CalPERS officials knew about high salaries in the city of Bell, but did nothing to stop them.
"Officials at California’s state pension fund became aware four years
ago of the exorbitant pay raises being given to administrators
in the
city of Bell and did nothing to stop them, according
to an internal memo
obtained by The Times.
"The memo, which pension staff sent to board members
today, shows that
the California Public Employees’ Retirement System granted an exemption
to its rules in 2006 so the Bell city manager could get a 47% pay hike
and still receive a full pension on his salary.
"The pension system learned of the salary hike during
the course of an
audit and informed Bell officials that the exemption
would be needed."
The state controller is now requiring all cities disclose pay to top officials in financial disclosure reports.
In the continuing fallout from the Bell salary scandal,
State
Controller John Chiang announced Tuesday that he would
overhaul city
financial reporting requirements to require that salary
information for
elected officials and other employees be clearly stated.
The information
would be posted on his office’s website beginning in November, he said.
"The
action comes as a Times analysis found that Bell’s reports to the state
in recent years have shown that costs for its legislative
activities,
including City Council salaries, declined sharply since
2005, at a time
when overall council compensation rose to nearly $100,000 for part-time
work.
“The absence of transparency is a breeding ground for
waste,
fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” said Chiang, who is running for
re-election. “A single website with accessible information will make
sure that excessive pay is no longer able to escape
public scrutiny and
accountability.”
Shane Goldmacher reports two measures on the November
ballot could blow a new, billion-dollar hole in the state budget.
"Two propositions on the November ballot could create
a $1-billion hole
in California's already beleaguered budget by undoing
one of the few
agreements that lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
have struck
this year to shrink the deficit.
"Tucked into both measures, written before the budget
agreement, are
provisions that apply retroactively to all of 2010. Opponents are now
accusing the special interests behind the initiatives
of pressing their
agendas at the expense of the state.
"These two initiatives are Exhibits A and B as to why
the initiative
process needs to be reformed," said Senate President
Pro Tem Darrell
Steinberg (D-Sacramento).
Proposition 22 would put local government and transportation funds
off-limits to Sacramento, and Proposition 26 would make it harder for
state lawmakers and local governments to raise fees.
Either initiative,
if approved by voters, could repeal a $1-billion budget patch signed
into law earlier this year that gave lawmakers flexibility
in the use of
certain gasoline tax money without changing what drivers
pay at the
pump.
Los Angeles city pensions could consume one-third of the city's general fund by 2015, reports David Zahniser.
"The cost of retirement benefits for Los Angeles city
employees will grow
by $800 million over the next five years, dramatically eroding
the
amount of money available for public services to taxpayers,
according to
a report issued Tuesday.
In a bleak assessment delivered to members of the City
Council, City
Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said pensions
and health benefits
for current and future retirees would jump from $1.4 billion next year
to at least $2.2 billion in 2015.
Those costs remain a fraction of the city's overall
annual budget, which
is currently $18.8 billion. But more troubling is the fact that
retirement costs are consuming an increasingly large
portion of the
general fund, which pays for basic services such as
parks and public
safety.
A judge has changed the official ballot description of a measure that would suspend the state's greenhouse
gas law.
"A Sacramento Superior Court judge Tuesday amended
the ballot
description of Proposition 23, the November initiative that seeks to
delay the state's global warming law.
"Judge Timothy Frawley agreed
with backers that parts of the original language were
misleading and
would prejudice voters. The new language changes the
description of the
law's intended target from "major polluters," a term
Frawley criticized
as having "an obvious negative connotation," to "major
sources of
emissions."
"Frawley also ordered removed a reference that
Proposition 23 would cause the state to "abandon" its law to control
greenhouse gases. The new language will say the initiative
would
"suspend" the law.
And finally, looks like the parasailing donkey is calling it a career. "The female donkey Anapka arrived in Moscow on Wednesday after her
brays of terror over a southern Russian beach last
month prompted a
British newspaper to step in and buy her.
"A recreation company had sent Anapka up into the sky
for about 30 minutes for a promotional stunt and the YouTube video
of
her trip made headlines around the world. Upset readers
of the The Sun
had urged the newspaper to rescue her."
