50 PHELAN AVENUE
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112
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415) 239-3000
ADDED 10/4/10
DATE: October 6, 2010 S3
TO:
FROM:
Board of Trustees
Dr. Don Q. Griffin, Chancellor
SUBJECT: SPECIAL
Resolution opposing the passage of Proposition B “City Retirement
and Health Plans ” on the November 2, 2010 Ballot
(Resolution No. 101006-S3)
Background
The November 2, 2010 ballot contains Proposition B, titled "City Retirement and Health Plans.”
It was placed on the ballot by petition. The measure would amend the City Charter to raise contributions that city employees and retirees make to their pensions and to health care plans through the Health Service System. City College employees currently contribute payments to the Health Service System, and certain provisions would affect employees of City College. For instance, the measure would set what the District could pay for employees’ health care benefits, and prevent any consideration of pay scale.
The measure as drafted would have a disproportionate impact on low-income and fixed-income workers, and could cause some to lose health care benefits for their families. It also could end up raising costs to the city, according to the City Controller.
At the end of August, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold E. Kahn ruled that a provision of the measure was illegal, and removed it from the measure. The ruling provides an example of poorly drafted language in the measure.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Gavin Newsom, and all eleven members of the Board of
Supervisors oppose the measure.
Recommendation
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees recognizes that there are problems with structural deficits built into the budget of the City and County of San Francisco and other public institutions, including the San Francisco Community College District; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees, in partnership with the employees of the district, have begun to take steps to address the problem during the past several budget years; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees agree that it is appropriate and fiscally responsible that public employees pay a share of health care costs, as City College employees do; and
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MILTON MARKS, PRESIDENT

JOHN RIZZO, VICE PRESIDENT

DR. NATALIE BERG

DR. ANITA GRIER

CHRIS JACKSON

STEVE NGO

LAWRENCE WONG, ESQ

JEFFREY FANG, STUDENT TRUSTEE

DR. DON Q. GRIFFIN, CHANCELLOR

WHEREAS, a measure, called Proposition B, which attempts to address the issue of structural deficits in the City budget, but is poorly designed and arbitrary, and would have negative effects on the city budget and low-income workers and fixed-income pensioners; and
WHEREAS, provisions of Proposition B would affect the Community College District, but the drafters of Proposition B did not consult with District officials when creating the measures; and
WHEREAS, the City Controller has stated that Proposition B could yield the City of San
Francisco 1.5 percent in payroll savings, but also stated that the measure could have negative cost impacts under the provisions of the recent national health care reform; and
WHEREAS, Proposition B is unfair, in that it would strongly impact low-paid workers while affecting high-income employees much less, and could cause workers to lose health care for their families; and
WHEREAS, lack of health care in the population drives up the cost of health care in general, including the cost to the District, through the use of emergency rooms to treat medical conditions that could be treated more cheaply at an earlier stage; and
WHEREAS, Community College District employees have accepted wage and benefit concessions during the past two years, which have covered a large part of the budget cuts imposed upon the District by the State of California; and
WHEREAS, Proposition B would tie the Dis trict’s hands in negotiating future wage and benefit packages by placing an arbitrary limit on what the District could pay in employee medical costs; and
WHEREAS, City and County of San Francisco workers have taken $250 million in pay cuts, and have shown a willingness to negotiate benefits packages; and
WHEREAS, city workers have supported two pension and health care reform measures in the past two years; and
WHEREAS, the courts have ruled that part of Proposition B, as written for the ballot, was illegal, and would have been an “unwarranted and wholly disproportional burden on the right to seek redress from the courts,” and was stricken from the measure; be it therefore
RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees acknowledges that Proposition B on the November 2,
2010 ballot could have negative impact on the Community College District by limiting what could be achieved through collective bargaining, treating its employees unfairly and arbitrarily, and could damage the Health Service System that the District uses through unintended consequences; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees believes that Proposition B could have negative effects on the City and County of San Francisco budget and is unfair to its employees; and be it finally
RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees opposes the passage of Proposition B on the
November 2, 2010 ballot.
Originators: John Rizzo, Anita Grier, Steve Ngo
10/06/2010 – S3 Page 2 of 2