San Jose mayor halts push for pension initiative

SACRAMENTO -- San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced Friday that he would not pursue his pension ballot initiative this year, postponing a major battle over public employee retirement costs.

The proposed initiative would have allowed local governments to reduce benefits for current employees, which have strained the finances of California cities.

Reed said the official description of the proposal, written by the attorney general’s office, inaccurately portrayed it in a negative light, hampering the ability to gather enough signatures to qualify it for the November ballot.

A state court rejected Reed’s attempt to change the description, leading the mayor to abandon the effort for the year.

“Unfortunately, California’s pension problems are not going away and will only grow larger in the coming years,” Reed said in a statement. “That is why we remain committed to providing elected leaders with the tools they need to negotiate benefit changes and control skyrocketing costs.”

Reed and his allies plan another attempt to place their proposal on the ballot in 2016.

His efforts have faced strong union opposition.

“We continue to believe that the bargaining table -- not the ballot box -- is the proper place to address the budget challenges facing our communities and state,” said a statement from Dave Low, chairman of Californians for Retirement Security.

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Twitter: @chrismegerian