Pass: 91,924 / 58.07% Yes votes ...... 66,379 / 41.93% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

A court recently found that the Charter's prohibition relating to conviction for certain crimes applies only to retirement service benefits and not to all other forms of benefits, such as claims for disability retirement or a vesting allowance.

THE PROPOSAL: Proposition C is a Charter Amendment that would prohibit San Francisco Employees' Retirement System members who are convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude in connection with their employment from receiving any retirement benefits funded with employer contributions.

This prohibition would apply to employees regardless of whether they retired from service, retired as a result of a disability, or were receiving a vesting allowance.

Should the proposed charter amendment be approved by the voters, in my opinion, it would not affect the cost of government. The Charter amendment affirms prior voter-approved policy by conforming retirement-related sections of the Charter to state that retirement system members who are convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude related to their public employment are prohibited from receiving employer-funded retirement benefits.

Meaning of Voting Yes/No

A YES vote on this measure means:

If you vote yes, you want to amend the Charter to prohibit San Francisco Employees' Retirement System members who are convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude in connection with their employment from receiving any retirement benefits funded with employer contributions

A NO vote on this measure means:

If you vote no, you do not want to make these changes to the Charter.

For a near half century, the City's Charter has upheld the will of the voters by prohibiting City employees from receiving any taxpayer-funded retirement benefits if they were criminally convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed against the City in the course of their employment. Past examples of such crimes include stealing books from our public libraries, and stealing parking meter revenue that should have gone to improving our MUNI system.

Despite the voters' intent, a recent court ruling stated that this provision applies only to a certain classification of retirements, not all retirements.

Proposition C will reaffirm the voters' intent, by responding directly to this poorly crafted judicial opinion by prohibiting any and all City employees convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude against the City, during the course of their employment, from receiving any taxpayer contributions to their pensions upon application for their retirement.

All but one member of the Board of Supervisors voted in favor of Proposition C, and the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System Board unanimously approved the measure.

Please join me in reaffirming the will of the voters by voting YES on C.

Sean R. Elsbernd
Member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Member, San Francisco Employee Retirement System Board*

• For identification purposes only

Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club

In the past, moral turpitude has been defined in discriminatory ways by conservative judges.

San Francisco values mean standing up for all of us against consevative attacks.

Please vote no on Prop C.

Supervisor Chris Daly

San Francisco voters do not support providing taxpayer funded retirement benefits to former City employees convicted of stealing taxpayer money while working for the City. Current law requires such benefits be forfeited by such persons because voters passed the measure over forty years ago and have continued to do so at every opportunity.

Measure C does not change current law.

Measure C defends current law by eliminating a loophole created by a drafting error decades ago and uncovered in a recent court ruling.

The decision to award or deny retirement benefits is not, and has never been, made by "conservative judges".

The decision is made by the San Francisco Retirement Board, composed of members appointed by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors and elected by retirees.

Without the clarification provided by Measure C, convicted criminals will profit at the taxpayer's expense twice: first by stealing from their publicly funded City employer, and second by exploiting a weakness in the City Charter to illegally qualify for publicly funded benefits.

Uphold the will of the voters. Vote yes on C!

Sean R. Elsbernd
Member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Member, San Francisco Retirement Board