The Herald
The Pacific Grove City Council wants an independent analysis of a proposed ballot measure that supporters say will solve a crime committed 11 years ago.
The council voted 7-0 late Wednesday to get a third-party professional’s report on the citizens initiative that would reverse the city’s 2002 decision to give public safety employees a richer pension package known as “3 percent at 50.”
Proponents contend escalating costs under the state Public Employees Retirement System are threatening Pacific Grove with financial disaster. Their proposed ballot measure says it would void a decision taken illegally on the pension plan because citizens and council members were kept in the dark about future costs.
In addition to electing all but one City Council member, Pacific Grove voters will again decide whether they want to tax themselves to support their public library. A similar parcel tax narrowly failed last November to get the two-thirds supermajority required for passage of tax measures aimed at specific purposes. Last week, the City Council voted to include such a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot.