Richard Riordan Pension Reform Plan One Step Closer To L.A. Ballot

By Dennis Romero Tue., Nov. 6 2012 at 8:00 AM

Riordan

See correction at the bottom.

Former Mayor Richard Riordan's effort to reform the city of L.A.'s exploding pension costs is one step closer to making the ballot.

The City Clerk's office late yesterday announced that Riordan's proposed initiative has qualified for signature gathering.

Riordan and friends have until until ~~April 29~~ Dec. 7 to collect 265,151 valid signatures and turn them in:

If everything's kosher, the initiative could see the May 21 city ballot.

Riordan says the city's pension obligations have ballooned from $220 million in 2001 to as much as $1.2 billion today and that they could get to $3 billion by 2017, taking up half of L.A.'s budget.

It's a problem that even Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a union man to the bone, and city budget honcho Miguel Santana have acknowledged in the past.

According to a story last month by LA Weekly's Hillel Aron, here's what Riordan's "New Defined Contribution Plan" wants to do:

The Riordan plan does three key things: forces people to contribute far more cash to their own retirement plans; places all future city hires -- but not current employees -- into a 401(k)-style system mimicking the private sector; and freezes automatic pension increases (now tied to salary increases) if the pension fund investments aren't doing well.

He'll surely see a fight from L.A.'s most powerful political force -- labor.

[Corrected at 12:58 p.m.]: It appears that the clerk's stated deadline of April 29 would be too late to make the May ballot.

It seems that the deadline for turning in signatures for a May election initiative is Dec. 7. A clerk's spokeswoman is double-checking.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

City Clerk, initiative, pension reform, Richard Riordan, signature gathering

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goldgoat56

Richard Riordan's "pension reform" fails to recognize the lack of loyalty to Los Angeles police, fire, & paramedics who have been promised a defined benefit. As a paramedic for the LAFD for nearly 25 years, I have planned my retirement future around this promised defined benefit. I am not opposed to Dept of Water & Power paying into their retirement - I pay 11% if my base salary into my promised defined retirement benefit. I am not opposed to "double-dipping" by employees who retire from one LA job & collect a second pension from another career they choose for the City of Los Angeles, whether it be councilman, mayor, police officer, and the like. As a paramedic who spent my youth, health, and vitality to and for the LAFD, I have zero desire to work beyond my retirement for Los Angeles. I have sacrificed my sanity, health, & energy. I cannot give any more. I do expect Los Angeles to live up to their promise they made to me & my wife - a pension I can count on to support me into my golden years. Any ballot measure or petition that seeks to force me to pay more and work longer is unfair, especially from a wealthy equity firm owner (Riordan) who receives police, fire, & paramedic services, but fails to recognize the sacrifices these make for him and other citizens of Los Angeles. If anyone wants to discuss the points I am making, please contact me, Sean Mills, via email (batt9writer@gmail.com) or come to any union meeting of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (IAFF 112). I welcome a face to face discussion of anyone who feels that it is fair to overturn a promised defined retirement benefit for nearly 25 years by petition or ballot initiative.