COUNTY PENSIONS `SHOCKING'; FORMER SHERIFF'S AWARD IGNITES CALLS FOR REFORM.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Spurred by public anger over a $232,908-a-year pension awarded to Sheriff Sherman Block's widow, Los Angeles county's treasurer-tax collector called Tuesday for sweeping changes in the county pension plan.

Block - the nation's highest paid public official - died in October 1998 after falling in his bathtub, and his widow was granted a full pension because the county retirement-pension commission deemed Block's death was tied to his job as sheriff. He had overcome bouts of cancer but was in ill health with kidney failure when he died at age 74 while seeking re-election.

Treasurer and Tax Collector Mark Saladino said too many county workers or their families receive full disability pensions because injuries or deaths are determined to be service-related.

``What happened with the sheriff's widow is not that unusual,'' Saladino said. ``There are many other cases where people can walk away with pretty hefty disability pensions.''

In a memorandum to the Board of Supervisors, Saladino cited several examples of what he called ``shocking'' pensions, particularly involving law enforcement officers who easily win job-stress benefits despite such health problems as obesity and alcoholism.

Most disturbing is the so-called heart presumption, which holds that any heart trouble suffered by firefighters and law enforcement officers is tied to their job, Saladino said in the memo released Tuesday.

For example, the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association Board of Retirement granted a service-connected disability retirement in 1998 to a sheriff's sergeant, without considering his lifestyle and job.

The sergeant ``spent the better part of 30 years behind a desk, despite the fact that he was morbidly obese, diabetic, alcoholic and smoked two packs of cigarettes daily for 20 years,'' Saladino wrote in a memorandum released Tuesday.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said LACERA's pension benefits are ``obscene by any standard.''

``The taxpayers would probably have coronaries themselves if they were aware how much money goes out,'' Coupal said. ``That's the reverse heart presumption. Any reform of this system, any step in the right direction, would be very welcome.''

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he will ask the board next week to create a task force that would propose changes in state pension law and county regulations.

``We need to look at all our employees served by the retirement system, not just our safety employees,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``These kind of outcomes are indefensible to the layman.''

Marsha D. Richter, chief executive officer for LACERA, said the way the laws are written ``force the retirement board to grant disabilities they might not otherwise grant.''

A key duty of the nine-member commission is to determine whether a disability is service-connected. A finding of service connection does not require that the applicant's disability arise out of employment. If the job aggravated or contributed to a pre-existing condition or the body's natural degenerative process, the applicant is entitled to a service-connected disability retirement.

``It is not unusual for us to consider 25 to 50 such applications per month, the overwhelming majority of which are filed by employees of the Sheriff's Department or the Fire Department,'' Saladino wrote.

``Surprisingly, in more than a few cases the disabling condition (or its aggravation or contribution) arises out of activities that are not part of the applicant's official duties,'' Saladino wrote.

For example, an off-duty sheriff's deputy who injured his wrist catching a softball was granted a service-connected disability retirement because the softball game was approved by his department.

Another off-duty sheriff's deputy injured himself while lifting weights at a private gym and was granted a service-connected disability retirement because he contended staying in good physical shape was considered part of his job.

Another factor that can lead to unexpected results is the generic classification of certain employees as ``arduous.''

For example, a sheriff's deputy is always classified as ``arduous'' regardless of whether the deputy patrols, guards inmates or has administrative duties.

``As a result, a relatively minor orthopedic impairment is almost always disabling, regardless of whether the applicant is the desk sergeant or a deputy on patrol who is routinely required to chase and apprehend felons,'' Saladino wrote.

In another example, a patrol boat operator was given a service-connected disability retirement due to his inability to pass a long-distance swimming test.

``However, the applicant's assignment never actually required him to swim, and after leaving county service he moved to Baja California, where he now spends his retirement racing sailboats,'' Saladino wrote.

Saladino recommended the supervisors revise employee classifications to more accurately reflect the actual physical demands of an employee's assignment, or by legislation that permits an applicant's actual duties to be taken into account.

He also suggested the supervisors sponsor legislation that would allow the heart presumption, or newly enacted cancer presumption, to be rebutted with ``substantial evidence'' at retirement board hearings.

``In addition, automatic reclassification of employees over a certain age into less physically demanding jobs might limit the damage that almost inevitably results from 35 years of arduous activity, thereby allowing safety employees to prevent disability rather than having to deal with its consequences,'' he wrote.