San Diego Mayor Now 'Double Dipping' -- Collecting Salary and Pension

San Diego Union Tribune reports:

Mayoral candidate Jerry Sanders promised in 2005 that, if elected, he wouldn't be “double dipping” at taxpayer expense by accepting the full mayor's salary while cashing his police pension.

Fast-forward to 2009. The recently re-elected Mayor Sanders is collecting the entire amount.

The mayor worked for three years of his first term for about $36,000 annually, a small portion of his salary. He began accepting $100,464 on Dec. 8, the day he was sworn in for his second term. Sanders says he never repeated the promise to take reduced pay during last year's re-election campaign.

The action comes as he is asking every city employee to share the pain – through pay cuts and unpaid furloughs – to help close a $60 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

To be sure, Sanders gave up a significant amount of money during his first three years in office. He refused a total of about $192,000 in compensation and chose not to count those years, or his current four-year term, toward his pension.

Great moments in public pensions.