If you’re looking for an analogy to explain the latest wrangling over San Jose’s Measure B pension reform, think of a divorced couple trying to reunite after years of strife.
As they announce that they’re back together for the sake of the kids, a relative who has seen it all reminds them that they aren’t husband and wife until they return to the courthouse for a license.
In this case, the divorced couple is the city of San Jose and its key unions, particularly the Police Officers’ Association. The close relative is ex-cop and ex-Councilman Pete Constant.
About 5 p.m. last Monday, Constant and Mayor Sam Liccardo had an uncomfortable conversation on the telephone.
Constant told the mayor that the group he represents, the Charles Munger-funded Hold Politicians Accountable, intended to intervene in court to block efforts to repeal Measure B, the source of the strife with unions.
The mayor, according to the ex-councilman, said he was disappointed. Constant insisted that the changes in Measure B should be submitted to the voters who approved it in 2012.
For anyone who has followed City Hall over the last decade, there was more than a little irony in that moment.
Background
Liccardo and Constant were elected to the council in 2006. While they did not agree on all things, the Democrat Liccardo and the Republican Constant were often allies. Both backed Measure B, which profoundly alienated the cops.
Constant’s decision to get out of the mayor’s race in 2014 made it possible for Liccardo to appeal to Republicans to secure a spot in the runoff. He eventually beat Dave Cortese.
After Liccardo took office, Constant served part-time on the mayor’s transition staff for three months. He remained a part of Liccardo’s “kitchen cabinet” in a weekly Saturday conference call.
Now, he jokes, he’s probably been sent down Liccardo’s garbage disposal. But from his new home in Roseville, near Sacramento, Constant is diving once again to the heart of San Jose politics.
One of the most likable things about Constant is that he does not appear to care greatly what people think of him. He readily acknowledges that he’ll be seen as the guy who spoils the reunion.
But as someone who took the political heat for Measure B, he isn’t ready to dismiss it as a collective-bargaining error. “The city has a duty to defend the ballot measure that was approved by the voters,” he said. “Instead, they’re in court with the unions, stipulating to a settlement.”
(The city is planning to bring an initiative in November that would prohibit retroactive pension increases, require voter approval for benefit increases and require actuarial soundness. That is far from the whole enchilada.)
Practical level
Who’s right? On a practical level, you have to give an edge to Liccardo, who has worked hard to craft a compromise with unions. The city desperately needs to hire new cops. And that won’t happen on the scale needed until Measure B is dispatched.
The current police academy has only seven cadets. And the mayor is fighting time: “It’s important we move as rapidly as possible to help us rebuild our Police Department,” he said.
On a moral and legal level, however, Constant brings a strong argument. Measure B was approved by nearly 70 percent of the voters. It’s hard to say they shouldn’t have a voice in its key changes.
Contact Scott Herhold at 408-275-0917 or sherhold@mercurynews.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/scottherhold.
