Long Beach Taxpayers Association to File Complaint with Civil Grand Jury Against City for "Corruptive" Fiscal Practices

7:00am | The Long

Beach Post has learned that the Long Beach Taxpayers Association will file a complaint this week with the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury seeking "judgment on years of corruptive practices that have resulted in the lack of fiscal discipline in managing the City’s finances," according to the Association's leaders Kathy Ryan and Tom Stout.

In a statement released to the Long Beach Post, Ryan and Stout claim, "The recent labor negotiation between the Police Officers Association and the City of Long Beach has added insult to injury. The lack of will by management to negotiate meaningful pension reform for the people became the last straw..."

The Civil Grand Jury, according to their web site, "acts in a 'watch-dog' capacity, by examining carefully and completely, the operations of various government agencies within Los Angeles County...Any private citizen, county official, or county employee may present a complaint in writing to the Civil Grand Jury. The Civil Grand Jury limits its investigations to possible felonies and to charges of malfeasance (wrong doing) or misfeasance (doing a lawful act in an unlawful manner) by public officials. Any request for an investigation must include detailed evidence supporting the complaint. If the grand jurors believe that the evidence submitted is sufficient, a detailed investigation will be held."

According to Ryan, the Association will present a complaint claiming that Long Beach city leaders:

- "Allowed the unfunded pension liability to get to an unmanageable $1.2 billion dollars without notifying the citizens of Long Beach before February of 2011."

- "Allowed the in-lieu pick up by the city/citizens to continue until the present, written into each subsequent contract, when it was meant as a concession in one contract instead of raises. This has cost the city/citizens millions over the years in services and infrastructure."

- "Approved new retirement ages in 2002, when the City Charter states the ages to retire to be 65 for miscellaneous employees and 55 for police and fire. Even though the options given by CalPERS, when the pensions were enhanced by the City Council in 2002 did not include retirement ages of 65 and 55, but the City Council had an alternative; they could have done nothing and left the status quo and not enhanced the pensions, leaving the retirement ages as is."

More to come...

http://www.lbpost.com/news/staffreports/12260