A tentative settlement of almost $1.2 million in which San Diego would pay legal costs for three former San Diego pension board members is set to go before the City Council next week.
The deal would reimburse Cathy Lexin, Terri Webster and Ron Saathoff for their legal defense after they were charged in state and federal cases with trading pension board votes for better retirement packages.
They served on the board in 2002 when votes were taken that resulted in the pension system being underfunded.
The state case was later dropped while the federal charges were thrown out of court.
The three former board members subsequently sued the city in 2011, saying a City Council resolution promised to indemnify them in case they were sued. The city claimed the council resolution only applied to civil litigation, but the argument failed on appeal.
According to city documents, Lexin would receive nearly $550,000, Webster would get almost $428,000, and Saathoff $205,000 if the settlement gets final approval.
The City Council took up the item in closed session on April 29. City documents don’t indicate if a vote was taken.
Lexin is now a human resources consultant, while Webster is a senior management analyst with Chula Vista, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Saathoff runs the Pension Department for the International Association of Firefighters.
Because of the underfunding and other fiscal woes, the SDCERS had a deficit of $2.2 billion as of June 30 last year, the date of the most recent actuarial valuation.
— City News Service
