If litigation were a blood sport, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed would be looking at his entrails on the ground because the court gutted the signature accomplishment of his two terms in office, his effort to “reform” the pension system, Measure B. Reed’s defeat comes as no surprise. Even he knew the law was against him, which is why he launched a statewide initiative to change the law. What is a surprise is that the mainstream media missed the story – one of the most important local stories of the year.
When the decision came down, Reed’s spin machine went into high gear. “Judge Lucas has upheld 10 out of 15 sections of Measure B,” he wrote in his press release. Never mind that the heart of the case was the question of whether the City could cut retirement benefits promised to current employees and retirees, and that the answer was a resounding “NO!”
The Mercury News swallowed Reed’s line. “Overall, the city won the right to enforce 10 of the 15 disputed elements of its pension reform plan,” their reporter wrote. And the Mercury News wasn’t alone in getting spun.
Both the Mercury , The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal wrote that the judge left in place the City’s ability to cut employee salaries instead of cutting pension benefits. Never mind that the City has always been able to cut salaries, they have done it many times and that the City’s power to cut salaries was not at issue in the lawsuit. The Times headline “Cut Salaries, Not Pensions in San Jose, Judge Rules” was taken on faith from the Mayor’s office.
Obviously, the real misfortune is not that a bunch of reporters were misled. It’s that San Jose residents have not been informed that their cash-strapped City has spent millions of dollars fighting a losing legal battle. To make matters worse, in part because San Jose residents do not know the truth, the City is continuing to pay high-priced lawyers to fighting a losing appeal.
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