Mayor Turner "Getting it Done" Be Proud!

Dear Donna, I am proud to report to you that our City Council voted nearly unanimously (16 votes to 1) to endorse our historic package of pension reforms. The vote clears the way for the City to move forward in partnership with all three pension systems – representing our police officers, our municipal employees and our firefighters – to seek legislative approval of the reforms. This plan is transformative and budget neutral. We are solving our pension problem permanently and we are doing it without needing a tax rate increase. I am thankful to everyone who has helped get us to this point. That includes City Council, the pension systems, our city employees and many others. It is a big deal that employees have agreed to these benefit changes. I know this has not been easy, and I thank each of them for their patience, understanding and service. This plan will provide stable and sustainable retirements at an affordable cost to the taxpayers who foot the bill. Retirees won’t have to worry if the check will be there. You can be sure that there are those out there who will continue to say it can’t be done. Some are fighting to stay relevant; some just need more information; and some want a different balance between the goals of providing secure retirements for our public employees and protecting taxpayers. To all, I say, join us. We are moving our city forward after more than 15 years of gridlock. Let’s do it together. Warm regards, Mayor Sylvester Turner P.S. If you like geeking out on the details like I do, you can learn more about our historic package of reforms at http://www.houstontx.gov/pensions/index.html.