CARLSBAD: Candidates offer differing views on city pension plan

This article has been corrected since its original posting

By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Tuesday, September 30, 2008 11:10 AM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- One City Council candidate told Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary club members Monday that the city employee pension system could eventually bankrupt Carlsbad, while another declared that this was simply political propaganda.

Two other candidates said the city should explore a two-tiered system, which would give future employees a less-costly pension system.

A fifth candidate declared that city government in general should be reduced, and the sixth one said she would look into the issue and post a response on her Web site.

Right from the start, the candidates forum had startled some Rotary club members because of its informal nature.

Candidates' responses in some cases were limited to 30 seconds or less, and jokes regularly flew about everything from the moderator's chattiness to the candidates' ages.

Several club members could be heard muttering afterward that it wasn't the way they would have conducted the event.

At one point, moderator Don Kenney joked that the one incumbent in the race ---- Ann Kulchin, 76 ---- should answer a question about the city's pension system because she was about 110 years old.

During another moment, he directed a question about how the city could improve teen activities to the youngest candidate in the race ---- 19-year-old Evan Delaney Rodgers, saying, "You're the only one close to that age group."

There are two seats up for election in November ---- the one held for nearly three decades by Kulchin and one currently held by Julie Nygaard, who is not running.

Kulchin told the crowd of some 100 people at Monday's event that Carlsbad has fully funded its employee pension system each year, unlike the financially troubled city of San Diego.

However, she added, Carlsbad's mayor is looking into transitioning from the current pension system to a less-costly, two-tiered system. Such a system would leave current employees' benefits untouched, but reduce pension benefits for new employees.

Most Carlsbad city employees now are eligible for a 3-percent-at-age-60 plan. Under that program, employees who retire at age 60 can collect a pension of 3 percent of their highest salary multiplied by the number of years they've worked for the city.

For an employee who has worked 30 years, the pension benefit would be 90 percent of his or her top pay. Public safety employees get their benefits earlier ---- they're on a 3-percent-at-50 plan.

Such city plans becoming increasingly common across the region and critics have called them overly generous.

At Monday's forum, candidate Thomas K. Arnold said the city would live to regret approving such a plan.

"The 3 percent at 50 is ultimately going to bankrupt our city," said the publisher/editorial director of Home Media Magazine and an editor for the Hollywood Reporter.

Council candidate Farrah Douglas, a print shop co-owner who serves on the city's Planning Commission, said Monday that city employees pay very little into the pension system on an annual basis prior to retirement ---- 1 percent of the required annual contribution.

The rest of the tab is picked up by the city, she said, adding that a two-tiered system merits investigation.

Candidate Glenn Bernard, a former Marine who has worked in real estate, said many expenses at City Hall could be reduced and that Marines at Camp Pendleton would be happy to get the salaries the city pays out.

Meanwhile, candidate Keith Blackburn, a Carlsbad police sergeant, said he believes that the 30-second time limit prevented him from giving a full rebuttal of Arnold's comments about public safety employee pensions bankrupting the city.

"I feel that 30 seconds is not enough time to share factual information rather than political propaganda," he said.

Speaking after Monday's event ended, he said Carlsbad's pension system is well-funded and the city is highly unlikely to ever be in the situation that San Diego is in.

He added that he doesn't support a two-tiered system, saying it would encourage a high staff turnover and make Carlsbad the "training grounds of the county."

Meanwhile, the final candidate in the race ---- Rodgers ---- said during the forum that she didn't yet have a position on the issue, but would research it and post her position on her Web site.

CORRECTION: Candidate's comments inadvertently cut from story

CARLSBAD ---- Two paragraphs were inadvertently cut from this story. A comment by candidate Thomas K. Arnold was cut from the story, though a rebuttal to his comment was printed.

The missing paragraphs were:

At Monday's forum, candidate Thomas K. Arnold said the city would live to regret approving the city employees' pension plan.

"The 3 percent at 50 is ultimately going to bankrupt our city," said the publisher/editorial director of Home Media Magazine and an editor for the Hollywood Reporter.