San Diego
The San Diego City Council will receive plans in two months on how to divest $30 million in investments by the city’s employee retirement fund in companies doing business in South Africa.
A member of the city’s retirement board agreed the panel would submit several divestment plans to the council Dec. 8--an offer that marks progress in a stalemate between the council and the board over what should be done with the investments.
The council has been on record urging the retirement board to divest, but the board has resisted for fear that the move would cut into earnings.
Ron Saathoff, a member of the retirement board, told council members Monday that his colleagues could go along with divestiture if it followed the so-called Harvard principles, which pertain only to companies with 1% or more of their total assets in South Africa.
But some council members said Monday that they want stricter guidelines, setting the stage for another battle when the different plans are reviewed.
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