The outcome of a case in Orange County has led San Diego city officials to abandon a potential legal fight regarding $900 million in pension benefits grants. The city actually dismissed the lawsuit two months ago, bringing to a close an issue that was previously pushed by former San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre, who argued that “San Diego violated the state’s debt-limit laws by awarding retroactive pension benefits to its public employees in 1996 and 2002 without getting approval from voters,” according to the Union Tribune. So why did the city see the case as a losing battle? Orange County attempted to argue in court that a retroactive increase in retirement benefits for deputy sheriffs – established back in 2001 – was a violation of the state’s Constitution, but the State Supreme Court eventually denied the county’s appeal and thereby upheld a decision from 2009 that posited voter approval was not necessary for the enhancement in deputy sheriffs’ retirement benefits. The Tribune reports:
“Current City Attorney Jan Goldsmith dismissed the lawsuit June 15 at the direction of the City Council after the state Supreme Court denied an appeal in an Orange County case challenging retroactive benefits for deputy sheriffs. ‘We pursue cases that have a chance of success,’ Goldsmith said in a statement Tuesday. ‘That’s why we have won every pension case during the past two years.’ Goldsmith had previously said that an appeals court decision in the Orange County case drove a stake through the city’s lawsuit, which he admittedly never gave much credence. Still, he said he waited until the Supreme Court weighed in on Orange County’s appeal in April before seeking a dismissal.”
The unions involved in the matter have also withdrawn their request for $4.5 million in attorney fees. Despite the city’s decision, Aguirre contends the dismissal of the case is a betrayal to the taxpayers because he calls it “winnable.”
Comments