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Pro. B Supporters Vow to Continue to Fight for Pension Reform and Voters
San Diego labor unions and PERB, a state agency backed by government employee unions, would rather protect the status quo than San Diego taxpayers
SAN DIEGO (February 13, 2013): Three members of the Proposition B Comprehensive Pension Reform Committee Carl DeMaio, T.J. Zane and Lani Lutar issued the following statement in response today to the ruling by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) opposed to Prop. B: Four San Diego labor unions and PERB, a state agency backed by government employee unions, are challenging the legality of Proposition B because they would rather protect the status quo than San Diego taxpayers. We anticipated this ruling but that doesnt mean we do not empathize with San Diegans who supported this pension reform measure and are frustrated with the attempts by government employee unions to turn back the will of the voters. More than 115,000 voters signed a petition to place Prop. B on the June 2012 ballot, and it passed with 66 percent of the vote. We will continue to fight for San Diegans and we are confident the courts will side with the will of the voters. We are, however, disappointed to see tax dollars wasted on an effort to trample constitutional rights and we strongly urge the government employee unions to call off this futile and costly effort. Voters approved Prop. B because it ends pension spiking, saves taxpayers nearly $1 billion and places all new hires in a 401k-type plan, ensuring public employee benefits are no better or worse than whats provided to employees in the private sector. In a July op-ed in U-T San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith noted PERBs claims arent supported by facts: Contrary to PERBs accusations, the initiative was authored, drafted, developed, promoted and funded by community members associated with the San Diego Taxpayers Association and San Diego Lincoln Club, a private organization that has been around for over 30 years. There was no evidence that any of these people were controlled by the mayor. In fact, when presented with the mayors objection to portions of their proposal, they told the mayor they would proceed with their initiative with or without his support. ###