San Diego officials have made numerous overtures to police themselves, yet it all appears rather hollow when the chief whistle-blower in the city’s billion-dollar pension fund scandal is rejected in her bid for reappointment to the board overseeing the retirement fund.

Diann Shipione, who wanted to remain on the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System board, has been left off the panel during the City Council’s selection process. Mayor Dick Murphy said he wanted a fresh slate of appointees, yet Shipione’s snub sends another ominous message to whistle-blowers everywhere: We appreciate your conscientious effort to right the wrongs, now please go away.

There’s no question Shipione was qualified to remain a member of the board. She works for UBS Financial Services as vice president of investments and has been a panel member since the late 1990s.

Yet since she called attention to the city employees’ pension fund problems in public testimony in late 2002, Shipione has been subjected to ridicule and dubious attempts to make reappointment to the board nearly impossible.

Though she was often frustrated by the process and lack of cooperation, Shipione’s evidence proved to be accurate. It eventually drew the attention of the national news corps, which stuck San Diego with the moniker of “Enron-by-the-Sea.”

Her accusations, along with the media attention, ultimately forced local politicians to admit there indeed was a severe problem with the pension fund.

It now appears that the 13-member pension board returns to ground zero. The new commitment to background checks and stringent rules also apparently caused two candidates to back out after their appointments to the panel.

Despite being roundly criticized, Shipione can leave her position as a pension board member knowing she did the right thing. The truth hurts, as both city officials and Shipione have learned. In this case, the truth was bruised, bloodied and bullied.

San Diego Business Journal Editorial