In 2014, the San Diego County Grand Jury initiated an investigation of San Diego City Council members voting on their own salaries. In its final report issued Feb. 3, 2015, the grand jury concluded that there is a substantial, irresolvable conflict when San Diego council members vote on their own pay.
The grand jury strongly recommended sending to San Diego voters a charter amendment that would tie salaries to a reasonable benchmark, just like numerous other California jurisdictions have done for decades.
Inexplicably, the council refused to put this reform on either the June or November 2016 ballot, as recommended by the county grand jury.
For decades, the San Diego City Council has followed this archaic practice of voting on its own pay. In response, in 1973 San Diego voters, with almost 60 percent of the vote, adopted Proposition E, which created the San Diego Salary Setting Commission. Prop. E tasked the politically independent commission with recommending the pay for our elected officials.
The fatal flaw in Proposition E, as we have painfully learned over 43 years, is that the commission’s recommendations have to return to the City Council, ultimately allowing members to have the final say on salaries. Since 2004, the council has ignored every commission recommendation. That’s exactly why the grand jury stepped in. The council then ignored it, just like members have ignored the people’s commission for 12 years.
Troubled that our elected leaders would reject the recommendations of an empaneled grand jury, this year the Salary Setting Commission launched a broader investigation of ethics at City Hall. Council President Sherri Lightner herself appeared before us. She conceded a need for proposals to fix an obviously broken system. We delivered those to her on Feb. 12.
Our investigation concluded it is time for a comprehensive ethics overhaul at City Hall.
In an effort to respond to the grand jury’s recommendations, and in what would be the most far-reaching ethics reform in city history, we have proposed seven key ethical reforms. Like the county grand jury, we are asking the City Council to let you vote on the entire package of reforms on the November 2016 ballot.
Our ethics proposal would first preclude all elected city officials from accepting any gift, honoraria or speaker fees in excess of $25. Why should our elected officials be taking money from lobbyists and others? Everyone knows these gifts are typically offered to buy access or influence.
Second, if we are going to pay our council members a full-time salary, then council members need to end any and all outside employment. Our proposal would prohibit paid outside employment by our elected officials. From now on, they will work just for us.
For decades, our elected officials have been able to attend Chargers or Padres games for free and sit in luxury boxes. Over the years, councils have then voted on hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds for new stadiums or, in one instance, even a “ticket guarantee” for the Chargers. Our ethics reform package would end both the perk and that egregious conflict of interest.
We also propose precluding elected officials from lobbying the city of San Diego on any issue for 24 months after they leave office. This will preclude these officials from cashing in on their positions after their elected term ends. Most do not lobby. Some have. Let’s just end the practice.
Our ethics reform proposal ends the conflict, called out by the grand jury, inherent in council members voting on their own pay. It will benchmark our officials’ pay to the pay of Superior Court judges.
This is the benchmark used since 1976 for county supervisors. In 1990, Los Angeles residents, by a public vote, also tied council pay to judicial salaries. Never again will the politicians get to set their own pay. It ends now.
Currently, our elected officials are entitled to receive an $800 per month car allowance, whether or not they drive for city business. Our reforms limit reimbursement to miles actually driven on the job. The days of getting $800 a month even if they do not drive a mile for the city must end.
Last, our reforms will preclude incumbent elected officials of the city from using blanket form mailings to constituents beginning 75 days before their election campaign. No more tax dollars for re-election campaigns.
The first council review of our proposals will be March 2, when the council’s Charter Review Committee takes up the reform package.
Keep an eye on how the council responds.
February 25, 2016
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Patricia Fleming and Roger Talamantez
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