SAN JOSE — Former Mayor Chuck Reed is following through on his promises to try and get a statewide pension reform measure on the ballot, saying Wednesday his group may submit an initiative for review by state officials as soon as May.
After being termed out of office at the end of December, Reed said he planned on following up on a 2014 effort, which never made the ballot, to give local governments a chance to cut their pension bills, likely at the expense of government workers. It followed a similar San Jose pension measure Reed championed as his signature initiative during his second term as mayor, and one that is still being fought over in the courts and City Hall.
Reed, now a part-time lawyer, said he might submit his initiative to the state for a title and summary — the first step in a lengthy process — in May for the November 2016 ballot, though there is no deadline to do it that early. He still would face the daunting task of gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures and fending off a well-funded and determined union opposition group to actually get it on the ballot.
The exact makeup of the measure is still being worked out, Reed said.
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