DeMaio/Reed Attack on California Pensions Fizzling Again?

Nearly six weeks have passed since former San Diego City Council member Carl DeMaio and former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed declared they would continue to pursue their “bulletproof” ballot measure that would eliminate retirement security for millions of California teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public employees.

This latest measure, like their previous failed attempts, had several fatal flaws: eliminating constitutional vested right protections for existing employees, undermining death and disability benefits, and other “significant uncertainties” as the LAO succinctly put it.

Then three weeks ago, on KQED’s “Forum” program, DeMaio suggested they would be suing the Attorney General, pledging “we’re not going away.” That hasn’t materialized, no doubt because the courts rejected a similar legal challenge two years ago brought by Reed.

Their other major activity to date -- an online drive to get volunteer signature gatherers --proved to be nothing more than a way to boost the finances of DeMaio’s political committee. His warchest amounts to $28,910 cash on hand as of last month, including an $8,000 loan from DeMaio.

Meanwhile, DeMaio’s fledgling career as a talk show host took a hit. His co-host has exited their show, citing a lack of interest in the amount of time spent discussing pensions.

Also last month, Reed’s bragging rights evaporated when San Jose’s new mayor Sam Liccardo and the city’s unions reached agreement on a comprehensive pension/wage plan. Their deal effectively scuttles Reed’s failed pension measure. Both the Mayor and the unions decried the cost: more than $4 million in legal bills borne by San Jose taxpayers, a major uptick in crime, and the loss of hundreds of police officers to other jurisdictions.

On the aforementioned KQED program, Liccardo noted “I’d encourage everybody to take the negotiation path whenever possible” – exactly the position we share when it comes to meeting the state and local pension challenges, and a slap in the face to his predecessor.

On the same program, San Jose State Garrick Percival, an independent analyst, also pointed out that any attack on retirement security launched by DeMaio and Reed would have an uphill climb.

“A lot of the pressure built up from the Great Recession will continue to decline…it can affect willingness for people to make dramatic cuts,” he said. “We have to be careful about how much voters are saying in these polls …A lot of voters … tend to throw up their hands…this is why we have elected officials to deal with these complicated issues.”

Meanwhile, the sands continue to drain from their hourglass, making any ballot measure more difficult (and expensive) for Reed and DeMaio to qualify.

Reed and DeMaio may well introduce another “bulletproof” measure in the next few weeks – a move that can only be called political malpractice in a year that will feature heavy Democratic turnout and a poor electoral environment for right-wing measures.

Whatever it may turn out to be, we continue to be confident that California voters will reject their attempts to eliminate the retirement security of the firefighters fighting blazes across the state, those who are back in school teaching our kids and driving school buses, and other public servants.

Stay tuned.