Encinitas Taxpayers Association Monthly Update from the President
Vol 1, Issue 2

Inside this issue:

A Note from the President
ETA requests Grand Jury Investigation of Alleged Misdeeds at the Chamber
New Firefighter Contracts Approved
San Dieguito Water Rate Hike

A Note from the President

With a city council election, a continuing grand jury investigation into alleged financial improprieties at the chamber of commerce, and newly proposed water rate hikes, it looks as if 2010 is going to be a big year. We at ETA will be following those issues--and any others that come along--to ensure that Encinitas taxpayers are fully informed.

With that, I want to thank you for your continued support of the ETA and wish you a happy holiday season.

Joe Sheffo
President
Encinitas Taxpayers Association

ETA Requests Grand Jury Investigation of Chamber of Commerce

As you may recall, in October the ETA board sent a letter to the city requesting that it conduct an independent investigation into allegations of financial improprieties at the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce. (A copy of that letter can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ylqvnvj.) True to form, the council, with the exception of Councilwoman Barth, chose to completely ignore both our request and the lingering questions about how public funds were used or misused at the chamber between 2005 and 2009.

Because of the city's inaction, the ETA had no recourse but to ask the San Diego County Civil Grand Jury to get involved. Ours is actually the second request for a grand jury investigation. The first was made by a former chamber employee implicated in the controversy. The ETA, however, asked that the grand jury broaden its investigation to include all allegations of malfeasance, not just those related to the visitor center contract.

For those of you who don't know, since 2005 the city has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds to the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce. The stated purpose of that money was to run the city's visitor information center. Earlier this year, the chamber--under new management and at the behest of the city council--conducted an internal investigation of its finances that exposed many alleged instances of poor accounting and mismanagement.

The ETA has no way of knowing how legitimate these charges may or may not be, which is why we've called for an outside investigation into the matter. Our hope is that the grand jury will resolve the matter once and for all.

New Firefighter Contract Approved

At the November 18 city council meeting, the existing Memorandum of Understanding with the Encinitas Firefighters’ Association, which expires December 31, 2009, was extended for two years. It provides for no pay rate increases through 2011. This was done on the consent calendar, which means there was no debate and support was unanimous. Neither the agenda item nor the minutes mention any discussion of retirement benefits.

The rest of the city staff will receive a 3.5% salary raise this year. Those raises were granted over objections of ETA members as part of a 4 year contract (http://tinyurl.com/ycqr5hz).

San Dieguito Water Rate Hike

On December 21 the "North County Times" reported that the San Dieguito Water District, whose board is made up of Encinitas council members, is contemplating raising water rates by 13 percent (http://tinyurl.com/yzwuo3u). The council is citing infrastructure upgrades, not increased water costs, as the primary cause of the rate hike. The district's treatment plant, which it jointly owns with Santa Fe Irrigation District, needs substantial repairs, including seismic retrofitting.

A public hearing on the issue is scheduled for Feb. 24. If approved, the rate increases would go into effect later in the spring. The district serves Leucadia, Old Encinitas, Cardiff and parts of New Encinitas.

Membership

Like most organizations of this type, we run on a shoestring. While our expenses are few, we still need to cover the basics. Those funds come from concerned citizens such as you.

Even more important, each new member makes the ETA a more effective advocate for accountability in our city.

If you are not a member but would like to become one, please visit http://www.encinitastaxpayers.org/join.php and join today.

Encinitas Taxpayers Association Monthly Update from the President
Vol 1, Issue 1

Inside this issue:
A note from the president
Troubles at chamber force ETA response
Pension issues in San Diego County move to forefront
ETA now on Twitter

A note from the president

After nearly a year as president of the Encinitas Taxpayers Association, I'm finally getting around to writing what I intend to be regular monthly updates that will allow members to know what the association is doing to demand accountability from local and regional governments and protect the interests of taxpayers.

While it may often seem that the ETA is sitting on the sidelines, I can assure you that we are constantly tracking developments at city hall and elsewhere. The purpose of this and future newsletters is to better communicate to you what's going on and how you can get involved.

I encourage you to forward this e-mail to anyone who is also interested in greater accountability at city hall. Also, please check our website (http://www.encinitastaxpayers.org/) for frequent updates.

Regards,

J. Sheffo
President

Troubles at chamber force ETA response

After careful consideration, the ETA's executive board made the decision to send a letter to the city asking it to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of financial improprieties at the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce. A copy of that letter can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ylqvnvj.

For those of you who don't know, since 2005 the city has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds to the chamber. The stated purpose of that money is to run the city's visitor information center.

Because of its growing concerns over the chamber's ability to meet its contractual obligations, in April the city council asked the chamber to perform and submit an audit. This request coincided with the departure of both the CEO and a prominent chamber employee. The new chamber CEO ordered an internal review of the organization's finances and released the findings to the public. That review purported to show serious violations of standard accounting practices and other financial irregularities.

The ETA has no way of knowing whether the allegations made by the new chamber management are true or not, but they certainly look bad. The only way to determine exactly what, if anything, happened at the chamber is through an independent investigation.
We are also asking that the city review its internal mechanisms for overseeing the numerous grants, subsidies and contracts that it administers in order to prevent situations such as this in the future.

The council is holding a special meeting on Monday, November 2 to appoint a subcommittee to review its existing contract with the chamber and recommend future changes to it (http://tinyurl.com/yj7xgxp). The ETA will be following the council?s actions on this matter with great interest.

Pension issues in San Diego County move to forefront

The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) recently issued a report surveying the pension systems of every city in the county, excluding the city of San Diego.

The report is a wonderful primer for anyone interested in the pension issue. You can link to it here: http://tinyurl.com/ykjxd5m

The most interesting finding was that most cities in the county, including Encinitas, pay all or part of the retirement contributions that employees are supposed to pay themselves. Only three cities -- Vista, Del Mar, and La Mesa -- do not.

Our city pays all of the 9% percent of salary that safety employees (firefighters and lifeguards) are supposed to contribute and 3.6% of the 8% of salary that non-safety employees (everyone else) are supposed to pay.

As the report makes clear, in addition to being a blatant gift to public employees, this contribution is counted as compensation, which means it inflates salaries and, ultimately, increases pension costs.

Ideally, defined benefit pensions for public employees (which guarantee a specific annual payout for retirees) would be eliminated and replaced with the types of defined contribution retirement plans, or some hybrid thereof, that exist in the private sector.

Short of that, however, requiring city employees -- the new hires at least -- to pay the full amount of their contributions is a reasonable first step to reform. In fact, it's one that is being promoted by the San Diego City/County Managers Association.

The city of Encinitas is in the midst of contract negotiations with its public safety employees. Unfortunately, under California law these "meet and confers" are conducted in private. We'll let you know the details of the contracts when they become available and send out notices when the final contracts go before the council for a vote so that you can be there to weigh in.

ETA now on Twitter

In our continuing effort to stay connected, the ETA now has a Twitter account. By following us on Twitter, ETA members, and anyone else interested in government accountability in the city of Encinitas, will have a quick and easy way to stay on top of the issues the ETA is following. If you don't have an account, visit twitter.com to open one. If you do have one, our handle is @EncTaxAssoc.

Membership

Like most organizations of this type, we run on a shoestring. While our expenses are few, we still need to cover the basics. Those funds come from concerned citizens such as you.

Even more important, each new member makes the ETA a more effective advocate for accountability in our city.

If you are not a member but would like to become one, please visit http://www.encinitastaxpayers.org/join.php and join today.