Follow-Up on PFD&R Fund

Jeff Bull

Between two posts - one here and one on my site (LINK) - as well as ample additional comments in the space below the Blue Oregon post (first link...under the word "here"), I've spent plenty of time airing all that is bad about the Portland Police and Fire Disability and Retirement Fund. It's seems as good a time as any to point you toward the most complete presentation of the opinion to proceed very cautiously I've yet seen; unfortunately, it's a pdf file so I'll just have to link to how to get there and tell you where to find it within that file.

Anyway, this link will take you to a page where you can download the Independent Review Committee's final report to the City Council. What you're looking for is the second of two minority reports, the one written by Leo Painton, which begins on page 15. Not only is Painton a member of the Portland Police Bureau, but, according to the report, he's a "member of the 1998 Charter Review Committee, and [an] FPD&R Board member." So, there's some bona fides for you.

To sum up his comments - and probably fail to do them justice (I think I've blabbed enough for a week on this site) - Painton is mainly concerned about the uncertainty he sees in the planning models and whether these will produce the predicted savings. A second concern surrounds the difficulty explaining the changes to police and fire union members. As he puts it:

"First and foremost, I believe I have a responsibility to be able to clearly describe the proposed package to police officers and firefighters. Police officers and firefighters need to know and have a right to know what the benefits would be under the proposed change. I cannot answer that question today and do not believe the Committee can answer it."

As I seem to like saying lately, that's not nothing. You can read similar sentiments in the lead editorial of today's Oregonian; as much as they're certain that change is coming, they also stress the importance of seeing that everyone buys in. I'm referring here to the bit where they warn Commissioner Dan Saltzman to "Crystallize the consensus." You don't necessarily have to agree with that - as you may be able to tell from my previous comments, I'm not sure that I do - but it's something to kick around.

By Jeff Bull Jan. 06, 2006