A federal judge has dismissed all criminal charges against five former San Diego pension system members whose willingness to grant fiscal relief to the city in 2002 backfired and pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy.
The ruling posted yesterday exonerates the former city and pension officials after four years of federal court proceedings.
“I’m very pleased,” said defendant Cathy Lexin, a former city employee who now works in the private sector in Sacramento. “I’ve never doubted this outcome, and I said that to people from the very beginning.”
Cleared in the case were Ronald Saathoff, former head of the city firefighters union; Teresa Webster, a former city employee; Lawrence Grissom and Loraine Chapin, former pension system officials; and Lexin.
While the ruling may close a significant chapter in the city’s long-running pension dispute, San Diego remains in an unstable financial position, forced to make sweeping cuts in services such as fire protection while making larger and larger payments to its pension system.
The city’s money problems could have been a lot worse had it not been for an unrelated legal ruling announced yesterday.
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