The Chronicle‘s Ron Nissimov sounds a little exasperated over the White Administration’s refusal to answer a simple question:
On Sept. 20, Mayor Bill White said an agreement had been reached to reduce an $846 million shortfall in the police pension to $535 million.
But an actuarial report presented to the Houston Police Officers’ Pension System the same day said the pension shortfall already had been reduced from $846 million in July 2003 to $685 million in July 2004 because of stock market gains.
That would mean that the agreements would reduce the shortfall by $150 million, not the $311 million White claimed.
City and HPOPS officials have repeatedly told the Chronicle that they cannot explain the discrepancy. No council members have asked about the matter in public sessions.
Cannot or will not?
It’s really unacceptable that no administration official will explain Mayor White’s seemingly erroneous claim, that no council member will ask for an explanation, and that no journalists in town (besides Nissimov) are bothered by it.
