Issues with the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System came to a head this week. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings 鈥� as a private citizen 鈥� to try to stop pension members from withdrawing money from the fund early.
In this week's Friday Conversation, Rawlings calls that a "run on the bank" spurred by fears the fund could become insolvent in a decade without changes.
Yesterday, the pension board those withdrawals, and the city also unveiled a the fund.
Rawlings says a lack of transparency from the pension board and a weak system of governance set up by the state contributed to those problems.
Interview Highlights: Mayor Mike Rawlings鈥�
鈥苍 why it took so long to address pension issues:
鈥淭here was not transparency on the numbers. When I became mayor in 2011, about three months after that I realized that there was smoke coming out of that pension fund. I tried to get information and when I couldn鈥檛 get the information, when it took me years to get auditors in there to mark the investments correctly, I realized there was a problem.鈥�
鈥苍 on the pension shortfalls:
鈥淚f we鈥檙e second [in the country] to Chicago in this situation, we鈥檙e the worst governance in the nation [on the Police & Fire Pension Fund]. I don鈥檛 believe there鈥檚 a worse governance in the nation and I鈥檝e been told this by pension experts. There鈥檚 no checks and balances, the police and fire get to vote in their own benefits, and the older officers get to vote in big benefits and leave the younger officers slim pickings.鈥�
鈥苍 Dallas鈥� mounting troubles with affordable housing and infrastructure, even during an economic boom:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see this boom ending anytime soon. I think we鈥檝e got a few more years in the run, and we鈥檙e growing so fast鈥ecause we鈥檙e so successful, we have a lot of people moving in who are poor, and poverty is the big issue we鈥檝e got to deal with. Affordable housing comes out of that, blight comes out of that. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e got to get this pension issue off the table and back to fixing the streets, and doing some things that I think are important to the city.鈥�
