Thanks to Jim for picking up this article, from the Los Angeles Times, about a little town not far from Chico.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-loyalton-calpers-pension-problems-20170806-htmlstory.html
I think we have a similar situation here. Early in the 2000’s, a city council including current county supervisors Maureen Kirk and Larry Wahl, at the behest of then city manager Tom Lando, signed an MOU with city employees, attaching salaries “to revenue increases, but not decreases…”
Staff then went on a permits binge, permitting development all over town, houses piled into Grandma’s back yard, raising city revenues and salaries along with them. Staff got 14, 19, 22 percent raises over a very short period. Lando’s own salary went from around $65,000 a year to over $120,000 a year within a very short time.
When this scam was figured out by the public, they stopped it, but started paying the “employer paid member contribution” – the city started paying most, even all of the employee’s pension share.
We’ve been screeching about that, so lately they just raise the employee’s salary to cover their new pension share – they are determined that the taxpayer will foot the bill for these pensions (the following list is from 2012, remember, these people get cost of living increases) :
https://chicotaxpayers.com/2012/01/30/heres-why-lando-wants-to-raise-your-sales-tax/
Tom Lando hasn’t been pumping the sales tax increase lately, but I’m sure he’s behind it. Lately, in his position as Chico Area Recreation District Board member, he’s been pushing for a bond on our homes. It doesn’t matter which agency gets the money, as long as they pay their CalPERS deficit with it.
Loyalton only had four employees – can we do the same thing? I think we can sue the city for the outrageous raises given these pensioneers – spiking – right before they retired, like Lando. But I’m not a lawyer.
What do you think?
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Of course Chico could cut pensions, ain’t going to happen. For one thing the people making the decisions don’t want their pay or pensions cut. They are truly living fat and happy off the taxpayers.
What infuriates me is that pensions have become the top priority for the city. Then they fund stuff like public safety with the money left over.
Even in the Stockton bankruptcy, the court put pensions as the first priority, they were kept intact. However they did cut public safety.
In Vallejo and other towns it seems to boil down to elected officials. We have to get better people on council.