San Diego City Employees' Retirement System on March 18 will consider a request by the San Diego Unified Port Authority for a separate trust and board to manage the authority's pension assets, said Paul Barnett, the assistant retirement administrator. Employees of the port authority currently participate in the $3.2 billion city employees plan. The request was included in a Feb. 15 letter to Larry Grissom, retirement administrator of the system. The letter also asked to amend a current agreement between the authority and the pension system to include the right to terminate the relationship. It also sought for indemnification for port authority officials and asked for a methodology to determine market value of port authority assets in the plan, which were valued at $123.8 million last year.
"We consider the proposed measures to be prudent and motivated solely by the need to ensure the safety and security of the port's retirement funds" and not based on the various accusations and issues between the city of San Diego and the retirement system, the letter said.