BeaconMediaNews.com
8 September 30 - October 6, 2010
Monrovia Initiative Continued from page 1 Celebrating 125 years of its founding
Announces a Special Service on Sunday, October 3 at 9:30 a.m. (one service) Bishop Jon Bruno, Presiding & Preaching Baptisms Confirmations Holy Communion The service is part of the celebration of Ascension’s 125th anniversary. All are welcome. Following the service (11:45 a.m.) The Annual Blessing of the Animals in the Outdoor area. For information, call (626) 355-1133
25 E. Laurel Ave. Sierra Madre (626) 355-1133
one christ. one king. one cross. life. We are a new church here in the San Gabriel Valley that aims to be cross-generational, cross-racial, and cross-centered. Our passion and prayer is that the ministry and people of CrossLife Community Church would promote the trusting and treasuring of Jesus Christ in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond.
Please come and join us as we launch our first Sunday worship service on 10.10.10 @ 10:30am
Hugo Reid Elementary School - Cafetorium 1000 Hugo Reid Dr. Arcadia, CA 91007 For more information call: 626.538.7370 Connect with us online: www.crosslifecc.com
The Mayor and Council members said that this would require the City’s General Fund to absorb the cost of the pension obligations, which would have significant negative impacts on City services. Petitions seeking to place the initiative on a future ballot in Monrovia were filed Wednesday, September 22, with the Monrovia City Clerk’s office. The City Clerk will contract with the County Registrar-Recorder’s office to assist in verifying signatures and the petition. “It’s hard to fathom just what the circulators of this measure hope to accomplish,” said Mayor Mary Ann Lutz. “The tax that they want to repeal would not affect the existing pension structure or financial commitments; it just means that we would have to cut another $4.2 million from the budget or look for alternative funding sources.” The Mayor pointed out that the proposed initiative would create a $4.2 million hole in the City’s General Fund budget – 2/3 of which goes to pay for police and fire services. Additionally, she explained, “We have lived within our means and made deep cuts in our budgets over the last two years. The requirement to find an additional $4.2 million could require moves as draconian as closing the new Monrovia Public Library or contracting with Los Angeles County for police and/or fire services.” And, in order to secure a lower cost via any kind of outsourcing contract, the community would have to be willing to accept a lower level of service. Alternatively, Mayor Lutz explained, the City would have to explore other funding options. The City of Monrovia has neither a utility user tax nor a sales tax override. Mayor Lutz continued, “We know that Monrovia is fiscally sound and wellrun, and no one is seriously planning to shut down the operations our residents want and need. This petition is not a reflection of what our community really wants and values.” Based on the recent Citizen Satisfaction Survey by the Rose Institute for
State and Local Government, Monrovians approve of the level of service they have. According to the 2009 survey, 95% of the community is either “Satisfied” or “Very Satisfied” with the level of service provided, with all City departments posting respective approval ratings in the 85%-95% range. Moreover, an impressive 81% of Monrovians said they feel that the City is headed in the right direction. Mayor Pro Tem Tom Adams was also skeptical of the petition’s effects: “For one thing, Monrovia’s voters aren’t about to be taken in by a plan that removes a significant amount of funding, but which doesn’t identify the services that would be cut in order to balance the books,” he said. “This tax was legally put in place before I was born and has served Monrovia well my entire life. To think that someone would come along and remove 60 years of funding without a better plan makes no sense. I have yet to see anyone bring in a better plan. “Secondly,” Adams continued, “No one likes taxes – surely not me; but the revenue generated here pays for existing and ongoing financial commitments. The government cannot simply decide to eliminate a tax that is paying for an ongoing obligation. The law doesn’t work that way, and the petitioners should know that. They claim that they want the voters to decide; well, the voters did – 60 years ago.” City officials point to the issuance of $13.5 million in Pension Obligation Bonds as the chief obstacle blocking the electorate’s consideration of the proposed initiative. The bonds, authorized in open sessions of the City Council in July and August of 2008, were the central feature of the City’s highly publicized labor dispute with the Monrovia Police Officers’ Association (MPOA). Without the bonds, City officials stated that they would not have been able to secure the existing five-year labor deal with the police union. The Pension Obligations Bonds (or POBs) are designed to “front load”
the City’s pension contributions for its police officers’ and firefighters’ pensions. By creating a level debt service payment over the life of the bonds – instead of allowing for increasing annual payments to PERS – the City is saving $2.4 million. More specific to the agreement with the MPOA, the bonds allowed the City more flexibility to negotiate salary terms while still accounting for the true total compensation factors of salary as well as benefits. The POBs impact the fate of the proposed ballot initiative because the revenue generated by the voter-approved property tax for retirement costs is pledged to the bondholders to pay the bond debt service. Eliminating this revenue stream triggers a fundamental tenet of constitutional law. City Manager Scott Ochoa explained that, “Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution contains the ‘contract clause’ which prohibits the government from impairing a contract between parties. Neither the City, nor even the electorate, may enact a law that somehow impairs or damages the terms of an existing contract.” Ochoa continued, “We believe that any initiative or other proposal put forth subsequent to the execution of a contract, like the POBs, that would somehow alter, injure or materially change the City’s ability to honor the contractual obligations set forth in the POBs would be deemed unconstitutional.” With the issue of public disclosure among local governments so important in the wake of the City of Bell scandal, Monrovia officials were quick to point out the exhaustive public record surrounding this matter. Mayor Lutz recounted that the POBs were publicly discussed and authorized in the summer of 2008 during the City Council’s contentious contract negotiations with the MPOA; the Council’s deliberations were broadcast live during their regularly scheduled meetings, repeatedly written about in City Manager
Please see page 16