Sorry for the headline but last night I got an email from Undersheriff Galisky reminding me that I hadn't linked to Christian Berthelsen's article in the Los Angeles Times.  

So here it is, San Diego's pension problem offers a cautionary tale for O.C. The key graphs are near the bottom of the article:

"The legal challenges face an uphill battle: A large body of state and federal constitutional and other protections generally safeguard worker pensions from employers seeking to roll them back. Several labor lawyers said there has never been a case in which a judge allowed an employer to rescind benefits it had already granted.

At their core, the pension problems in San Diego and Orange County vary significantly, with different issues and different legal theories. San Diego's case has largely been based on fraud allegations; Orange County's is more focused on constitutional issues.

Moorlach, who has been leading his colleagues on the issue, said the troubles with the San Diego case did not concern him.

'We're going after constitutional issues,' Moorlach said. 'We think the issues we're raising are a little more weighty than the approach [Aguirre] took.'

But the cases also hold similarities. In each case, the employer is going to court seeking to invalidate benefits it has already granted, and each involves a claim that the debts created by the agreement are unconstitutional.

Orange County is planning to make one of the same arguments that Aguirre used in his case -- that the deal violated the state Constitution's prohibition on deficit spending.

On that point, a San Diego judge ruled against the city earlier this year, finding that violations of the debt limit were the city's own fault and not the fault of the pension fund.

A San Diego union representative said the city's tactics are doomed to fail.

'In addition to being a flawed legal theory and a poorly implemented legal strategy, from the inception it was morally and ethically wrong to attempt to undo a bargain that was made fairly and squarely,' said Ann M. Smith, a lawyer who represented the Municipal Employees Assn. in San Diego. Meanwhile, Peters, the council president, said the city has made progress on repairing its pension finances by making tough choices to put more money into the plan and through negotiations that have forced employees to put up more of their own money. He says the plan is now 80% funded. Aguirre disputes the success of the efforts..."

In other news, The Tin Star blog has a post up on the law firm hired by the Deputies' Union (AOCDS):

"Wayne Quint, President of the AOCDS, said 'We retained Morrison & Foerster because of their record of success in litigation, as well as their extensive experience in constitutional and pension-related issues. We would hate to see the Board of Supervisors renege on their agreement with us, but if they do, we have a duty to make sure that our members and their families, especially the widows and orphans of those who fallen in the line of duty, have the most qualified firm to represent them.'"

The Register's Martin Wisckol writes, "This law firm is a powerhouse and it will be a high-profile case if the county actually files. So you can bet MoFo will be throwing some of its top talent at Moorlach and the county."

And, in somewhat related news, it was reported this morning that "Top executives at major U.S. businesses last year made as much money in one day of work on the job as the average worker made over the entire year, according to a report released on Wednesday."

From the San Jose Mercury News: "Public anger [regarding CEO pay] is high. In a June poll by the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg, more than eight of 10 Americans said CEOs are paid too much. Congress is seriously debating proposals to boost income taxes for money managers and corporate executives. And more shareholders are telling company boards that pay policies are out of control."

From an NPR report in June: "In a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, most Americans say CEOs are unethical and overpaid."

Again, from the San Jose Mercury News:

Highlights from the report on executive pay released today by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy:

Gaps in pensions: The average pension for CEOs at a large U.S. corporations grew by $1.3 million last year. By comparison, for the years between 2001 and 2004, the average U.S. household with some kind of retirement account saw an increase of $3,775 in value annually.  

Executive retirement funds: A CEO running an S&P 500 company retired on average with $10.1 million in a "supplemental executive retirement plans." Such accounts are limited to high-level executives. Only about one-third of U.S. households headed by someone over 65 even had a retirement account. On average, those accounts were worth $173,552.

Perks: The top 386 CEOs received perks averaging $438,342 in value last year. That would take someone earning the minimum wage 36 years to earn.

Pay for leadership: There's also a gap between pay for business executives and other leaders of U.S. society who do demanding, high-level jobs. According to the report, the top 20 best-paid people at public companies were paid an average of $36.4 million last year. That is 38 times the compensation of the top 20 best-paid leaders at non-profits and 204 times the top 20 generals in the U.S. military.