Cops, firefighters worry over pension plans Cops, firefighters worry over pension plans (April 27, 2005)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have backed away from a plan to replace state public employees' pensions with a 401(k)-style system, but local police and firefighters are still keeping a wary eye on their retirement benefits.

The governor's support of a ballot initiative to alter state Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) was met with outrage by police, firefighters, and their families, who said that their death and disability coverage would be gutted.

"The big, key thing is that we would lose the death benefits for our families. If, God forbid, one of us goes down in the line of duty, we would leave our families with nothing," said Rawn Pritchard, a battalion chief with the Woodside Fire Protection District.

Generous pension plans, such as the "3 percent at 50" that allows firefighters to retire at 90 percent of their highest annual salary as early as age 50, are the result of hard work and years of sacrificing salary increases in favor of retirement benefits, Mr. Pritchard said.

"The governor made it sound as if we were just handed these retirements," he said. "Over the years we've given up a lot to get this retirement (package)."

The pension reform plan espoused by Gov. Schwarzenegger would affect new police officers and firefighters, not existing employees, said Lt. Glenn Nielsen of the Atherton Police Department.

"I was worried about it, not so much for myself or the employees we have now, but for future employees," he said. "Revised pensions could adversely affect recruiting for police officers."

During the boom years of the late 1990s, said Atherton Police Chief Bob Brennan, public safety agencies in Silicon Valley were having a tough time recruiting and keeping employees. The 3 percent at 50 pension plan became a standard as police departments tried to remain competitive, he said.

"One of the things people don't remember, is that when the economy was going big and strong, cities were not paying into PERS. They were getting credits because their investments were doing so well," said Chief Brennan.

One of the reasons for the generous pension program is to encourage law-enforcement officers and firefighters to retire when they're younger than workers in other industries, Lt. Nielsen said.

"Nobody wants a 70-year-old officer checking the back yard for burglars," he said.

Although it appears that pension proposals won't show up on ballots this year, the subject hasn't disappeared.

On April 7, Mr. Schwarzenegger told reporters that the language of the pension initiative would be rewritten to be more clear and would likely appear on the June 2006 ballot.

He said that the decision to rewrite it is based on concerns of widows and families of police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty that their death and disability benefits would be affected. He said he hoped the state Legislature would negotiate on the issue.

"We'll have to keep our eye on him," said Lt. Nielsen.

Chief Brennan said he believes that representatives from law-enforcement and firefighter unions will be working with Gov. Schwarzenegger on any future attempts to alter the public pension system.

"I don't think anybody in police work that I know of is in favor of a 401(k) system," Chief Brennan said.

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