County Treasurer Wants to Fix Pension Loopholes

LOS ANGELES —  The L.A. County treasurer has suggested closing loopholes in the county’s retirement system that led a pension panel last week to rule that the widow of former Sheriff Sherman Block is entitled to his full salary because his fatal bathtub fall was work-related.

In a memo to county supervisors, Mark Saladino said that the decision--which allows Alyce Block to receive the equivalent of her late husband’s $230,000 annual salary tax-free--”is by no means extraordinary.”

Saladino stated that because of county code, pension officials sometimes are obliged to find that retirees are disabled due to work-related injuries even when the mishaps did not occur on duty.

He cited a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who hurt his wrist during a softball game but received tax-free disability retirement, as well as the case of a patrol boat operator who won disability retirement because of his inability to pass a swimming test, then moved to Baja California to race sailboats.

“I do not mean to imply that the cases cited above are typical,” Saladino wrote. “But disability retirement--whether or not service-connected--can be costly. . . . Accordingly, it is in the county’s interest--and the interest of [its pension plan’s] members--to limit fraud and abuse by closing what can only be perceived as ‘loopholes’ in the system.”