Sam votes against early FPD&R charter amendments
Mary Jo Markle
Wednesday, August 17, 2005, City Council decided, in a 3-2 vote, not to hold a special election this fall for voters to consider amendments to the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Fund. Commissioner Erik Sten and Commissioner Randy Leonard voted in support of the special election. Sam, Mayor Potter and Commissioner Saltzman voted against it. Sam explains his position in a memo that he distributed to the commissioners' offices Tuesday afternoon.
Read Commissioner Leonard's proposed amendments.
Read the Tuesday FPD&R article in the Oregonian.
Read the Wednesday FPD&R article in the Oregonian.
Read the Wednesday Oregonian editorial about FPD&R.
Posted by Mary Jo Markle on August 16, 2005
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Filed Under Front Page, Good Government, Our Initiatives
Comments by site visitors
Mr Adams - I can honestly say I agree with you. This special election seems like a lot of money to pay for voting for patches that do not address pension reform only how claims are made. I am still confused why to tighten up rules/regulations with a charter change we even need a vote.
Posted by: Steve | Aug 17, 2005 8:22:35 AM
Dear Sam,
We want to thank you for announcing to the Oregonion that you plan on delaying the vote on the fire & police disablilty fund until the committee had a chance to really review everything. We are always suspect when Randy tries to push something through- you can count on it being in the best interest of the unions and not the taxpayers. In business we would call his involvement a conflict of interest. The business commumity of Portland should feel grateful that 3 of the votes show that reform MAY be possible???
Thank you for being our advocate.
Sincerely,
Don & Karen
Posted by: Don & Karen | Aug 17, 2005 2:31:54 PM
Good vote Sam. The commission should be able to complete its work and submit its recommendations as originally planned.
One piece of food for thought. Unless I missed it, neither Commissioner Sten nor Commissioner Leonard have advocated for safety officers being required to use up accrued sick time prior to receiving disability payments. According to a source at OMF, some officers who retire after being out on lengthy periods of disability, still receive payouts on accrued sick time, sometimes in the five-figure range. This is a change that could be accomplished through administrative rules rather than charter amendments and I think it should be contemplated. Most private sector disability plans require accrued sick and vacation time be used prior to disability payments and some even have waiting periods beyond.
Posted by: Dave Lister | Aug 22, 2005 1:35:33 PM
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I don't understand why we would need a special election sop close to the general election.
Special elections seem to happen a lot and are probably a waste.
Thanks
JK
Posted by: jim karlock | Aug 16, 2005 6:33:22 PM