DA's Charges Against Saathoff Dropped

Why didn't San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn and/or his second-in-command Leslie Devaney, who was the liaison to the City Council for Gwinn, warn the council against the pension deal? I'm happy to see that Bonnie Dumanis wasn't able to punish only employees when there was enough blame to go around a much broader group of involved persons.

See all posts re San Diego pension scam.
See more articles at Enron by the Sea about pension lawsuit.

DA's Charges Against Saathoff Dropped
May 5, 2010.

San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis dropped conflict of interest charges this morning against former firefighter union president and retirement board member Ron Saathoff for his role in the city's pension underfunding scandal, ending one of the two criminal prosecutions related to the 2002 actions.

In January, the California Supreme Court threw out conflict of interest charges against five other retirement board members saying they didn't receive a personalized financial gain from the decision to underfund the pension system in exchange for increased future benefits.

The court allowed charges against Saathoff to stand, but the ruling, Dumanis said in a press release, "substantially undermin[ed]" the case against him.

The decision is the latest in the string of pension legal failures...

SDCERA lawyers screw up big time, and Voice of San Diego's Rob Davis does their legal research

It seems that the California Bar Association has given law degrees to several people who shouldn't have them. But that doesn't explain why SDCERA would hire such people, does it? Perhaps the answer is suggested by the name of Rob Davis' blog: "In the muck."


Outsourcing to Pension Consultant Is Illegal, Attorney Says
April 1, 2010
Rob Davis
Voice of San Diego

Two weeks ago, when the county pension fund agreed to solicit offers to outsource its 10-member investment team, Lee Partridge planned to submit a bid.

Partridge, the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association's top investment consultant, had the blessing of the organization's attorney, Steven Rice. Even though Partridge had proposed creating the work, which would've paid his company more than $10 million annually, SDCERA's attorney said it was legal for him to bid. A perceived conflict existed, Rice said, but not an actual one.

Then I asked questions about whether Partridge's bid would violate a specific law that prohibits government employees from benefiting financially from contracts they're involved in creating. I found a state Attorney General's opinion that suggested it would be illegal.

I gave the opinion to County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a pension board member, who in turn asked for a legal analysis of my questions.

Today, the board got its answer: What it wanted to do is illegal. Partridge can't get the work...