Politics

Case Tossed Against 5 San Diego Pension Officials

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published January 25, 2010 at 8:15 AM PST

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The California Supreme Court has tossed out charges against five of the six former members of San Diego's troubled pension board accused of casting votes that benefited them personally.

The California Supreme Court has ruled in a case at the heart of the City of San Diego’s pension crisis. The judges ruled that five of six city employees accused of conflict of interest are not guilty.

The ruling defuses the notion that the city’s pension crisis was the result of criminal conflict of interest on the part of several employees who were also retirement board members. The defendants voted in favor of allowing the city to underfund the pension plan while increasing guaranteed benefits.

Cathy Lexin, Mary Vatimo, Terry Webster, Sharon Wilkinson and John Torres are now cleared of conflict of interest.

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City Attorney Jan Goldsmith says if the Supreme Court had interpreted the state’s conflict of interest laws more broadly, it would have made it difficult for government to operate, since managers and board members often make decisions that affect themselves.

"They said public officials can participate in a decision that affects employees generally, that's not illegal," Goldsmith said. "But when it affects them individually, that’s a crime."

The Supreme Court ruling says the sixth defendant, Ron Saathoff could have gained a special benefit for himself. His case continues to trial.

Politics

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.