Appeals Court Rejects City Bid to Consolidate Prop. B Cases

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith's attempt to consolidate legal cases involving the voter-approved pension reform initiative, bypassing the state Public Employee Relations Board, was rejected Tuesday by a three-justice appellate panel.

Associate Justice Alex McDonald, with concurrence from 4th District Court of Appeal Justices Judith McConnell and Terry O'Rourke, ruled that PERB was the appropriate place to iron out disputes between backers of Proposition B and municipal labor organizations that opposed the ballot measure.

The city's unions believe the initiative, approved by 66 percent of the voters in the June 5 election, should have triggered a requirement for the city to meet with them regarding its terms before it was placed on the ballot. They claim that since Mayor Jerry Sanders was among its primary backers, Proposition B was a city-sponsored initiative.

Goldsmith said it was a citizen's initiative that does not require the meet-and-confer process in advance. He said no law exists in which the support of an elected official changes such a ballot measure into one that is city- sponsored.

The ruling did not address substantive issues other than to say the unions had some evidence to back their claims.

"It's all procedural," Goldsmith told City News Service. "We were trying to short-circuit going through PERB."

He said the process of resolving litigation will be delayed since it will go through an administrative law judge and the PERB Board of Directors before being appealed to the same court that issued today's decision.

"We tried. It's a matter of time and expense," Goldsmith said.

Proposition B calls for new employees other than police officers to be given 401(k)-style plans instead of being enrolled in the debt-ridden pension system. Also, workers will only be able to figure their base salaries over the next five years into the eventual retirement payouts.

The meet-and-confer process with unions only comes into play now—after passage—to discuss implementation, Goldsmith said. He said he sent letters to the labor organizations inviting them to meet, has received positive responses and has even held a couple of informal get-togethers.

Implementing the terms of the ballot measure in a manner fair to both sides should not be difficult, he said.

Meanwhile, the city and unions have a status hearing scheduled in court on Friday.

-City News Service