As a candidate for county supervisor, Bonnie Dumanis wants to make one thing perfectly clear.
If elected, the retired judge and district attorney says she won't be "double-dipping" – collecting a salary while drawing a pension.
It's an issue that's been swirling in the 4th District race.
After four decades in public service, Dumanis, 66, receives an annual pension of nearly $270,000.
A county supervisor's salary is $172,000.
As she did in the 2012 San Diego mayoral race, Dumanis vows to forgo a salary if she's elected.
County pension officials had advised her that if elected, she’d have to reinstate herself into the system, bypass her retirement payments, and accept a salary while serving as a supervisor.
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In September, legislation was passed and signed to allow government pensioners to accept a public salary concurrently.
Dumanis' attorneys sent the San Diego County Employees Retirement Assn. what she calls a "strategy memo" to confirm that.
But while she says she never considered accepting a salary, questions were raised about her intent until she publicly declared she'd waive her right to double-dip.
"It didn't make sense to me that if you were receiving a pension, you couldn't make a decision not to reinstate and take the salary,” Dumanis told reporters during a meeting with reporters.
"And that was my intent all along. What the ramifications were for other people, that's their choice."
As Dumanis points out, three locally based Assembly members and two Congressional representatives are receiving pension benefits from their service as San Diego City Councilmembers.
