San Diego Council Votes to Pay Legal Bills of Workers Being Questioned in Pension Probes

In hopes of hastening the completion of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. attorney’s office, the City Council on Tuesday voted 5 to 3 to pay the legal bills of employees being questioned.

The City Council also voted to share information gathered by its own attorneys with the SEC or the U.S. attorney’s office.

The council allocated $150,000 to pay for attorneys for employees being questioned about how the city omitted information about its pension deficit on documents submitted to Wall Street as part of bond sales.

With lawyers by their side, the employees will be more likely to talk to investigators, Mayor Dick Murphy said.

The SEC is investigating whether employees broke any laws or commission regulations by not mentioning the pension deficit.

The U.S. attorney’s office is investigating possible conflicts of interest among employees who helped design the city’s pension program, which provides generous retirement and health benefits.

The City Council also pledged greater cooperation with an outside auditing firm.

The firm, KPMG, has said it cannot complete the audit until it is assured that the city has fully investigated possible wrongdoing by employees or officials.

Without an audit, the city, in effect, cannot issue bonds for construction projects.

Among the financial moves being delayed is a refinancing of Petco Park, the downtown ballpark that opened in April.