EDITORIAL

Looking for a Clear Explanation of the Pension Mess

There has been plenty of news coverage about the City's pension fund liability. According to Gabriel Roeder Smith, the actuary hired by the City last year, the liability to the police and fire pension funds is $140 million; the State's estimate is $127 million. The City must make up the shortfall and continue to make annual contributions for liabilities that occur each year, so that both the police and firefighters' pension funds are fully funded by 2033.

For the present, City staff has proposed and the City Council has agreed to continue to fund the pensions through a combination of revenue from the City's portion of the property tax and other taxes and fees dedicated directly to those pension funds.

Last week City Council decided to form a blue ribbon panel, composed primarily of persons who live or work in Evanston, to search for long-term ways to fund the City's contribution to the pension funds.

The taxpayers who will be asked to shoulder this burden deserve to know how it happened.

We support the formation of a blue-ribbon panel that can evaluate the reasonableness of the estimates of the shortfall and the assumptions used in making the estimates, and make recommendations on how to address it.

We think, however, the panel should also study how the City got into this mess. The taxpayers who will be asked to shoulder this burden deserve to know how it happened. There are two issues here.

The first concerns the City's role. Did the City contribute the amount its actuary recommended on a year by year basis? How much did the shortfall build up on a year by year basis? Why did the shortfall build up, and why was it not addressed?

Second, did the amounts that the City contributed to the pension funds earn a reasonable rate of return? How were the funds invested? What was the rate of return on a year by year basis?

We understand that the City states that it contributed what it was required to contribute each year and that an appellate court concluded that the City contributed what it was required by law to contribute.

We also understand that various explanations for the shortfall have been offered, including that the law changed on several occasions and increased the pension liability, that the stock market dropped in the early 2000s, that a new actuary used different and more conservative assumptions in estimating the shortfall, etc.

But a shortfall of $140 million did not happen overnight. Taxpayers deserve to know the specifics of what happened. The blue-ribbon panel should be charged with providing answers.

Church and State, 2008

By Charles Wilkinson

Our Founding Fathers were wise in many ways, but none of their foundation stones has proven more inspired and essential to our democracy than their dictum regarding the separation of Church and State.

A brief history: Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Danbury Baptists, a then- minority religion fearing the dominance of the Congregationalists in their state, wrote that "the legitimate powers of government... contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their ‘legislature' should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State." Mr. Jefferson's metaphor echoed Roger William's earlier use of the image of a wall "between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world."

Centuries later the image still describes the separation, while compromising freedom in no way.

Together with freedom of speech, the principle of separation of Church and State keeps democracy honest (more often than not). The wall is important - but it should not be so high it denies the existence of each to the other. Religion, when healthy, should be as personal as one's toothbrush. It is an intimate part of one's make-up and character, defining a relationship between self and God.

Politics, on the other hand, is about all of us and a shared dependency on human justice and law. Character, in politics, should be defined more by a person's history (track record) than belief, even though one's belief helps to shape that history, belief being defined here by one's spiritual (ethical) values, not religious affiliation.

In countries where one's religion is one's politics, there can be a kind of righteousness that is blind to and intolerant of differences, thus compromising true freedom.

But even in a democracy, history has at times shown that one's politics and/or beliefs can offer a dangerous hiding place for hidden agendas. That is why one's character should be the focus of anyone evaluating a candidate for public office.

Religion, it seems, has been an unfortunate and unnecessary noise in the current presidential debates, caucuses and primaries. Race, too, for that matter. And gender as well.

Nine months hence, Americans will cast their votes for our next president. There remains time enough for one's vote to be a choice rather than a response to bias or prejudice or an irresponsibility to be informed.

As mentioned above, ours is a nation dependent upon human justice and laws. It is also dependent upon human beings.

In these times, especially, that nation deserves and needs the best among us.

Ich Liebe Dich* (I Love You)

By Peggy Tarr

It's Black History Month and the week before Valentine's Day.

Marietta and John had been together for almost 50 years, 50 years come Valentine's Day. They had five children but had never married. Common law marriages had been acceptable, and John and Marietta felt that no piece of paper from the government - a government that once upon a time wouldn't even recognize marriages between black people as legal - could validate their love for each other. As far as Marietta and John were concerned, they were married. Their love for each other confirmed that, and that was that.

"You are my life, my one desire, my heaven!

You are my heart's first love and happiness!

I love you more than any earthly pleasure, I love you, I love you!

For all of time and of eternity... Your thoughts are mine and I think of you only

Pledging my heart to bring you happiness;

Whatever God has destined life to show me, I love you, I love you!

For all of time and of eternity..." - *Danish poem by Hans Christian Andersen; translated into German by F. von Holstein. Words and music by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Norwegian composer.

But unbeknownst to Marietta, John had been thinking other thoughts, thinking about how he wanted that piece of paper to declare his love for Marietta before one of them passed on. So John and his children arranged a date with their minister to marry John and Marietta.

On Valentine's Day, John struggled down onto one knee in front of Marietta, who was seated in their living room.

"What are you doing, you old fool?"

Marietta said as she playfully pretended to push John away.

"Marietta," said John, "Will you marry me?" Before she could answer, John took her hand and slid an engagement ring on her finger. Marietta covered her mouth with her other hand. She was speechless.

"I'm waitin'," said John, "You ain't answered me yet."

Marietta shook her head up and down.

She grabbed John's head in both hands and kissed him on the mouth.

That's more like it," said John, "Now help me up!"

"Love me, I care not what the circling years

To me may do.

If, but in spite of time and tears,

You prove but true ... Love me, and let my life take up thine own,

As sun the dew, Come, sit, my queen, for in my heart a throne Awaits for you!" - from "Love's Apotheosis," Paul

Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), African- American poet.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Letters to the Editor

End Defined-Benefit Plans Editor:

All defined-benefit plans should be converted to defined-contribution plans as soon as possible, incrementally or otherwise.

Defined-benefit pension plans are and always will be the source of future claims on the public for one reason or another, and are obsolete.

It has been 20 years since the inception of defined-contribution plans that offered employers and employees tax-favored ways to end almost all issues - especially the requests for more money for payment for past service.

Such funds as 401(k)'s; IRAs, 403(b)s, SEP-IRAs and HSAs are highly effective to end all retirement-payment issues ever arising from each and every pay-period for which an employer contribution is made.

Governmental employees across the country like defined-contribution plans. The troublesome and outmoded definedbenefit arrangements are perpetuated largely because - as is always the case - no one really looks out for the public interest. Outside government, there are no new defined-benefit pension plans, and all past plans are curtailed as much as possible. New eligibility in pensions is typically closed by an employer at the first opportunity.

There is no reason for the City to continue to offer defined-benefit retirement.

To fund another shortage without a shift to defined-contribution is unnecessary.

Daniel Loftus

Goliath vs. David - Whole Foods and Wild Oats Editor:

I have encountered my first obvious sign that things have changed at my favorite organic food store, Wild Oats, after their purchase by Whole Foods. Last weekend I took my cloth shopping bags to Wild Oats, expecting that I would be given a "wooden nickel" for each one, which I could deposit in a bin for one of a few worthy non-profits in Evanston.

I have been doing this for years at Wild Oats, both here and in Santa Fe, where my husband and I lived a few years ago. But to my dismay, the program has been removed.

It may seem like a little thing to the decision- makers at Whole Foods, but it isn't. The signal is that the corporation takes precedence over community. Too bad.

- Carol Balkcom

Dissimilar Vote Totals for Civic Center Move, Stay, Referenda Editor:

Your year-end wrap-up contains an error that we feel should be corrected. You stated that the vote on the two referendum questions for the Civic Center were the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Friends of the Civic Center distributed a door hanger the weekend before the referendum asking voters to vote "yes" on our question and to ignore the City Council's misleading question with its dollar figure that was 50 percent higher than any estimates.

Five thousand nine hundred fifty voters acted on our question; 4,250 voted on the City Council question, or 30 percent fewer.

Eighty-three percent of the voters voted "yes" on our referendum. The City Council question vote was split 50/50, even though the Friends of the Civic Center suggested that voters ignore the City's question. .

Have you ever known a referendum question with such a majority? It's unheard of. Most referenda squeak by, if at all, with 51 percent of the vote.

And it should be noted that to date there has been no public comment by the City Council about the vote that undeniably exhorts them to stay and rehabilitate 2100 Ridge Ave. Given the financial challenges in front of the Council on the pension issue and the budget, staying in the building may be the only practical and fiscally responsible option. - John Kennedy and Emily Guthrie, Friends of the Civic Center

Dissatisfaction With Condo Built by Tower Developers Editor:

We live in Sherman Plaza condominium, in the First Ward. The same developer that built our building is the one requesting to build the new Evanston tower.

Our association requested and received a transition study report. This report contains 91 pages listing 85 "deficiencies" as well as "recommendations" to correct the deficiencies. The deficiencies were in these areas: exterior; roofing; vertical transportation; plumbing; HVAC; electrical; life safety and maintenance; and operations.

The engineers were unable to examine areas that have been covered with built up areas or concrete.

Does Evanston want this developer to build another hi-rise (almost twice as tall) as Sherman Plaza?

Please share with all of your fellow Evanston officials. - Fred Tanenbaum and Barbara Bernstein

On RT's Treatment of Immigration Resolution Editor:

Your front page article (Jan. 23 issue) calls the proposed immigration resolution a resolution for "humane and just treatment of undocumented persons."

That is a real insult. Do you think Evanston residents are butchers and torturers? Do you think we are opposed to human dignity? Do you think we now mistreat illegal aliens? I know the article is signed, but your editorial board published Joe Linstroth's opinions as fact. That doesn't seem like good journalism.

The "undocumented persons in Evanston" are illegal, lawbreakers, aliens. That proposed resolution asks Evanstonians to support illegal actions.

Supporters of the proposed resolution would do much better to propose specific immigration reform actions to the federal government rather than encouraging civil disobedience. - Marilyn Gardner Ed. note: The title of the resolution is "Resolution Calling for the Humane and Just Treatment for Immigrants and Their Families."

First Responders Deserve Their Pensions Editor:

I am writing in response to the Mayor's comments at the Jan. 12 City budget workshop: "There is no one here who doesn't want everyone to have their pensions, but down the line, the costs rise and rise. ...This will destroy us; this will destroy the City of Evanston," and most disturbing of all, "We are putting money into something in which the people putting up the money receive no benefit."

I would hope that she was alluding to not just the police and firefighters pension funds, but to all other pension funds that are the responsibilities of the taxpayers of Evanston (i.e. all other eligible City and District 202/65 employees, of which the mayor is a recipient) as well.

At the same workshop, Alderman Jean- Baptiste commented to City manager Julia Carroll, "I'm concerned that in your effort to do your duty that some things might be more important to you than to ... continue to provide the type of services the City is used to."

Is he implying that these men and women who risk their lives to serve and protect the citizens of Evanston (and upon retirement, receive no Social Security benefits from the government, nor any paid health-care benefits from the City) are less worthy of City contributions than any other service program that the City sponsors? So after 20+ years of service to this community, is it, "Wham bam, thank you ma'am?"

Yes, this is a major crisis for the City, but it certainly comes as no surprise. Tim Schoolmaster has been screaming "the sky is falling" for more than 20 years now, trying to get the city to address this issue, to no avail, until now. Had Moody not lowered our credit rating, I wonder if we would even be talking about this issue, or would we still be living in La La Land, looking the other way.

How is it that almost every other community in Illinois has been able to take the responsibility and fund their pension funds up to state standards, except for Evanston? We cannot change the past, but we must address this in the present, as soon as possible, as this problem will only continue to grow more serious.

As far as this group of Coldwell Banker Realtors who oppose the property-transfer tax proposal, they have to know that one way or another, it's coming from Evanston taxpayers, be it in the proposed propertytransfer tax and/or through raised yearly property-tax increases. Either way, it may affect the sales of homes in Evanston.

But consider what else would affect the marketability of this town. Having no qualified candidates who would want to become a member of the police force or fire department. Let's face it, people know they are never going to get rich in either of these professions, and without the guarantee of a pension, who would ever put themselves at so much risk?

The fact that I even have to write this letter to justify police and firefighters' worthiness for what seems not just fully funded pension funds, but even a pension at all appalls me.

The dangers of these jobs go way beyond the obvious to most of us. These men and women are our first responders. How many of us ordinary people go into life-and-death situations on any given day while we're at work?

Police and firefighters put themselves on the line for us. Now it's our turn to respond in kind, because that duty, fellow citizens, is ours. - Mary K. O'Boyle

Sanctuary Editor:

Spendthrift Council would aid and abet "Immigrants," regardless their sub-set "Documented." Or not Evinces diddly-squat What part of "Illegal" don't they get? - Robert J. Bagby

Call It ‘Immigrant Bashing' Editor:

Just asking James J. Schmidt: Are immigrants the assaulters, or the assaulted? Despite Mr. Schmidt's protest to the contrary, when he offensively characterizes immigrants as "pests" (RoundTable Jan. 23) it is not only immigrant-bashing but racism as well.

Mr. Schmidt's letter is a sanctimonious and self-righteous endorsement of our immigration laws, and it is in fact immigrant bashing in its most classic form - it is that because Mr. Schmidt ignores what causes "everyday thousands more [to] assault our borders unchecked..."

Even his rhetoric takes a cue from the days of characterizing Chinese immigrants as "yellow hordes".

Just asking ...Why is it OK for capital (as in agreements such as NAFTA and other artifacts of globalization) to flow freely across national borders, but it's not OK for labor to do the same?

Are today's international labor migrations really any different than yesterday's internal migrations of labor? People do what they have to do to survive.

Who profits when labor responds to globalization-induced poverty by immigrating, when that labor is vilified as illegal and illegitimate, and consequently operates in a shadow economy of low wage jobs, unable to organize safely?

How do we express in our laws our values of promoting human needs over those of corporate profits, if indeed we have those values?

Just telling: I have a personal perspective on my foregoing comments as well. I have taught English as a Second Language for 23 years in the Chicago City Colleges.

Doubtless I have taught plenty of undocumented students. If my students had had their ‘druthers, most would have preferred to stay in their native countries.

If and when Americans decide that undocumented immigrants are so undesirable that we are willing to pay more for everything from restaurant meals to lawn care to construction costs absent immigrants' cheap labor - then we must address our decision by targeting the powerful rather than the powerless: the institutions, the corporations, international monetary policies and even our own collective demand for the most goods and services for the least cost. The immigrants themselves are the most exploited part of this complex economic picture.

In his patently offensive letter, Mr. Schmidt focuses only on what undocumented immigrants take from society and ignores what they contribute to society, all in order to bash and to scapegoat them. Scapegoating is taking the easy way out, and is a tired old maneuver in the history of American immigration.
- Nancy Sreenan

Feeling Betrayed By Failure To Fund Pensions Editor :

For the first time my husband and I have been considering moving out of Evanston. We always thought we would be in our house until we were carted out. Now we feel betrayed by our municipal government in not funding the police and firefighters pension funds over the years.

Residents move to an area, and after checking out the municipal government goals, school board projections and other fiscal bodies we place our watchful trust in these bodies. But we are not aware of everything. As time goes on our kids grow up and leave, the municipality grows denser in population and our taxes keep going up. Well, another $500 or $300 a year, we'll manage, we say.

Now we are told about the crisis in funding the police and firefighters pension fund and the amount owed is staggering: $140M or so. Wow. How could that happen we wonder. How is it the City Council, City Manager et al allowed this debt to accumulate? What a huge loss of trust this represents.

Looking around I don't see other local municipalities with the same problems - they fund pension funds. We are surrounded by graft and corruption, malfeasance and nonfeasance in the Federal, State and now local government.

So we make our lists of other places to live and when the future moment seems right we will probably move. We will not only physically move, but also leave behind our illusions that we had a contract with the City of Evanston.

The contract was something like this: We residents were active participants in our community and the City government held up its end of the contract bargain over the years by keeping the City on the fiscal straight and narrow.

The City of Evanston has shattered the contract by not funding these pension funds for many years. Our municipal budget could never have been remotely in balance if this debt was on the books. Were we lied to? Not told? Or was the information swept under the municipal rug? We will never know.

Going forward is all that we can do - finding other opportunities and, maybe, a local government that is a little more honest.
- Sue Roupp

Support Firefighters Editor :

As a citizen and the wife of an Evanston firefighter, I have become increasingly concerned about what is written and said about the current pension crisis. I would like to clear up a few misconceptions I have heard.

• Other than a desire to serve the community, the pension offers one of the few incentives to take on a challenging and often frustrating job; Evanston police officers and firefighters serve our citizens at starting salaries well below the median income in Evanston: the pension was promised as part of their compensation. These men and women have declined their right to Social Security in favor of the pension.

• It has been suggested to me that firefighters should use their non-working hours to take a second job as part of their compensation - some have even gone so far as to suggest that we organize a volunteer department.

Firefighters in a dense urban environment like Evanston are highly skilled workers who train constantly, sometimes on their own time. This means, in addition to standard paramedic and fire training, Evanston firefighters are trained to handle high-rise rescues, underwater rescues, and HAZMAT, among others.

It's also important to point out that, even though they work non-traditional hours, averaged over the year, firefighters are still scheduled to serve our citizens for more than 40 hours a week, and work over 8,000 calls per year. For both police and firefighters, a nontraditional schedule often means spending evenings, holidays and weekends away from their families.

• While heroic efforts may make the paper, we also need to honor the "daily grind:" paperwork and cleanup, training and maintenance, and dealing with the public at their most vulnerable: sick, hurt, mentally ill, or violent. These men and women are heroes on a daily basis; we are fortunate to have them serve our community.

When discussing this issue solely in terms of dollars and cents, it is easy to minimize the contributions of our police officers and firefighters, especially because they perform these jobs willingly and even eagerly. It concerns me greatly to hear citizens suggest we should renege on promises made to these men and women.

I urge City Council and the citizens of Evanston to make certain the pensions for police and firefighters are fully funded.
- Michele Hays

Plastic Bags in Recycling Bins Are a Nuisance But Are OK Editor :

In a Jan. 9 letter to the editor, "Do Not Recycle Plastic Bags," it was stated that Groot Industries, Evanston's residential recycling service contractor, does not recycle materials that are set out in plastic bags.

This information is incorrect.

The City of Evanston and Groot Industries assure residents that if a resident places their recyclable materials into a plastic bag for set-out, Groot will collect it and deliver the materials to their sorting facility for recycling.

Groot does not discard these recyclable materials, as the letter stated. "If the recyclable materials are in plastic bags inside or next to the residents' bins - it is serviced as recycling," stated Municipal Manager Frank Hillegonds of Groot Industries.

Plastic bags can make it difficult to identify the contents inside, therefore, we prefer to have materials placed loosely into the bins. However, residents can be reassured that when placed in plastic bags, Groot collects the materials and recycles the contents (if recyclable).

For more information on what is collected through the City of Evanston residential recycling service, please contact the City of Evanston Streets and Sanitation Division at 847-866-2940.
- Suzette Eggleston, City of Evanston Streets and Sanitation Superintendent

Fund the Pensions Legally and to the Max EDITOR:

The City faces what has been described as a massive pension fund liability. Other than passing reference to the lack of qualifications and miscalculations of the former City actuary, City officials have given no explanation for how a liability of this magnitude could have occurred. Informed sources cited in the local press have shown the inadequacy of funding has accrued and accumulated since at least 1993.

Last December, Moody's Investors Service characterized the City's outlook as "negative," attributing this to the pension liability that had been identified as a problem for "a number of years."

The City has forfeited the investment income from compound interest it would have earned over time had the required funding been timely. This investment income would have significantly decreased the cost of pension funding paid directly by the City. Evanston taxpayers are now confronted with a 15-percent increase in property taxes, a referendum to increase the real estate transfer tax and increases in charges for a multitude and wide range of licenses, services and fees that reach down to an increase in the nickel-and-dime fines for overdue library books.

If trust in Evanston City government is to be established, elected and appointed officials need to be held to standards of accountability, transparency and fiduciary duty. An analytical report, grounded in fact, by a competent, independent person is due Evanston residents and businesses. The records to provide it are available. It should include the following:

• A summary of the state law and a clear explanation of its structure and legal requirements for funding Evanston police and fire pension funds as of 1993

• The annual amount mandated by state law, separate for each fund and year from 1993 through 2007, to fully fund each pension fund, and the amount Evanston contributed, separately, for each fund and year 1993-2007;

• A review of relevant City documents since 1993 that reflect in summary form the reasons put forth and considered by the City for a) meeting state legal requirements for annual contributions to each of the funds and b) contributing less than the state requirements;

• A realistic estimate of the compound interest the City would have earned had the required annual contribution to each of the funds been made each year 1993-2007. This report should be publicized in print and online and given directly to the City Manager and all elected City officials. It should be done quickly to enable Evanston officials to make informed, prudent, responsible decisions with informed public input on how to meet the City's legal obligations for the police and firefighters pension funds while the 2008-09 budget is under consideration.
- Shirley Ellis