San Jose Looks To End Retirement Benefits For Felonious City Employees

Campbell CA

30 July, 2021

9:23 AM

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By Lloyd Alaban, San Jose Spotlight July 28, 2021 A San Jose committee will consider moving forward with a proposal to strip retirement benefits from city employees convicted of felonies. The proposal, which comes from Mayor Sam Liccardo and will be discussed by the city's Rules and Open Government Committee on Wednesday, looks to cancel retirement benefits for any city employee who commits a felony or is convicted of treason. The city's retirement board can allow payment of any benefits that the worker's spouse or children are entitled to as long as they don't live or share expenses with the retiree. "Pension forfeiture is appropriate for those that breach the public trust by committing felonies and has symbolic importance for addressing the inevitable public outrage that a wrongdoer will receive his pension despite his wrongdoing," Liccardo said in a memo. If approved Wednesday, the proposal will move to the City Council for consideration. The Rules and Open Government Committee decides what items get placed on the council's agenda and when they are heard. At least one union opposes the proposal: the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21, which represents more than 800 city workers. "The Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 and related Public Employees' Retirement Law already allows pension forfeiture for criminal activity as long as the criminal activity is job-related," said Matt Mason, staff representative for IFPTE Local 21. "Plus, the proposed language use of 'felony' creates a very broad standard at which an employee's pension could be denied. We are not sure exactly what problem the mayor is trying to address with this very broad new pension reform language, but IFPTE Local 21 opposes such changes at this time." According to the memo, Liccardo learned from a CNN reporter that two retired San Jose police officers continue receiving pensions between $70,000 to $90,000 annually despite being convicted of sexual assault, which motivated him to issue the proposal. Stripping city employees of their retirement benefits is currently the decision of San Jose's retirement board. Representatives from the San Jose Police Officers Association didn't respond to requests for comment about the proposal. Other San Jose police officers have faced similar allegations of sexual assault. A 2020 Independent Police Auditor's report noted that one cop was reprimanded for trying to kiss a woman without her consent last year, though critics say the officer's punishment didn't go far enough. The offending officer is no longer with the department, though it's unclear whether he was fired or if he resigned. "Our taxpaying residents, employees and retirees all deserve better," Liccardo said. Other cities have different procedures for dealing with convicted felons on their benefit rolls. Nicholas Stella, a Chicago police officer convicted in a gambling ring last week, lost his retirement benefits, while Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of the second-degree murder of George Floyd, is still eligible for pension benefits worth more than $1 million. The Rules and Open Government Committee meets Wednesday at 2 p.m. To learn more about the committee and how to participate in meetings, click here. Contact Lloyd Alaban at [email protected] or follow @lloydalaban on Twitter. San José Spotlight is the city's first nonprofit news organization dedicated to independent political and business reporting. Please support our public service journalism by clicking here.