It's been over three years since
I wrote about the
conflict situation of San Diego's pension board. Its members were
selected by the city government labor unions and by the city, and they
worked for the city. When an increase in their retirement benefits was
explicitly tied to their approval of a reduction in contributions to
the pension plan, the pension board members acted in their personal
interest and against the interest of the city's taxpayers in the responsible handling of the pension system. That is, the pension
board members voted for a deal that directly benefited them. And state
prosecutors brought an action against them for criminal conflict of
interest.
The wheels of justice move slowly, and the matter (which has not yet been tried) has made its
way to the state supreme court, which will hear the case Wednesday,
November 4. The briefs can be found
here
(Lexin v. S.C.), at least until Wednesday.