The Sunnyvale Sun

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Sunnyvale to consider eliminating benefits for council

By Stephen Baxter

In the 2005 Sunnyvale City Council election, lifetime health benefits for council members became a campaign issue late in the race. A few candidates said they wouldn't take them until the city was on better financial footing.

The council is expected to take up the issue this year, in part because some residents said it is unfair that the council receives the perk at taxpayers' expense in tight fiscal times.

City council members aren't the only beneficiaries in Sunnyvale.

City management employees and many Department of Public Safety employees also are eligible for the benefits if they are more than 50 years old, have at least five years of service and enter the Public Employees Retirement System plan. That total cost dwarfs the $40,000 a year the city now pays to the four retired council members on the plan.

Councilman Chris Moylan has been the most outspoken critic of lifetime benefits for the city council. He said the council should be willing to sacrifice its own benefits before it decides to cut city programs or dilute city union contracts.

"In tough times, we should have a take-away," Moylan said.

Moylan added that while $40,000 is a small part of a roughly $239 million annual city budget, the council should do its part.

In interviews last week, some council members indicated they would be in favor of eliminating benefits for future council members, if the current council could still receive them.

Councilman Dean Chu and Mayor Otto Lee indicated they would support such a measure, but it will likely be months before it comes to a vote. Moylan said he would be in favor of exempting Councilman John Howe--the only member eligible this year--but not the rest of the council.

Lee said he believes the council is being picked on, and the larger issue of paying for health care should be addressed with universal coverage, perhaps on a state level.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also is pushing a plan intended to cover millions of uninsured Californians.

Lee, who will not be eligible for the benefit because of his age, said, "I don't think we should retroactively take anything away from people."

Howe has recently indicated privately that he will take the benefit. He told The Sunnyvale Sun in 2005 that he would not take the lifetime benefits if they were offered to him.

Health problems caused Howe to miss an important city council meeting June 13 when appointments were made to the city's boards and commissions, including the powerful planning commission. He did not return repeated calls for comment for this story.

Chu is self-employed and receives city health-care benefits, but it is unclear whether he will seek them later.

Chu said city lawmakers shouldn't revoke the benefit from elected officials who were promised it, or from the four retired officials who currently receive it.

The four former council members receive from $7,000 to $11,000 a year, and roughly $40,000 total.

Councilwoman Melinda Hamilton would not be eligible for the benefit because of her age, but council members Ron Swegles, Moylan, Chu and Vice Mayor Tony Spitaleri would be eligible if they are re-elected.

Spitaleri has said he does not need the benefit because he is covered from his years of service in the Palo Alto Fire Department.

"People make employment decisions based on what they are now," Chu said.

"It's probably a good time to look at it," he said.