By Darren DaRonco | Arizona Daily Star(13) Comments
A citizens group hopes to dramatically alter how the city provides retirement benefits for its employees. And it’s trying to bypass the City Council to do it, by putting the issue on the November ballot.
To qualify for the ballot, the group needs 12,730 valid signatures before July 5. Peter Zimmerman, a consultant for the Committee for Sustainable Retirement, said although the deadline is tight, he anticipates the group will be successful because it’s had 12 paid circulators collecting signatures since Saturday.
The petition drive is being financed, at least in part, by the Liberty Initiative Fund, a national organization dedicated to public policy advocacy, Zimmerman said. He said the fund provided the seed money to get the petition drive going, but he didn’t have the specific amount.
The petitioners fear the city’s current retirement system is unsustainable and will land the city in financial ruin.
