作为加利福尼亚州圣何塞市长,Charles Rufus (Chuck) Reed使养老金改革成为签名问题。2012年瑞德冠军成功的投票倡议,将大大改变加州市的公共养老金制度。联合批评者的法院立即挑战,法官推翻了一些主要规定。现在凭借芦苇,无法服务于第三个任期,他的改革未来,被吹捧为其他加州市的模型,是不确定的。
Two candidates are facing off in the November 4 mayoral election. City Councilman Sam Liccardo has promised to uphold Reed’s reforms, whereas Santa Clara County Supervisor David Cortese has promised to roll back reforms, which he and his supporters say have caused a health and safety crisis in San Jose.
Reed已获得Liccardo。大多数主要工会,包括城市警察和消防员,正在支持皮质切片。更不寻常是所有三个 - 皮质事,Liccardo和芦苇 - 是民主党人。选举是一个径流。
在这一点中,三篇文章中的第一个看2014年的公共养老金选举,亚博赞助欧冠examines what’s at stake in San Jose, a city of around 1 million people on the eastern edge of Silicon Valley. Although San Jose has always been the blue-collar city in Silicon Valley, it nevertheless boasts a median household income of $91,533, making it one of the wealthiest cities per capita in the U.S. But for more than a decade, it has suffered from significant budget deficits. Its fiscal 2013–’14 budget shortfall was $700 million on a $2.9 billion operating budget,and there have been cuts to basic city services. Some 13.9 percent of the population makes less than $25,000 a year, whereas45.4%赚10万美元或以上.
The San Jose mayoral race is tight, but Cortese seems to have a slight edge. Some 34 percent of respondents in an October 12–16 poll from San Jose State University said they would vote for Cortese, and 26 percent opted for Liccardo, though some 35 percent remain undecided. Among respondents, 26 percent said that increasing funding for fire and police — Cortese’s core issue — was important to them; the same percent answered that maintaining efforts to reduce city employee pension costs was their most important issue. However, a larger percentage of respondents, 52 percent, thought public safety was “important, but not the most important issue.”
两个因素使圣何塞种族特别复杂。首先是芦苇的养老金改革计划的性质以及它今天的立场。第二次涉及公共安全问题,这是养老金战斗加剧。在背景中徘徊是芦苇的政治遗产,加利福尼亚州养老金改革的未来和圣何塞的财政健康。
After a city council vote, Reed’s pension reform effort was put to San Jose voters on June 5, 2012. The ballot question, known as Measure B, gave current city workers the option of switching to a smaller pension or staying in the remaining plan but paying more to pay off existing pension debt. It also included the ability to impose a five-year freeze on pension increases and would switch new hires into a hybrid plan that would include Social Security, a defined benefit or a defined contribution plan.
Measure B was passed, with nearly 70 percent of the votes. Litigation followed, and the Santa Clara County Superior Court overturned key provisions of the proposal, such as the city’s ability to change vested pension benefits or previously agreed-upon beneficiary contributions. In addition, the court tentatively ruled that San Jose must pay for its own legal defense. Those challenges cut into the estimated cost savings of the pension reforms.
与此同时,故事浮出水面,即圣何塞队正在努力留住警方招募的薪资较竞争力和福利。截至2013年10月,圣何塞有1000名警察,从2008年的1,400名下降。仅2013年,该部队目睹了80多名偏离。到2014年3月,街道准备好的警察数量已跌至906,官员称,新秀警察正在寻求其他地方的工作。消防员也报道了人员配置水平问题。
警察和消防员责备他们对支付和预算削减的行列中的问题,包括养老金改革。然而,其他人指责凡夸大问题的工人来加入同情。
On October 17 an attorney and former San Jose police cadet, Elyse Rivas, published an op-ed column in theSan Jose Mercury Newsin which she described a demoralized police force and referred to a briefing given by Police Officers Association president Jim Unland. “In no uncertain terms, he blamed Measure B for the departure of hundreds of officers,” Rivas wrote, alleging that Unland “told us that it would be better for the department and for us if we would just quit, right then and there.”
联邦强烈否认指控。rivas后来说她不确定联盟总统使用了“戒烟”这个词。但是联邦确实告诉了水星新闻, “If you are accusing me of educating incoming recruits about benefits, I’m guilty as charged. But I was accused of telling them to quit right then and there, and that’s a lie.” In a statement on the web site Protect San Jose, an effort of the Police Officers Association and “community leaders,” Unland sought to discredit Rivas and accused the水星新闻列,因为“运行的编辑委员会y back Liccardo and know that he is losing this race.”
The水星新闻did endorse Liccardo in May. The local paper praised the city councilman for his intelligence and heart and accused Cortese, who was then Liccardo’s most likely opponent, of pandering to the unions and promoting policies that would return San Jose to the fiscally unstable past.
选民现在可以决定。