Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2012 04:25:33 PM PST

Document: Ballot Title and Summary

San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters Local 891, the union representing 126 city firefighters, has introduced a ballot initiative proposing an elected fire chief.

In the last two years, 25 positions have been cut at the department and engine companies have dwindled from four-man crews to three-man crews, said Steve Brown, the union’s vice president.

While budget cuts factor into that scenario, union representatives say they are fed up with “politics as usual in San Bernardino.”

“Too often, the current administration at City Hall has injected politics into the management and operations of our Fire Department,” said union President Scott Moss in a statement Thursday.

An elected fire chief, Moss said, would remove the taint of politics from decisions affecting hiring, promotions and fire protection policies at the department.

A notice of intent to circulate a petition was filed with the city on Jan. 9, but the union has yet to begin gathering the roughly 12,000 signatures needed to get the initiative on the ballot, Brown said.

“We’re not even sure we’ll have our ducks in a row by November. It’s a work in progress right now,” Brown said.

The proposed charter amendment would establish an elected fire chief, to be elected at the 2014 general election, who would have complete autonomy in running the department, without interference by the mayor and city manager. In addition, the proposal requires the Fire Department to have an assistant fire chief and a chief of staff, appointed by the fire chief with the consent of the mayor and City Council.

To read entire story, click here.

Mike Cruz, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Created: 01/30/2012 10:27:09 AM PST

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – A workplace discrimination lawsuit has been filed in Superior Court against Ontario Police Chief Eric Hopley by his former administrative assistant Brenda Vallejo.

Vallejo alleges in the lawsuit that Hopley and the city discriminated against her when she returned from family medical leave in July 2010. She had received treatment for thyroid cancer.

Upon returning to work, Vallejo alleges Hopley’s demeanor and behavior toward her changed. Specifically, Hopley created a hostile work environment and reassigned her to work with a sergeant.

Vallejo considered the move a wrongful demotion that was not comparable to the duties and responsibilities she had when working with Hopley. Weeks later, Vallejo was reassigned again to the Detective Bureau.

“When she got sick, everything changed,” said Vallejo’s lawyer Sandra L. Noel, of Redlands. “His attitude towards her changed.”

Hopley spoke to Vallejo in a demeaning and hostile manner, refused to respond to her greetings, made demeaning facial expressions, shunned her and excluded her from information needed to perform her duties, according to the lawsuit.

Vallejo’s work with Hopley, which was often of a confidential nature, was given to other individuals, her lawyer explained.

“He made a concerted effort to let her know she was no longer wanted,” said Noel. At the time of her medical leave, Vallejo had been with the department for a year.

To read entire story, click here.

Monday, January 30, 2012 – 10:00 a.m.

Within all of San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors candidate James Ramos’ negative baggage appears to be a glimmer of a motivating interest as to why the current millionaire chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is seeking the county post.

The Tribal chair, who is seeking to oust Third District Supervisor Neil Derry in June, may have a personal finance cause.

Ramos, with annual income of more than $1.5 million, is dipping his toe into the future of an Barstow-area Indian gaming casino proposed by the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians.

Ramos, when asked about the proposal at a recent event, says he would support the casino if it cleared all federal hurdles.

Forget about the fact the San Manuel’s have opposed the project from the start.

For Barstow, the proposed casino would be a welcome revenue generator and job creator.

For Ramos it would be competition.

Monday, January 30, 2012
By Ed Mendel

The nation’s two largest public pension funds last week reported slim annual investment earnings, CalPERS 1.1 percent and CalSTRS 2.3 percent, as experts continue to say hitting their long-term earnings target, 7.75 percent, will be difficult.

While CalPERS reported weak earnings in 2011, a prominent private-sector investment manager, Robert Arnott of Research Affiliates, told the board last week he thinks the most they can expect from stocks and bonds next decade is 4 percent.

Another major investor, Laurence Fink of BlackRock, told the CalPERS board during a similar educational session in 2009 that during the next 15 years: “You’ll be lucky to get 6 percent on your portfolios, maybe 5 percent.”

A Wall Street Journal columnist, Jason Zweig, said last week Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway pension fund projects a return of 7.1 percent. He said William Bernstein of Efficient Frontier Advisors expects roughly 6.5 percent from stocks.

Consultant Girard Miller said in Governing magazine this month, while discussing 12 basic public pension issues, that earnings “closer to 7 percent” are more realistic until global debt is reduced.

The California Public Employees Retirement System board decided last March to leave its earning assumption unchanged at 7.75 percent, despite a recommendation by actuaries to lower the forecast to 7.5 percent.

Even a small drop in the earnings forecast could boost the annual employer payment to the pension fund. CalPERS, which may revisit the forecast in March, is not turning a deaf ear to the experts.

“Like all talented investment managers, and Rob Arnott is one of the most talented, he laid out a problem—in a low return environment conventional approaches to asset management are likely to disappoint—and a solution—invest unconventionally,” the CalPERS chief investment officer, Joe Dear, said by e-mail when asked for a comment.

“He did not say we can’t earn our target rate of return. He said to do that we’ll have to have an investment strategy that is different. Much of what he suggested, such as fundamental indexing, and higher exposures to emerging markets, we are already doing. The low return environment makes achieving our return objective more difficult, but not impossible.”

Why experts think this is a “low return environment” was explained by Pension Consulting Alliance, a CalPERS and CalSTRS adviser, in a report in October to the Rhode Island state pension fund, which was overhauled by legislation in November.

“Factors that provided a tailwind in the past are expected to present a headwind,” said the PCA report by Allan Emkin.

Low interest rates (the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield dropped from more than 8 percent in 1990 to about 2 percent now) means that the bond portion of investment portfolios will have lower yields.

Large government and private-sector debts run up in recent years means debt repayment can crowd out purchases and projects, limiting economic growth and potentially lowering stock returns.

Population trends in developed economies such as the United States, Europe and Japan (getting older and growing slower) mean their economic growth is likely to be slower, potentially lowering stock returns.

Under Rhode Island investment policy, the report shows a 50.3 percent probability of exceeding a 6.75 percent annual return during the next decade, the highest in a range decreasing to a low of a 36.9 percent chance of exceeding 8 percent.

To read entire story, click here.

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/28/2012 10:54:18 PM PST

A controversial state Supreme Court ruling is forcing 400 redevelopment agencies throughout California to close, but officials overseeing redevelopment at the former Norton Air Force Base say work there will continue.

“We have and will continue to take the position that the law doesn’t apply to us,” said A.J. Wilson, interim executive director of San Bernardino International Airport.

The Inland Valley Development Agency funds airport redevelopment through property tax increment around the former Air Force base.

It’s one of three area redevelopment agencies leading reuse efforts on Air Force land.

The others are the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority, which oversees redevelopment work at the former George Air Force Base, and the March Joint Powers Authority, tasked with the former March Air Force Base.

Legislators voted last summer to eliminate redevelopment agencies in order to steer the property taxes they generate toward local services.

Gov. Jerry Brown proposed the move, and it was upheld last month by the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court also struck down a law that allowed redevelopment agencies to remain in existence if they opted into a voluntary redevelopment program.

Inland area cities scrambled to shutter their redevelopment agencies and find other solutions to rebuilding blighted areas.

Earlier this month, state legislators introduced a bipartisan measure to save redevelopment agencies from immediate elimination, but it seems unlikely that Brown will support it.

Some lawmakers want to extend from Feb. 1 to April 15 the deadline for dissolving redevelopment agencies in order to give agencies time to work with Sacramento on existing economic development projects and the establishment of a process for transferring assets and liabilities.

To read entire story, click here.

BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 28 January 2012 06:31 PM

The Riverside mayor’s race could now be a six-way contest, with a little more than a month left until the candidate filing deadline.

The latest entrant is Peter Benavidez, a local nonprofit CEO and member of the city’s charter review committee, who recently took out a petition for signatures in lieu of the filing fee.

Benavidez may ultimately square off against former Councilman Ed Adkison, who opened a campaign in early 2010; Councilmen Mike Gardner, Andy Melendrez and William “Rusty” Bailey; and teacher Dvonne Pitruzzello, who ran against Gardner and two other candidates for the Ward 1 council seat last June.

The contest for the mayor’s seat was expected to be lively because five-term Mayor Ron Loveridge plans to retire, leaving the seat open for the first time since 1994. Voters will choose the next mayor June 5, or if no one wins outright, in a November runoff.

Benavidez, 55, heads Blindness Support Services Inc., which offers programs and services to promote independence of blind and vision-impaired people; he himself is vision-impaired. He chairs the citizens’ advisory committee of the Riverside County Transportation Commission and recently served on Riverside’s charter review committee.

To read entire story, click here.

Norma Torres

Assemblywoman Norma J. Torres
Created: 01/28/2012 06:06:11 AM PST

The state Supreme Court’s ruling which eliminated redevelopment agencies has created uncertainty for cities and counties engaged in redevelopment activities. Redevelopment has been used as a tool by many cities and counties to successfully revitalize communities. The court’s decision throws into question how cities and counties will pay for infrastructure, housing and retail projects in blighted communities.

Although I was not surprised by the court’s decision, I was disappointed. I voted for a two-part solution to offset the state’s budget gap while continuing redevelopment on a smaller, voluntary basis. Without the voluntary program communities will no longer have the tools redevelopment agencies offered for affordable housing production and economic development.

It seems counterintuitive in this down real estate market that there is a lack of affordable housing, but many people still pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing, which is the standard test of affordability. Incomes are down, unemployment is high, and what might have seemed like an affordable rent a few years ago does not anymore.

At the same time, two key sources of funding for affordable housing that have supported construction in the past are gone: voter-approved state bonds and redevelopment agencies’ Low-and Moderate-Income Housing Funds. Redevelopment produced close to $1 billion for affordable housing each year and a 2006 voter-approved bond contained $2.85 billion to support construction of affordable housing units. These sources of funding are gone and California needs multiple, real, and sustainable sources of funding for affordable housing to replace them.

For several years affordable housing advocates, legislators and others have discussed the need for a state-funded permanent source for affordable housing, the Holy Grail of affordable housing finance. We need a dedicated source of money that does not rely upon the health of the state general fund or voter-approval every four years to fund the pipeline of affordable housing projects.

To read entire column, click here.

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/27/2012 09:31:09 AM PST

CHINO – The Chino Valley Unified School District has about two weeks to find $20 million to cut from its budget for next year.

That’s the bad news coming from last week’s Board of Education budget study session.

During that time, board members will again revisit a 33-item list of possible cuts prepared last year by Superintendent Wayne Joseph, which may have to be considered to keep the district fiscally solvent.

The list of potential items on the block cut deep into Chino Valley’s educational processes, from possible elimination or cutbacks of nurses to elementary music programs, librarians and several assistant principals, among other items.

Board member David Black points the finger to the annual cutbacks from Sacramento as the cause.

“The government,” he said, “is holding education hostage.”

Districts across the state are dealing with similar issues now that the governor has released his budget recommendations.

Some of Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget proposals for education include the elimination of home-to-school and special education busing funding, the requirement and funding of transitional kindergarten, and eliminating half of the existing requirements of some educational programs.

Also on the governor’s list is to reduce the “interyear apportionment deferrals,” or the percentage of money that is owed to schools. This proposal would only happen if California’s voters pass Brown’s $6.9 billion tax initiative in November, raising the state sales tax as well as income taxes on California’s highest earners.

Deferrals are money owed to schools in this fiscal year but because the governor doesn’t have money he defers release of that money to a later date, said Sandra Chen, district assistant superintendent of business services.

“Right now 38 percent of our current year funding is deferred by the governor until the following year,” she said. “He’s trying to buy down that 38 percent to a lower percentage so we can actually receive the money this year, and that’s a good thing.

“That’s the only proposal on his list that is contingent upon the passage of the taxes. Whether or not the taxes pass, the rest of these are still going forward on his proposal, with the exception of the deferral,” Chen said.

The state is $9.2 billion in the red. All of the governor’s proposed financial solutions add up to $10.3 billion.

Chen said the bottom line is the governor’s proposal is predicated on the passage of the tax-hike initiative.

“We have to plan our budget on what we know right now, and I can tell you right now is that if the taxes pass the best news for our school district is that we will receive the same level of funding as the current year. However, we will still receive 100 percent elimination of regular and special education transportation funding for the 2012-13 school year and beyond,” Chen said.

When it comes to eliminating busing, that sticker price is about $1.5 million for the two school years in Chino Valley.

If the governor’s tax increase does not pass, the district’s revenue funding will be reduced by $10.7 million in 2012-13 school year and $10.5 million in 2013-14.

To read entire story, click here.

Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/28/2012 06:06:01 AM PST

UPLAND – The City Council has not made a formal request for the League of California Cities’ assistance in the medical marijuana case pending in the state Supreme Court, but some inquiries have been made.

Councilman Ken Willis inquired about the League possibly getting involved in the case during a dinner on Jan. 19. City staff also made an inquiry, said City Manager Stephen Dunn.

“Basically, Upland was looking for help because it’s a big battle we’ve been funding, but realistically I don’t know what the League is going to respond or if they’ve responded to it,” Dunn said. “I understand it could potentially put the League in a predicament. There are a number of cities, particularly in Northern California, that do support medical marijuana.”

The League’s City Attorneys’ Department formed a Medical Marijuana Committee and will review the implications for cities pending the Supreme Court’s decision.

They will look at four cases that the Supreme Court recently decided to review, including Upland’s case involving G3 Holistic.

“Those cases will be reviewed by the legal advocacy committee and those committees will determine what action is taken,” said Eva Spiegel, spokeswoman for the League.

Dunn said there is no plan to make an official outreach to the League.

“I think the intent of staff and the intent of Councilman Willis is to say, `Hey, League, make it high on your radar and if you can help in the battle then please do,”‘ Dunn said. “We’re not asking them to take on the battle.”

As of November, the city has spent more than $360,000 to fight medical marijuana dispensaries, said Councilman Gino Filippi.

“I continue to remain concerned with the amount of financial resources and attorney’s fees the city of Upland continues to incur in dealing with lawsuits including medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the city, when our general funds are needed for the operation of general services that the city provides to our citizens,” he said.

G3 Holistic closed in September 2010 after West Valley Superior Court Judge Barry Plotkin in Rancho Cucamonga granted the city an injunction.

To read entire story, click here.

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/26/2012 11:32:13 AM PST

CHINO – This city, like many others across the Golden State, will bid farewell to its redevelopment agency come Wednesday.

As a result of a state Supreme Court ruling last month, which upheld a law eliminating about 400 redevelopment agencies in California, Chino City Council members agreed to name the city as the successor to its agency.

It is necessary to assign another agency with oversight for the dissolution of the city’s assets, while administrating annual debt payments and other enforceable obligations, said Patrick Griffin, assistant city manager/community development.

Redevelopment funds have assisted with the development of Ayala Park, two fire stations, a police facility, the Seasons senior affordable apartments and other housing improvements and projects.

In the past 20 years the city has financed more than 300 home improvement projects, developed 26 single-family homes, constructed 140-unit senior villas in downtown Chino and committed to developing 330 affordable units in the College Park master plan community.

Redevelopment agencies use “tax increment financing,” in which they raise money through bonds to assist the development or upgrade of land and then pay off the bonds with the additional property tax the improved land generates.

The annual payments on the bonds are $7.6 million.

City officials said there are still challenges associated with eliminating the agency.

“First, is the fact we do have employees that are funded through the redevelopment agency. Next, we will have the inability to fund future projects … Last, and most importantly, is the state has taken away the No. 1 tool for cities to use to stimulate the economy, to create jobs and fund housing in the state of California,” said City Manager Patrick Glover.

Chino’s agency generates $19.3 million annually from property tax increments. Of this amount, $3.3 million goes to other local agencies, such as the school district, community college district, vector control district and others, according to city staff reports.

The city’s housing fund receives $3.9 million annually to assist low- and moderate-income homeowners in the city and develop workforce and senior affordable housing.

In addition, redevelopment currently funds about $3.3 million annually for employee salary and benefits.

After the elimination, the city will begin to receive a greater amount of property tax revenue to its general fund, but it won’t offset the redevelopment agency salary cost, according to city staff reports.

At the Jan. 3 City Council meeting council members adopted a resolution electing to serve as the successor to the agency.

“The cost for overseeing these administrative functions can be funded out of redevelopment funds, however these expenses and all activities of the former redevelopment agency will be subject to approval by an oversight board compromised of seven representatives,” said Griffin.

The oversight board will include two city representatives, two appointed by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, one appointment by the largest special district that served the former agency, one by the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools and one by the chancellor of California Community Colleges.

To read entire story, click here.

Saturday, January 28, 2012 – 09:00 a.m.

Could the lack of a business license at Million Air San Bernardino LLC derail the state of the county event scheduled for February 29th?

It’s just another embarrassment for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, and in particular Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who allowed the event to be held at the lavish facility.

Scot Spencer, the licensee who controls the private aircraft refueling facility, hadn’t paid business license fees to the city of San Bernardino in ten months.

That was until last week, when a partial payment was made by company executive T. Milford Harrison.

As of this moment no business license can be issued because additional money is stilled owed to the city.

It’s highly probable the county will come up with some flim-flam excuse to keep its event at Million Air.

It’s also highly probable that Million Air is likely considering whether or not to maintain the San Bernardino franchise, considering all the hassle.

When will it ever end?

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/27/2012 08:39:26 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – An official with San Bernardino International Airport’s most upscale business paid part of the fees to renew its business license Thursday, but it still wasn’t enough to get a valid license, city officials said Friday.

The amount T. Milford Harrison, a manager at Million Air San Bernardino, paid wasn’t enough to cover late fees and other penalties, City Clerk Rachel Clark said Friday.

Harrison arrived at City Hall shortly before closing Thursday to make the payment, Clark said.

That was hours after The Sun posted a story on its website saying the facility was operating without a business license.

“We went ahead and accepted the partial payment and let them know we’d be invoicing them for the remaining balance,” Clark said.

The city’s business licensing division is overseen by the City Clerk’s office.

Clark said her office has been in regular contact with officials at the upscale refueling facility for private aircraft since its business license expired in April. Million Air, the most high-profile business operating at the embattled airport, has been operating without a license, a violation of its lease agreement, for nearly 10 months.

“It wasn’t like we were sitting around waiting for them to comply. We had been trying to get a hold of them,” Clark said.

A notice of violation has been prepared for Million Air franchisee Scot Spencer, who is expected to receive the notice on Monday, said A.J. Wilson, interim director of San Bernardino International Airport.

Once Spencer receives the notice, he will have 30 days to pay the remaining fees and renew his business license, otherwise face eviction, Wilson said.

“We don’t have the ability to shut them down, but we have the ability to take away their facilities,” Wilson said.

Spencer entered into a 10-year lease agreement with Million Air, a Houston-based corporation with 30 franchises across the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada, in 2007. SBD Properties LLC., one of 16 companies tied to Spencer and under investigation by the FBI, owns the lease.

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/26/2012 12:53:12 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Million Air, the upscale jet refueling facility at San Bernardino International Airport, has been operating without a business license since April, city officials said Thursday.

The facility, which caters to private and corporate aircraft, has been the most high profile business drawn to the airport and has been touted by airport officials as an example of the airport’s potential prosperity. It began operations in 2010.

Franchisee Scot Spencer, who is the focus of a federal corruption investigation into allegations of criminal conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and wire and mail fraud at the airport, has not renewed his business license, said Vanessa Barajas, business registration inspector for the city of San Bernardino.

Spencer also has failed to provide the city with Million Air’s annual gross receipts, which are used to determine the business license renewal fee, Barajas said.

Spencer did not respond to a request for an interview Thursday. He entered into a 10-year franchise agreement with Million Air, a Houston-based corporation with 30 franchises across the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada, in 2007.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Josie Gonzales on Thursday called the situation at the airport “a mess.”

“It’s a whole back-and-forthing, contracting under different names, using one (company) to pay the other . . . it is a mess,” Gonzales said.

She said she wasn’t surprised Million Air had been operating without a license, or that any of the other business entities Spencer is tied to were registered with the city.

“When it comes to businesses opening up, that department waits for people to come in,” Gonzales said of the city’s business licensing department, which is overseen by the City Clerk’s office.

When asked what it would take to turn things around, Gonzales was quick to say city officials need to stop fighting among themselves and agree on a common vision.

“They need to put their differences aside for the best interest of their residents, and they need to turn that fighting around and start fighting everything that’s wrong,” Gonzales said.

Sandy Nelson, business development officer at Million Air’s Houston-based headquarters, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

The county held its annual State of the County Address at Million Air last year to much success, and plans to hold the event there again in February.

“This is the continuing saga of the failure to properly manage this airport and the ability of the agencies . . . to move forward with credible and honest investors,” said San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry, who also serves on the board of the Inland Valley Development Agency, or IVDA, which oversees the airport’s development and funding.

Spencer came to San Bernardino to develop the airport in 2005, bringing with him a checkered past that included more than four years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud in connection with another soured airport deal. Still, San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris and other officials supported Spencer, acknowledging they were aware of Spencer’s background but touted him as the best man willing to do the job.

Derry, a former San Bernardino city councilman, said business license fees are a major revenue stream for the city, and wonders if the city has filed a claim against Million Air, or if the business is getting preferential treatment.

“It also begs the question of whether the city is doing a good job of following up with businesses doing business in the city,” Derry said. “I find it hard to believe the city didn’t know about this.”

San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday, but his son and chief of staff Jim Morris said the situation will certainly prompt city officials to take a closer look at how business licenses are processed.

To read entire story, click here.

Cities hoping for extra life for redevelopment agencies are told to focus on a future without them as a Feb. 1 deadline nears

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.co

Published: 26 January 2012 09:04 PM

SACRAMENTO — Legislation to extend the life of redevelopment agencies beyond Feb. 1 seemed all but dead Thursday despite a last-ditch push by local officials and other groups.

The California Supreme Court last month upheld a state law ending redevelopment, which for decades has helped local governments pay to revitalize downtowns and build new streets and also been criticized as a taxpayer subsidy for politically connected developers. Inland Southern California has some of the most active agencies in the state.

On Thursday, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said a Senate measure, SB 659, to push back the deadline until April 15 is “not going to happen.” A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, D-Los Angeles, had a similar assessment.

Local governments need to look forward instead of focusing on legislation to postpone next week’s deadline, said Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

“I’m skeptical. I think the speaker’s skeptical,” he said. ”And the governor is dead-set against the bill.”

Brown has said the agencies’ dissolution should go forward. “I don’t think we can delay this funeral,” the governor said last week in Los Angeles.

Under redevelopment, agencies collect a share of the growth of property taxes in redevelopment areas. That money, known as the tax increment, pays for land purchases, low-income housing and other projects.

Brown proposed eliminating the agencies in his January 2011 budget. Lawmakers ultimately approved a two-bill package that dissolved the agencies but allowed them to re-establish if they paid more money to the state. Cities and redevelopment agencies sued, leading to last month’s decision to uphold the law dissolving the agencies while striking down the lifeline bill that would have allowed them to continue.

Many cities and counties already have shut down their redevelopment offices and taken on the role as successor agencies to start dealing with debt and assets.

To read entire, click here.

Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren delivers her state of the city address on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at the Jessie Turner Community Center in Fontana.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Created: 01/26/2012 11:35:17 AM PST

FONTANA – Mayor Acquanetta Warren on Thursday vowed to join forces with Ontario city leaders in the quest to wrestle ownership of L.A./Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles’ control.

That pledge was part of broad strategy focused on regional cooperation as Fontana moves forward with 2012 and in the succeeding years.

In her State of the City address, the mayor cited recent agreements signed with Rialto and Colton to participate in sharing the expenses – and reaping the benefits – from the new helicopter the Fontana Police Department expects to begin flying in March.

Warren said Fontana and its neighbors must unite on global trade issues, such as the ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal, which when completed in 2014, threatens to siphon away as much as 25 percent of the cargo arriving at Los Angeles, Long Beach and other West Coast ports.

This is a vital issue to the region because Fontana and its neighbors are large players in the goods moving business.

Several political leaders from the county and neighboring cities attended Warren’s address. And several spoke, including Ontario Mayor Paul Leon.

“We are mad as Hell and not going to take it anymore…we are going to break a leg to get it (the airport) back, if we have to,” Leon said.

Warren made little mention of the dissolution of redevelopment agencies in Fontana and more than 400 other cities across California.

“As far as I am concerned, redevelopment is dead… And instead of having a funeral, we are going to have a party. We are not going to miss one beat with redevelopment going away…we are moving on,” she said.

Warren noted that plans are in serious discussion phases for two new Wal-Marts in Fontana, one in the north and one on the southside and a large industrial park on the southside of town.

The north Fontana location for a Wal-Mart will be on the southwest corner of South Highland and Sierra Avenue, Don Williams, director of community development, said in an interview.

To read entire story, click here.

Will Bigham, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 01/26/2012 10:42:20 AM PST

A committee of the Cal State University Board of Trustees is set to begin the search for a new president at Cal State San Bernardino. President Albert Karnig is retiring at the end of the school year.

The committee is scheduled to hold an open forum Feb. 10 at Cal State San Bernardino to receive public input on the presidential search process.

The meeting, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center, will be the committee’s only public meeting, according to the CSU Chancellor’s Office.

To read entire story, click here.

Patrick Fite, For the Daily Facts
Posted: 01/26/2012 04:25:15 PM PST

Practicing simple energy efficient methods can add up to huge savings, as the Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) has shown during the past 26 months by saving more than $900,000 in energy costs.

“Everyone is an energy consumer, and therefore, everyone can be an energy saver, ” said RUSD energy education specialist James Fotia. “As an example, saving just 15 minutes of lighting per day can save a lot of money. A little bit of awareness from everybody adds up.”

“We’re very proud that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized our strides in energy efficiency and has awarded the district with an Energy Star Leader Top-Performer designation,” he said. “That means that the our school sites, K-12, are in the top 15 percent nationally in energy efficiency as calculated by the EPA.”

In an effort to conserve energy as well as save money during rough economic times, RUSD contracted with Energy Education, Inc., a national consulting firm that helps clients aggressively save money through energy efficiency.

In 2009, RUSD hired Fotia, who was previously a teacher and has a Master’s Degree in educational administration, to be trained as the district’s energy education specialist. Energy Education Inc. was responsible for Fotia’s training.

Instead of requiring capital investment for new equipment or retrofitting current equipment, the program is geared primarily toward changing organizational behavior.

Fotia’s main job is to lead staff and faculty in examining every energy use point in the district, ensuring that energy is used as necessary and making sure it is never being wasted.

He also gives presentations about the benefits of energy efficiency at student assemblies and in classrooms.

“You can see that it’s on their minds in elementary school, middle school, and in the high schools,” Fotia said. “They care about energy efficiency and sustainability.”

Oscar Stephenson, an eighth-grader at Moore Middle School, writes articles in the school newspaper regarding various issues of the day, including an article about the importance of energy conservation.

“It’s important so we can preserve our planet,” he said.

As part of his job, Fotia collaborates with RUSD maintenance and operations director Joe Aceto to oversee RUSD heating, cooling and ventilation (HCVS) systems, making sure that all the systems are running as programmed.

“Joe Aceto is vital in the operation of the main equipment,” Fotia said.

Moore Middle School Principal Julie Swan, whose school has one of the district’s oldest and most outdated HCVS systems, is proud that the school, along with the others in the district, has managed to contribute to the district’s large savings.

To read entire story, click here.

CHINO HILLS – Southern California Edison has been ordered to investigate another underground power-line route for the power lines due to carry 500 kilovolts of wind-generated electricity through the city.

Earlier this month, Edison turned over a 96-page document to the state Public Utility Commission that detailed “feasibility, cost and timing” on 16 possible options for building the high-voltage Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project through Chino Hills.

Transmission poles and towers are being built in Edison’s right of way through a 5-mile stretch of Chino Hills to meet the state’s mandate to generate more sustainable energy.

The $2.1 billion power line project is intended to bring wind-generated electricity from Kern County to the Los Angeles Basin.

Chino Hills officials have spent $2.4 million in battling Edison in a lawsuit for two years insisting that its right-of-way through the city is too narrow for the 200-foot power towers.

After reviewing Edison’s documents, city officials concurred it was incomplete and requested the commission send Edison back to do further analysis on a single-circuit underground scenario, City Manager Mike Fleager said.

All of Edison’s studies for undergrounding have been double circuit lines, none of their studies were for single circuit because it wasn’t required, Councilman Ed Graham said.

After identifying this, and that there is a potential for it to be cheaper, the city submitted a letter to the commission on Jan. 16 requesting a report be done on a single-circuit 500-kilovolt line underground, Fleager said.

To read entire story, click here.

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 09:02 PM

The last time a Los Angeles councilman proposed taking a serious look at what it would take to transfer control of Ontario International Airport back to the city of Ontario, the Inland city didn’t have a serious proposal.

Now it does.

With Ontario’s offer of $50 million on the table, a Los Angeles city councilman has, for the second time in less than two years, proposed that his city research what it would take to cede control and ownership of the airport to the Inland Southern California city and if it would be worth it.

On Tuesday, Councilman Dennis Zine, along with Councilman Bill Rosendahl, proposed a motion for city staff to determine the fair market value of the airport and how it could be transferred, as well as analysis of the city of Ontario’s current proposal to take control of the airport.

Ontario has proposed giving Los Angeles $50 million for its general fund and taking on $75 million in debt to get back the airport. It’s a proposal that was publicly rebuffed by the executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that owns and operates the airport, LAX and Van Nuys Airport. The city of Los Angeles has managed the airport since 1967, taking ownership in 1985.

In a statement Tuesday, Ontario City Councilman Alan Wapner said the city was, “extremely pleased” about the motion introduced by Zine and Rosendahl.

An email from Zine’s press secretary indicated that the councilman was invited to tour the airport by a member of Ontario’s City Council who is a colleague on the Southern California Association of Governments council.

“We are confident that when all the facts are known and carefully considered that the LA city government will recognize that our offer is fair,” and better than what has been provided in other airport transfers, Wapner said.

The motion, simply a starting point for consideration, was sent to the city of Los Angeles’ Trade, Commerce & Tourism Committee. No action could be taken until the committee sends it back to the full City Council for a vote. Even then the committee could modify it or kill it before it gets a chance to go to the council for a full vote. Rosendahl and another councilman, Greig Smith, made a similar motion in May 2010 to look at the feasibility of transferring the airport.

“Resources are scarce and the need of LA residents is for the focus to stay at LAX to promote a maximum economic growth for Los Angeles City,” the most recent motion states.

To read entire story, click here.

The Fontana and Rialto city councils scrambled on Tuesday night to approve measures paving the way for a Feb. 1 deadline for the dissolution of their redevelopment agencies.

Meanwhile, because of the complexity of what needs to be accomplished in a short time frame, two bond-rating agencies have taken negative actions toward billions of dollars in California bonds secured by redevelopment tax increment revenue.

Moody’s Investor Services recently downgraded by one notch $11.6 billion in these state bonds, rated Baa2 and above.

It also placed billions of dollars in the remaining bonds in this category on credit watch.

“Compliance with the requirements of the new legislative framework may prove challenging, particularly in the near term as affected agencies attempt to interpret the law and comply with its specified time lines,” Moody’s analysts wrote.

On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings placed all California bonds secured by redevelopment tax increment revenue on “Rating Watch Negative.”

Fitch cited “the short time frame to create guidelines to implement the legislation and the apparent lack of progress in resolving a number of inconsistencies and uncertainties contained therein.”

“…It is clear that a number of questions remain which ultimately may need to be addressed through follow-up legislation,” Fitch said.

A coalition of labor, business, local government public safety and affordable housing advocates are working with members of the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 659, which would postpone the deadline until April 15.

Jim Kennedy, the executive director of the California Redevelopment Association, said he was hopeful the measure will pass.

To read entire story, click here.

Agreement delays decisions on furlough days, benefits cuts
January 24, 2012 3:29 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE • Three months after declaring an impasse, the Victor Valley Union High School District and its teachers union have struck a tentative agreement. (Click here to read the agreemment.)

But rather than resolve contentious compensation issues, the proposed deal essentially delays the hard decisions until negotiations resume in March for the 2012-13 school year.

District officials had been pushing to issue teachers eight furlough days, or unpaid days off, in the name of ensuring the district’s long-term financial stability. Union officials had protested the furloughs for slashing teacher pay by 4 to 7 percent and argued the district could instead pull from its healthy reserves.

Monday marked the third negotiation session led by an impartial state mediator, with several dozen teachers wearing bright red union shirts and signs like “Treat teachers fairly” while picketing outside all three meetings.

Under the tentative agreement reached Monday, existing teacher contract terms will remain in effect until at least June 30. The district could have opted to advance through the impasse process in an attempt to ultimately force furloughs on the teachers.

“It was very nice to see the district was working real well with the negotiating team,” VVTA President Jose Berrios said by phone Tuesday. “It was a real good meeting. It was a good positive step.”

The agreement states that salary and health and welfare benefits are “automatic reopeners” this spring when negotiations resume. It also requires both sides to “sunshine,” or disclose at a public meeting, their initial proposals for the 2012-13 school year by March 1.

“The District would like to thank VVTA and its negotiating team for their professionalism at the bargaining table and looks forward to productive bargaining session, commencing in March 2012,” states a district memo to all certificated staff from Steven Desist, assistant superintendent of human resources.

Desist did not return a Tuesday call for comment.

It’ll be up to union members to determine their next specific proposals, Berrios said, though it doesn’t seem likely they’ll be eager to swallow the concessions the district has wanted. Teachers are also waiting to see if Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative will pass and improve the district’s fiscal situation.

“We still feel that there’s enough in the reserve that we can survive,” Berrios said.

The union membership now has 10 days to ratify the agreement with a vote before sending it to the district board for adoption.

If green-lighted by the union, the deal means it won’t be necessary for the district to take the next step to resolve an impasse called fact-finding, which would have involved a panel listening to arguments for both sides at an evidentiary hearing

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at NLindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

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BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 23 January 2012 07:06 PM

“Let the next mayor’s campaign begin,” Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge declared in his final State of the City speech late last week.

Apparently the candidates listened, because a day later, the barbs began flying in what had so far been a quiet race.

A flap over endorsements arose Friday when former councilman Ed Adkison, one of six candidates for mayor, Googled himself and found a Web page for opponent William “Rusty” Bailey’s campaign naming him as one of Bailey’s supporters. Bailey is a city councilman.

“I’m hunting for information on myself and I found out I endorsed Rusty Bailey,” Adkison said. He wasn’t the only one councilmen Mike Gardner and Andy Melendrez, who also are running for mayor, were listed among Bailey’s endorsements.

The 2012 mayor’s race is expected to be heated because Loveridge will retire when his term ends in a matter of months, leaving the seat open for the first time since 1994.

To read entire story, click here.

By Art Marroquin and Liset Márquez, Staff Writers
Created: 01/23/2012 04:05:25 PM PST

The president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday called for a resolution stating that LA/Ontario International Airport will not be available for a transfer or sale for at least two years.

The move comes less than one week after Ontario embarked on a new public relations campaign known as “Set Ontario Free” to wrest control of the midsize airport from Los Angeles.

“The transfer of Ontario is not something we have solicited, it’s what (the city of) Ontario has asked for,” said Lawson, who is chairman of the seven-member civilian panel that oversees Los Angeles International, ONT and Van Nuys airports.

“I don’t see any reason for it,” Lawson said. “I’d like to take it off the table for now.”

But Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner isn’t phased by the board’s new direction, as city officials are dealing directly with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council.

“It’s an offer on the table for the mayor and council, if they refuse, our offer then – we’ll file a claim and sue,” Wapner said.

Los Angeles city and airport leaders have rebuffed a $50 million offer from Ontario city leaders to assume control of ONT.

Ontario originally approached the commission with the offer and they chose not to “act on it,” said Wapner, who is the city’s liaison on the issue.

“If we wait for a resolution in two years, (ONT) will be closed by then. What they’re clearly saying is Ontario is not important and concentrating on LAX,” Wapner said.

The city of Los Angeles has spent more than $560 million on a series of improvements since it assumed management of ONT in 1967, including the construction of two new airline terminals during the 1990s.

Ontario officials balk at the figure, saying the improvements were all paid by the Federal Aviation Administration as well as fees passed onto passengers and air carriers at the airport.

“They have not invested a penny into it. If they say otherwise then I’d like to see proof of that,” Wapner said.

Ontario city leaders have claimed Los Angeles city leaders have allowed ONT to struggle while focusing on efforts to boost traffic at LAX.

Lawson reiterated ONT has not fully recovered from a recession-fueled loss of flights, along with one-third of its traveler base since 2007.

Lawson said he is bothered by Ontario’s newly launched campaign, adding that it “impunes the integrity,” of the commission. Lawson, who noted that he board is not paid, called it the most ethical, hard working commission “the city has ever seen.”

Lawson said he takes personal any implications that “we have done less.”

Commissioner Boyd Hight added that the board has offered Ontario, three times, the opportunity to lead in marketing efforts to improve traffic at ONT. They have decline each time.

To read entire story, click here.

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/23/2012 10:37:37 AM PST

CHINO – City Council members agreed last week to hire an outside agency to find candidates to replace City Manager Patrick Glover, who will retire next month.

The agency – Bob Murray and Associates – will conduct a search for an outside candidate.

Council members have also invited current employees to apply for the position, spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden said.

Fee for services for Bob Murray will be $17,500 and not to exceed $23,500, which would allow for expenses incurred.

“I think the whole council thinks Mr. Glover set the bar awfully high, and the council wants to explore trying to get the best and brightest candidate,” Mayor Dennis Yates said.

Council members will conduct interviews in closed session, Yates said, because some of the people who may apply are already employed and they don’t want their name “out there that they’re looking for another job.”

“I’ll be frank, I’ve been getting calls from other city managers who are interested in Chino,” he said. “I think we have a pretty good reputation in the Inland Empire as a pretty steady council.”

Yates said he too has names of some prospects who he will provide to Murray.

Council members also agreed to hire an interim city manager in February.

To read entire story, click here.

It falls short of the 7.75% average that actuaries say CalPERS needs to meet obligations. Calendar-year results are just indicators — the public pension fund’s fiscal year ends in June.

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— The nation’s largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, posted a 1.1% return on its investment portfolio in 2011, Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dear told his board.

The 2011 performance was well below the estimated average annual return of 7.75% that the fund’s actuaries say is needed to meet current and future obligations to its members.

The $229.5-billion CalPERS provides retirement and other benefits for 1.6 million state and local government employees and their families.

CalPERS’ annual investment results, whose volatility has echoed that of the overall markets, have become the focal point in an ongoing debate about looming pension fund liabilities and the ability of future generations of taxpayers to continue financing them. Gov. Jerry Brown has said he wants to overhaul state and local government pension programs, but whether he and the Legislature have the political wherewithal to do so in an election year remains unclear.

During the 2011 calendar year, CalPERS lost 7.95% on its public equity investments, lost 2.29% on its hedge fund investments, earned 12.38% on bonds and earned 9.92% on real estate.

To read entire story, click here.

As the lights are fading to black for California’s 425 redevelopment agencies, their successors will inherit $29.8 billion in unpaid long-term debt, according to the latest figures from the state controller’s office.

And that doesn’t include the wild-eyed issuance of at least $700 million in new debt last year, when the agencies had a hunch they’d soon be dismantled.

Orange County’s 25 redevelopment agencies — with 38 different project areas — had racked up $2.2 billion in outstanding debt by 2010.

The biggest bills in O.C. belonged to Santa Ana ($547 million), Anaheim ($220.9 million), Brea ($192.8 million) and Irvine ($181.6 million).

The details of how all that money will be repaid are being worked out in the sausage mills of Sacramento. (See the long-term debt of all 25 O.C. redevelopment agencies below, as well as summaries of what the local agencies accomplished in 2010.)

Redevelopment agencies were the Legislature’s brainchild more than 60 years ago. The idea was to help cities battle blight and urban decay: Once a specific area was declared a redevelopment zone, the city could keep a larger slice of the property tax pie, and plow that money back into sprucing the area up.

Critics, however, argued that cities misused the money for projects favoring developers, or failed to deliver, or horded millions in reserve accounts (or all of the above).

One of those critics was Gov. Jerry Brown. And so last year, the Legislature dissolved redevelopment agencies, in an effort to recoup $1.7 billion in property taxes for the ailing state budget.

Cities fought. And lost.

And so here we are, with 425 redevelopment agencies slated to disappear on Feb. 1 – nine days from now — but with projects worth billions of dollars in all phases of development up and down the state.

“Nearly every redevelopment agency has design contracts pending on redevelopment infrastructure projects, for which a construction contract has not yet been entered into,” says the California Redevelopment Association. “Under terms of (the dissolution) those projects are dead effective February 1, yet the agency is legally obligated to honor the design contract. This will result in the payment of public funds for design work on a project which will never be built.”

To read entire story, click here.

Monday, January 23, 2012 – 09:30 a.m.

An anti-recall effort meant to protect certain members of the Fullerton city council flopped last week when recall backers turned in an overwhelming number of signatures to qualify a recall ballot.

The city council targets?

• Don Bankhead: 17,064 signatures
• F. Richard “Dick” Jones: 17,587 signatures
• Patrick McKinley: 17,603 signatures

Of interest is news that the anti-recall effort was mounted by a figure familiar to San Bernardino County political circles.

That figure, David Ellis, owner of Delta Partners LLC, is political consultant to San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos and Sheriff Rod Hoops.

Ellis was probably paid a pretty penny for his failed effort.

Ellis can also be credited for Ramos and Hoops opposition to cuts to there own benefits under the disingenuous guise of “It affects are independence as county-wide elected officials”.

Anyways, here is the link to a post at FullertonsFuture.org

Molly Davis, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/21/2012 03:24:10 PM PST

REDLANDS – Oranges. They’re all over Redlands. In the groves, on the street signs, on the city’s logo, even on the masthead of this newspaper.

And for the past few weeks, oranges have had members of the city baffled as they try to understand who has been managing the city’s groves.

The city owns nearly 200 acres of citrus groves, including oranges and grapefruits, and has an entire commission, the Citrus Preservation Commission, dedicated to advising the City Council on the “acquisition, improvement, preservation and retention of citrus properties within the city,” according to the Municipal Code.

But when it comes to farming these groves, who’s in charge?

That’s the question that took the city and the council weeks to resolve. At its meeting on Jan. 17, the council took a step to decisively answer who will take care of the groves.

After a bid process in November, Larry Jacinto Farms, who had been farming many of the city’s 16 groves, received a four-year contract of $821,585 for care, maintenance and harvest of the city’s groves.

But Jacinto wasn’t the only one farming the groves. Pete Marcum of Redlands Farming has been farming the groves, too. Both businesses have been working without contracts for years.

At the Dec. 20 City Council meeting, the Quality of Life department’s senior project manager Danielle Garcia said that a shift in departmental responsibilities in the last fiscal year led the citrus budget to her department.

In an effort to review the budget, and ultimately save city funds, Garcia found that the farming had not been contracted like other city services. In fact, there were no contracts, just invoices.

“I’m sure you’re all aware that agriculture, specifically citrus grove farming, doesn’t lend itself very easily to arbitrary stop-start times,” she told the council.

After this revelation, the city worked to find a way to effectively budget an area that is unlike other city departments, whose revenues flux by the season.

“The uniqueness and intrinsic value of the city’s citrus preservation program does not lend itself easily to the Request for Bid Process, and in the past, these farming services have not been formally bid,” the Dec. report said. “However, in the current financial climate, staff is attempting to bring financial order to the process of managing the farming service contracts.”

Garcia told the council she couldn’t find a model for Redlands’ citrus groves because other cities don’t own and operate their own groves.

“We’re the only city in the nation that does this,” Councilman Jon Harrison said at the Jan. 17 council meeting. “We do it because it’s something our community believes in. It needs to be approached somewhat differently.”

But how to approach it caused concern among staff, the commission, councilmen and the farmers who have been caring for these groves for years.

To read entire story, click here.

Dan Walters

Published: Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Whenever someone suggests that California’s public employee pension systems need reform, civil service unions react dismissively, often with attacks on the credentials or even the morals of critics.

When, for example, a Public Policy Institute of California poll found strong support – even among public workers themselves – for Gov. Jerry Brown’s middle-of-the-road pension reform plan, the union-backed Californians for Retirement Security reacted thusly:

“These poll results are not surprising. They amount to more fallout from a sustained and unrelenting misinformation campaign being fed to Californians,” and continued: “Millions of public servants in California are doing their jobs and planning their futures with the promise of retirement security made to them. Even they are being peppered, however, with misleading and disproportionate examples of the tiny fraction of six-figure pensions and isolated cases of abuse. Pensions equal less than 3 percent of this state’s beleaguered budget, while California corporations swim in profits and are dodging contributing tens of billions to state coffers through a slew of tax breaks.”

A day after that poll was published, a research team based at Stanford University and headed by former Democratic Assemblyman Joe Nation released an updated analysis of state and local pension funds, concluding that they are hundreds of billions of dollars underfunded, and unless reformed, will seriously erode future financing of schools, health care and other services.

The reaction from Californians for Retirement Security was even more scathing, to wit:

To read entire column, click here.

By Ed Mendel
Monday, January 23, 2012

A new advisory panel, following a move by CalPERS last year, recommends that public pensions take a small step that touches on a big issue: What happens if pension fund earnings fall below the forecast?

Investment earnings are expected to provide two-thirds or more of the money needed to pay pensions in future decades. Critics say earnings forecasts, 7.75 percent a year for CalPERS and CalSTRS, are too optimistic and conceal massive taxpayer debt.

To make more pension information public, the first report of an actuarial panel recommends, among other things, that retirement systems add a “sensitivity analysis,” which is likely to show what happens if earnings miss their target in the next few years.

It’s not a long-term forecast like a Stanford graduate student study two years ago. Using a lower risk-free bond rate advocated by some economists, 4.1 percent, the study showed how state pension debt ballooned from the reported $55 billion to $500 billion.

Pension debt has become a political issue cited by reform advocates, who say public pensions must be overhauled to prevent the growing cost from eating up money needed for basic government services.

A short-term “sensitivity analysis” is intended to be practical, a way to help state and local governments know how much their annual pension costs may vary in the next few budget cycles if investment earnings or other factors miss their target.

For the first time, the annual California Public Employees Retirement System actuarial report last fall on state and non-teaching school pensions included a sensitivity analysis.

The report showed how employer contributions could vary if, all other factors remaining unchanged, earnings during three fiscal year are above or below the target by a little or a lot.

For example, if earnings hit the target of 7.75 percent the employer contribution in fiscal 2015-16 for most state workers would be 19.5 percent of pay. (The employee contribution, 8 percent of pay, is bargained with labor and presumably unchanged.)

But if total investment earnings this fiscal year and the next two fiscal years show a loss, minus 3.64 percent, the employer contribution in 2015-16 would increase by about half to 28.9 percent of pay.

Falling short of the 7.75 percent target with earnings of 2.93 percent would increase the 2015-16 contribution to 22.6 percent of pay. Exceeding the target with earnings of 19.02 percent would produce little change, dropping the rate to 18 percent.

The sensitivity analysis may not be the long-term debt calculation sought by reformers. But it does clearly show the risk of how a double-dip recession, and another plunge in the stock market, could drive up government costs.

The California Actuarial Advisory Panel, with eight members appointed by public officeholders and agencies, was created by legislation recommended by the California Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission four years ago.

“There is no single clearinghouse for funding policies and practices from around the state and country which can be used to evaluate the actuarial assumptions, crediting rates, or proposed actions of a particular retirement system,” the commission said.

Actuaries have a key role in setting the annual payment that state and local governments must make to pension funds. During a push to cut pension costs, former Gov. Pete Wilson obtained legislation giving lawmakers control of the CalPERS actuary.

A labor-backed initiative, Proposition 162 in 1992, returned control of the actuary to the CalPERS board, while also giving all public pension boards control of their administration and pension funds to prevent Wilson-like “raids” on “surpluses.”

The importance of actuary control was seen in a major state pension increase, SB 400 in 1999. The trendsetting benefits now called “too rich” and “unsustainable” by some are being rolled back for new hires and blamed for soaring pension costs.

CalPERS, the SB 400 sponsor, told legislators the increased pensions would be paid for by a surplus, investment earnings and inflating pension fund assets, leaving state pension costs unchanged for a decade, said a legislative bill analysis.

To read entire column, click here.