Passion vs. Reason

            La Mesa held one of its signature events - the annual Flag Day parade - on the second of June. The parade was able to take place because well-intentioned Council members and generous citizens successfully raised $15,000 to support it. Until recently the City provided that money.

            At a Community meeting last February I pointed out that the City can no longer support the annual Flag Day parade because it has allowed employee pensions to become fundamentally unfair and unaffordable - even with the additional $7 million annual sales tax collections imposed beginning in 2008. La Mesa spends about $4 million more each year on pensions than it would were its' expenditures to match what is typical in the private sector. I attempted to illustrate the folly of the situation by pointing out that $4 million would fund 266 Flag Day parades.

            As much as I respect our flag and what it stands for, I'm not advocating more than one parade a year - so maybe that was not the best way to make the point that we pay a price for our excessively generous pension. President Obama's remarks that the private sector is doing all right while the public sector has lost jobs, brought to mind another way to make the point: A major reason that State and local public sector employment has decreased is because public sector workers, with the acquiescence of public officials, have priced themselves out of the market. The "excess" $4 million we spend on pensions could have been used to put additional 27 - 30 police patrolmen on our streets.

            I have not asked the La Mesa Police Chief how many additional patrolmen he would like to have in the force in order to maintain the safety of our City. That number is likely less than 27. However I remember the Chief saying, at the public financial planning meeting held in March, that the safety of our city would be improved with the addition of several more officers. The additional police would not only provide for improved public safety, it would help with the employment problem - particularly among veterans.

            I have the impression that that a significant number of people forget that money provided by the government isn't free. Every dollar spent by government must first be taken from taxpayers and ratepayers. Dollars spent for pensions cannot be spent for other purposes - in the example given above, improved safety and more jobs. Interests of taxpayers and ratepayers must be balanced against those of public sector employees. That balance is absent in the case of public sector pensions. Passions have been put ahead of reason.

            The Little Hoover Commission on California pensions pointed out that we have let public sector pensions morph from providing retirement security into becoming wealth generators. The Commission made several sensible and fair recommendations to return fairness and sustainability to the system. Were our leaders to follow those recommendations most of the financial problem faced by our State and our cities could be solved.