Editor’s note: Several times this year we have published in-depth investigative reports written by John Moore, a citizen activist living in Pacific Grove. This recent letter from Moore was addressed to the local newspapers serving Pacific Grove. Moore is unhappy with the coverage these newspapers have given the city of Pacific Grove’s pension crisis. The...

Editor’s Note: Pacific Grove may be one of the smallest cities in California, but it is on the front lines of the battle for pension reform. Facing financially devastating annual billings from CalPERS, citizen activists are uncovering evidence that the pension benefit enhancements passed by Pacific Grove’s city council may not have complied with the...

Overlooked in the Pacific Grove government employee pension reform discussions is that employees and retirees are real people. In Rhode Island, many retirees who had been promised a modest $25,000-per-year retirement had that sum reduced to $10,000 per year. Their plight is tragic. The discussions in Pacific Grove lump employees and retirees together. The clerk...

Part 7 of 7: How the City and Unions Covered Up the Illegal Pension Enhancements In 2009, through a series of public records requests, I discovered a document entitled “Contract Amendment Cost Analysis.” It was the document mandated by State Government Code Section 7507 (for the 2002 pension increase for the safety unions), which said:...

Part 6 of 7: Unions Will Seek Court Imposed Tax Increases Instead of Reform In a corporate bankruptcy, the judge can close down the business, sell the assets, and determine which creditors get paid. But in a municipal bankruptcy (MBK), a judge cannot force a city out of business. The city should come out of...

Part 5 of 7: A New Reform Initiative is Proposed Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose is a genuine pension reform advocate. He has been working on a state-wide pension reform initiative for the last year. On Oct. 15th, the proposed initiative was filed with the state attorney general. Pacific Grove’s Mayor, a dyed-in-the-wool anti-pension...

Part 4 of 7: How the Unions Control the City’s “Pension Subcommittee” In Pacific Grove (Pacific Grove), the employee unions rule. They have the full support of the city manager, the city attorney, and the council majority. True “collective bargaining” is a myth. The Pacific Grove Charter established a strong city manager form of city...

Part 3 of 7: By 2005 Pension Costs Were Crippling the City In 1999, CalPERS represented to the state legislature that a 50% increase in pension benefits for safety unions would not result in increased costs. It based its opinion on its investment prowess. But by 2002, the tech bubble broke, and CalPERS began suffering...

Part 2 of 7: City Attorney Kept Sponsors of Initiative from Participating in Defense of Initiative Part 2 of 7:  In 1927, the City of Pacific Grove adopted a charter that reflects the principles of “home rule” and provides for local control of municipal affairs (California Constitution, Article XI, Section 3). That is why evidence...