Yoon Seeks to Reign In Pension Abuse
“Introduces Measures to Add Accountability to City Contracts for Retirees”

May 6, 2009

BOSTON – City Councilor at Large and mayoral candidate Sam Yoon introduced two measures today that would create oversight for consulting contracts going to retirees who receive pensions from their City jobs.

“We need to know that the City awards contracts that are fair and legal,”said Yoon. “When the rules are as lax as they have been, it allows retired employees to game the system. That is unacceptable when budgets are so tight and people are losing their jobs.”

One of the items Yoon is introducing is an ordinance requiring department heads to confirm that any consultant or contractor hired is not violating laws or abusing the pension system; the other item is a resolution urging the Boston Redevelopment Authority to do the same.

Public retirees already have hour and salary caps for contract work for the City of Boston, but there is currently no oversight for such violations when departments award consulting contracts.

“It’s clear that our system is not working when it comes to preventing pension abuse,” said Yoon. “This is a simple step that we’re adding to the process that requires both the department head and the consultant to take responsibility for the contract they are signing.”

The measures come in light of the Boston Globe’s revelation that longtime BRA official Paul McCann was earning a consulting fee from the agency that exceeded the pension he was collecting.