HomeMy WebLinkAbout107-Rehiring Pensioners Response.pdf[City of Saratoga Letterhead]
DRAFT RESPONSE
August 18, 2011
Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury
Office of the Civil Grand Jury c/o Honorable Richard J. Loftus, Jr.
Presiding Judge
Santa Clara County Superior Court
191 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95113
Re: 2010-2011 SANTA CLARA COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT
REGARDING “REHIRING OF PENSIONERS: BAD POLICY, GOOD
BUSINESS OR BOTH?”
Honorable Members of the Civil Grand Jury:
The City Council for the City of Saratoga has reviewed your June 15, 2011 report
regarding Rehiring of Pensioners: Bad Policy, Good Business Or Both? (“Report”) and
authorized me to provide this response. The City Council appreciates not only the
thorough and deliberate work of the Civil Grand Jury but also the useful information
provided by the report regarding the personnel practices of other agencies in the region.
With respect to the specific applicable findings and recommendations in the Report, the
City’s response is set forth below:
Finding 1:
In spite of public opinion, there are situations that warrant rehiring pensioners and often
it makes good business sense to do so. All managers interviewed follow existing
procedures, which allow rehiring of pensioners.
The City agrees. The City has found it useful to hire pensioners on a short term basis to
provide interim services on several occasions.
Recommendation 1:
If the County or the City/Town of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos
Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San
Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale desire to end the practice of rehiring pensioners,
they should make that official by means of a policy decision.
The recommendation has been implemented. The City does not desire to end the practice
of rehiring pensioners and so will not be adopting a policy to end that practice.
Finding 3: The fifteen towns and cities—Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale—and the County may be inadvertently creating a
demand to rehire pensioners because the public sector retirement age is relatively young
at 50 (police and fire) or 55 (administrative positions).
The City agrees. The City has been working with its employee groups to explore options
for increasing the retirement age.
Recommendation 3:
The fifteen towns and cities—Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills,
Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose,
Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale—and the County should continue to pursue a higher
retirement age with its public sector unions and associations.
The recommendation has been implemented. The City is pursuing a higher retirement
age with its public sector unions and associations. The Saratoga Management
Organization has agreed that for employees hired after the City completes the PERS-
required process, the retirement plan will be a second tier plan of 2% at age 60 plan using
a three-year average compensation to determine retirement benefits (CalPERS does not
offer a pension formula requiring a higher retirement age). The City has made a similar policy decision with respect to benefits offered to future unrepresented employees (e.g.,
the City Manager and Human Resources Director) and hopes to reach similar agreements
with other employee groups.
Thank you for your consideration of this response.
Sincerely,
Howard A. Miller
Mayor, City of Saratoga
Cc: Members of the Saratoga City Council
City Manager
City Attorney