There was no public vote to approve the terms, but the City is advertising the position as 2.7@55 CalPERS.

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Measure L, the Menlo Park pension reform initiative, passed easily with a 72-percent “yes” vote.

Under the reform measure city employee would get in all cases, more than the Social Security payment non-public employees would receive after working the same number of years as a public employee.

Measure L raises the minimum retirement age for new public employees, excluding police officers, by five years to 60, and also decreases their maximum pension benefits by 0.7 percentage points to 2 percent of their highest annual salary averaged over three years.

Under this measure, a new hire who retired at age 60 after working for the city for 30 years would receive 60 percent of that average salary. Current employees can retire at age 55 and get 81 percent.

The measure headed to voters after a grassroots campaign organized by the Menlo Park Citizens for Fair and Responsible Pension Reform collected enough signatures to place it on the ballot. Council candidate Chuck Bernstein and Planning Commissioner Henry Riggs spearheaded the drive, along with Mr. Sardina and Ed Moritz.

Earlier this year Jerome Stocks waffled on how much he thought  City Manager Phil Cotton should be paid. The council voted 4-1 against giving Cotton a raise, who was making $200,000   a year.

Cotton’s contract stipulated annual pay, however a UT investigation uncovered that he has been paid more than stated in the contract. Excerpt below:

Sabine did not respond to requests for an explanation. Cotton similarly declined to respond to questions from The Watchdog.

Phil Cotton receives general praise from the City Council majority. Rarely, is the praise supported with specific examples of  his decisions or analysis which have led to “millions” in savings for the taxpayer.

At January ETA meeting, four new Directors were added to the ETA Board. They are:

• Diane Bond, an attorney and a champion of open government policies,
• Steve Meiche, a firefighter and advocate for professional management strategies at city hall,
• Charlie McDermott works in corporate finance and has been investigating the risks to the city associated with delaying pension reform,
• The new ETA President is Ed Wagner. He works in institutional investing and has been active in recent city issues, including helping the ETA with candidate interviews.

David Ross who has been an officer of the ETA for two years is the organization’s new treasurer.

The interim city manager was absent for three weeks over two months in November and December despite the fact that his contract does not allow for paid vacation time.

Read more: Coast News Group – Interim city manager takes paid vacation despite contract terms