Michael Aguirre, a onetime federal prosecutor and crusading plaintiff's lawyer, was elected city attorney in San Diego in 2004 on a promise to undo controversial deals that had left the city's pension fund with a growing deficit.
As part of that effort, he sued to strip away some of the enhanced benefits that had contributed to the pension fund's $1.4-billion shortfall. It was thought to be the first time that a municipality had gone to court seeking to nullify a labor deal it had approved.
Now, Orange County is preparing to pursue the same strategy by seeking a court injunction to invalidate a portion of its 2001 agreement with sheriff's deputies, a deal that sweetened their pensions but created more financial obligations than the county has money to cover.
But it may want to consider San Diego's history:
Far from restoring fiscal soundness, Aguirre's efforts so far have only cost the city more money -- and his legal arguments have found little favor in court. The lawsuit he filed to undo the pension enhancements has been thrown out of court four times, most recently on Aug. 3, when the judge found the statute of limitations had long since passed and barred him from pursuing the case any further. Aguirre said he would appeal.
San Diego has paid at least $1 million to lawyers handling the case and has been ordered to pay another $1.5 million to cover the defendant's legal fees, according to an estimate by City Council President Scott Peters, one of Aguirre's fiercest critics.
Asked what lessons San Diego might hold for Orange County, Peters said: "Don't do it! Don't do it!"
Aguirre dismisses Peters as a tool of the unions but acknowledges that his efforts have failed thus far. The city attorney thinks the city's legal case has been undermined by the courts' unwillingness to deal with the issue.
"What you saw was judicial gymnastics, twisting and turning every way conceivably possible to avoid dealing with the merits of the case that would have resulted in a rolling back of the benefits," he said. "It's going to be very, very difficult to get the courts to deal with this problem."
Costly public employee pension obligations have been a growing concern in California, as generous deals made in the wake of the bull market in stocks of the late 1990s have created a huge debt load. Now that market returns are more modest, critics fear the cost of paying for the pensions will cut into government's ability to provide core services such as roads, schools and public safety.
