Dear Friends and Fellow Stakeholders of Council District 5, I am truly honored and privileged to represent you and work with you. Together, we can and will protect and improve our local quality of life. Your voice and views matter to me, so please contact me and my staff with your questions, ideas and concerns. Feel free to e-mail me at Paul.Koretz@lacity.org, and visit this web site often, because we will update it frequently with news about our city and community.

Best regards,

Paul Koretz

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Monday, Feb 08, 2010

HONORING COMMUNITY SERVICE IN SHERMAN OAKS

Last Friday, Councilmember Paul Koretz proudly honored four past board members of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association:  Ellen Vukovich, Nancy Kaleel, Wayne Williams and David Rankell. Councilmember Koretz said, "These four community leaders have been forces for good on a wide variety of crucial causes. They have each devoted countless volunteer hours over the years to keeping the neighborhoods and people of Sherman Oaks informed on local as well as city-wide issues, challenges and successes. We are grateful, because these civic patriots have improved the quality of life of San Fernando residents and helped to ensure that government is accountable and that our local communities are well-served and fully empowered." Pictured at the City Council ceremony, from left to right, are Nancy Kaleel, Wayne Williams and Councilmember Paul Koretz. Ellen Vukovich and David Rankell were unable to attend due to illness.

 

Posted at 11:00 AM

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Wednesday, Feb 03, 2010

KORETZ CALLS FOR ACTION ON CITY'S PENSION AND RETIREMENT PLANS

Councilmember Paul Koretz has introduced a city council motion that could lead to a consolidation of the
administration of the City’s three pension and retirement systems. The Councilmember said, “The City of Los
Angeles is in the midst of a severe fiscal crisis – that’s why, now more than ever, we need to examine and
implement important governmental reforms and structural adjustments that can save the City many millions of
dollars.”

As Chair of the City’s Audits and Governmental Efficiency, Councilmember Koretz has worked closely with City
Controller Wendy Greuel to identify and eliminate any waste and abuse, and to institute efficiencies that may help
the City out of its tough financial predicament. The Koretz motion is the first City Council motion, in the context
of the current budget crisis, to look at the pension and retirement systems. The motion, which was co-presented
by Bernard Parks and seconded by Janice Hahn, will be heard in the two City Council committees (Budget and
Finance, and Audits and Governmental Efficiency).

The City’s three pension and retirement systems are the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System (LAFPPS),
the Los Angeles Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) and the Water and Power Employees’ Retirement
Plan (WPERP). Councilmember Koretz explained that “consolidation of the three administrations of these
systems into one could create significant savings that we desperately need. It’s also true that there would be
greater transparency of the operations of the three pension systems. This would be a positive response to recent
allegations of corruption, mismanagement and a lack of transparency that have been directed at public pension
systems around the country.”

The Councilmember noted that some of these potential transformations of the pension systems have already been
identified in past audits but were never acted on.

Posted at 5:00 PM

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