Re “S.D. pension payment hits record high” (Jan. 10): The article again notes city officials’ claims that recent pay hikes were needed to offset a 2013 to 2018 “wage freeze.” Public data show otherwise.
According to California’s official payroll database (publicpay.ca.gov), average city of San Diego wages rose from about $59,900 in 2013 to $67,100 in 2018, a 12% increase, while employer-paid retirement and health contributions more than doubled from roughly $6,300 to $13,500 per employee.
Despite the record, Mayor Todd Gloria invokes a debunked “wage freeze” to rationalize pension-inflating raises while sidestepping responsibility for the budget deficit those decisions helped create. That kind of erratic decision-making is not good governance, and San Diegans deserve better.
— Jax Johnston, South Park
The record city pension payment due to extra salary increases in addition to automatic pay hikes is the problem — excess spending due to catering to union demands over the years. The mayor’s and the City Council’s plan to decrease the deficit with the dishonest trash fees and parking meters at Balboa Park and soon at our beaches is another smoke-and-mirrors ploy which will do little to plug the deficit.
The city’s claims of savings it has supposedly made can’t be trusted. Taxpayers are being punished due to city overspending. The tax increases elected leaders are counting on will never happen as we are fed up with their incompetence. The only solution to our budget woes is to lay off workers and to freeze future pay raises.
— Jack Resnick, La Jolla