Letter From L1775 President. RE: Civil Grand Jury Report

Local 1775 Members,

On April 16, 2015 the 2014/2015 Marin County Civil Grand Jury released its report “Pension Enhancements: A Case of Government Code Violations and a Lack of Transparency”.

The IJ has posted its article regarding the Grand Jury report. Assuredly there will be follow up articles and letters to the editor.  Undoubtedly, you will receive questions from our members, retirees and the media. Please don’t respond to the media at this time. We don’t know the full content or legality of the issues that the Grand Jury has raised in its report. This is the Grand Jury’s opinion, not a legal opinion.

A point made in the article is that a similar report was produced by the Sonoma County Grand Jury. The new benefit tiers were found to be valid and vested. 

Retirees will continue to receive their retirement checks. I spoke with MCERA Retirement Administrator Jeff Wickman today. Jeff assured me that retirees will continue to receive their monthly MCERA retirement check. 

The Local 1775 leadership and our attorneys will be reviewing the grand jury report. We will watch for Marin County legal counsel weighing in with its legal opinion regarding the Grand Jury report. At the conclusion of our review we will provide our opinion to the membership regarding the grand jury report.  

As we go forward, know that Local 1775 is engaged to take the necessary action to protect pensions of our current, past and future Firefighters.

Fraternally,

Bob Briare, President

Marin Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local1775