signature collection and at the ballot box. That, in turn, made it impossible for the group to raise the $2 million to $3 million it needed to fund a petition campaign to put a measure on the November ballot, said the group's president, Dan Pellissier. "The attorney general fundamentally misrepresented what we were doing," Pellissier said. The descriptions for both measures said they would reduce benefits for public employees including "teachers, nurses and police officers" and prohibit "public retirement systems from providing death or disability benefits to future employees." Pellissier said that Harris, in hewing to the wishes of labor to block the measure, specifically mentioned three government jobs that are particularly popular. And, he noted, the proposals specifically said, "All government agencies that provide pension or other retirement benefits for their government employees may also separately provide death and disability benefits for the benefit of their government employees, regardless of the date of hire." Harris spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill said, "The title and summary is accurate." The group hit another snag when the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office questioned how much money either plan would save. Steve Maviglio, spokesman for labor coalition Californians for Retirement Security, which vigorously opposes changing guaranteed pensions, said that labor still has an interest in working with lawmakers and Brown on retirement reform. "The lack of a gun to our heads won't make a difference," Maviglio said, because the unions and Democrats need to show voters they can foster retirement change or risk fueling sentiment for a so- called "paycheck protection" measure on the November ballot. That initiative, in part, would curtail union campaign funds collected from public employees - money that usually goes to support Democrats and their causes. http: / /www. sacbee.coml20l 2/02/09/v- printl4250305 /group- suspends- califomia- public.html 2/9/2012 Group suspends California public pension reform ballot effort - Sacramento Politics - Cali... Page 3 of 3 For now, Pellissier is rooting for Brown to succeed, but expects the Legislature to balk, "if history is any guide." © Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved. Call Jon Ortiz, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321 -1043. • Read more articles by Jon Ortiz http:// www. sacbee .coml2012 /02 /09 /v- printl4250305 /group- suspends- califomia- public.html 2/9/2012 California Pension Reform suspends campaign I California Pension Reform Page 1 of 2 JA-eirl N*. 5. d) California Pension Reform California Pension Reform suspends campaign Posted on Fehrua!X 8, 2012 byadmin The following is a statement from Dan Pellissier, president of California Pension Reform: "California Pension Reform is suspending its effort to qualify an initiative for the 2012 ballot after determining that the Attorney General's false and misleading title and summary makes it nearly impossible to pass. We will continue to push our elected representatives to reform our broken pension system and if they fail we will focus on qualifying an initiative for 2014. California taxpayers face more than $240 billion in pension debts that grow every year, a brutal math problem that requires courageous leadership instead of the special interest politics that is blocking meaningful reform today." BACKGROUND: "..the title and summary of two pension- reform measures aimed at the November ballot could not have been cast more darkly — and, on some key points, deceptively — if they were written by the public - employee unions that oppose them." (John Diaz, "Attorney General's Role in the Initiative Process," Sari Francisco _Chronicle, January 29, 2012) "The attorney general's summary fairly well reflected the opponents' anticipated arguments against pension reform. It did not represent any reasonable interpretation of impartiality. In fact, unlike the office's title and boosterish summary of the governor's tax measure, its selective and shaded characterization of pension- reform provisions did not attempt to accentuate any of the public benefits of reining in pension costs. It was, in a word, unfair." (John Diaz, "Attorney General's Role in the Initiative Process," San Francisco Chronicle, January 29, 2012) "The latest examples, under Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris, are the very positive description of the Brown- sponsored tax - increase measure that unions support and the negative, and even misleading, way two proposed public pension initiatives that unions despise are described." (Dan Walters, "California Politicians Use Power to Fix the Ballot Game," Sacramento_ _&e, January 30, 2012) "...the chosen words clearly make Brown's measure more palatable to voters and the pension - reform measures more onerous." (Dan Walters, "California Politicians Use Power to Fix the Ballot Game," Sacramento Bee, January 30, 2012) "Harris, like attorneys general before her, appears to have put her thumb on the scale, and issued titles and summaries that serve the political purposes of her political allies." (Joe Mathews, "Who Should Write Ballot Measure Titles? The Voters," P. rop_Zero, February 2, 2012) "The fact that attorneys general follow their political bearings should not be a surprise to anyone. Not only is the California Pension Reform suspends campaign California Pension Reform Page 2 of 2 attorney general's office partisan, but also that particular office is seen as a jumping off point for higher office in the political food chain." (Joel Fox, "Ballot Measure Titles and Summaries Should Not Be Written by Attorneys General," Fox & hounds, January 31, 2012) This entry was posted in Nggv_s.., Prgs,$,_Roleas_q. Bookmark the perrnaljnk. California Pension Reform Praudy powered by Word Press.