Administration February 2, 2005

Shipione Proven Wrong as SD Pension Debacle Continues

February 2, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - San Diego City Employees' Retirement System board trustee Diane Shipione has apparently been proven wrong regarding her charges that the city checks pensioner deaths in the obituaries and fails to collect payments made to those already dead..
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On Monday, Shipione accused the city of using obituaries to check the status of pension participants. However, an audit report from 2000 shows that the city verified the status of 92 retirees by using audit reports, according to NBCSanDiego.com (See San Diego Pension Debacle Heats Up Again ). Shipione had claimed that she was not aware of audit reports being performed since 1996.

According to the news station, names in nine cases were given to the treasurer to get back money from pension payments apparently sent to deceased participants. This apparently contradicts Shipione’s assertions that the city does not attempt to recover such funds.

A system administrator told the station that the city learns of deaths from family members, financial institutions, social securit, and obituaries.

These revelations follow months of turbulence with the city’s troubled pension system. The most recent actions include the city’s retirement board suing City Attorney Michael Aguirre to keep him from controlling the pension system’s legal affairs and to get back various legal papers (See San Diego Pension Mess Boils Over – Again ).

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