Constitution Modification FF has flown below the radar, and maybe that’s by design.
At a time when Los Angeles can’t afford to exchange broken street lights, repair dangerously damaged sidewalks or function safe, humane animal shelters, Mayor Karen Bass and the Metropolis Council are asking voters to spend $23 million from town finances so park rangers and a few cops can flip their good pensions into nice pensions.
Constitution Modification FF raises important questions on metropolis leaders’ priorities. Voters ought to reject it and ship the mayor and Metropolis Council again to the negotiating desk. L.A. is dealing with one other finances disaster, and metropolis leaders have to rethink the prices and tradeoffs of their guarantees to public worker unions.
FF would let some 460 cops and park rangers within the Police, Airport, Harbor, and Recreation and Parks departments switch their pensions from the beneficiant normal metropolis employee system to the much more beneficiant Los Angeles Hearth and Police Pension system, which may permit them to gather tens of hundreds of {dollars} extra annually in retirement.
For instance, an worker within the normal pension system would obtain roughly 63% of their wage in the event that they retired after 30 years on the job. These within the police system get 75% of their wage after 30 years, and 90% after 33 years, The Times reported.
The worth of FF could be a one-time $109-million payout, plus about $6.3 million a 12 months in ongoing prices. The town’s normal fund could be on the hook for $23 million upfront and an extra $1 million a 12 months, cash that might in any other case be used for fundamental metropolis providers, equivalent to road sweeping, tree trimming, police and hearth response. The Airport and the Port of Los Angeles would share the remaining one-time price of $86 million, plus $5.3 million a 12 months, paid from their division revenues.
The proponents, together with the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Assn., argue FF is a matter of equity. They are saying that as a result of all peace officers employed by town undergo the Police Academy, they need to obtain the identical advantages whether or not they work for the LAPD, Airport, Harbor or parks division.
However that misses the purpose of the LAPD’s extra beneficiant pensions. They’re used to draw workers to a extra harmful line of labor — and L.A. is already having a tough sufficient time recruiting LAPD officers. Peace officers working on the port, airport and parks actually face dangers on the job, however they’re decrease than these confronted by LAPD officers patrolling the streets. They usually knew that it got here with a less-generous pension once they signed up for the job. (Park rangers additionally don’t carry weapons, although there have been proposals to arm them.)
Additional complicating issues is {that a} portion of peace officers are already enrolled within the police pension system. Beforehand, voters permitted transferring new port hires into the extra beneficiant pension plan.
Officers already employed by the departments have been allowed to switch into the police pension plan however have been required to pay the total expense as a result of, voters were told, the transfer could be price impartial. The upfront price was so excessive that just a few officers transferred. Constitution Modification FF would now transfer these officers to the police pension for free of charge to them and refund the officers who beforehand paid the switch prices.
It’s comprehensible that the union representing peace officers would advocate for one of the best advantages for his or her members. However Bass and the Metropolis Council have a accountability to be good fiscal stewards, together with making certain that town can afford to ship dependable providers and preserve public infrastructure.
That’s not taking place, and voters ought to say no to irresponsible guarantees like Constitution Modification FF, which can solely make the scenario worse.
