The First Amendment Coalition and the Sacramento Bee are suing to force SCERS to make retiree names and salaries public. The judge has ruled against the retirement system. And Supervisor Susan Peters’ resolution urges the SCERS Board to stop fighting the suit.
Peters: “The public is pretty much fed up with government and they need to be open and transparent. And I think they need to take this step of making the records available.” (0:10)
But SCERS Board Member Nancy Wolford-Landers says the former county employees shouldn’t have to deal with the risks from their names and salaries being public.
Wolford-Landers: “The retirees whose names are being requested did not make the rules upon which their benefits were computed. They did nothing to add to the public suspicion or distrust of government.” (0:13)
The supervisors’ vote is only symbolic, because SCERS has an independent board.