To: opinion@sacbee.com, jhughes@mcclatchy.com
From: Jim McRitchie <jm@perswatch.net>
Subject: letter to the editor
Cc: Senator.Schiff@sen.ca.gov, hondamm@assembly.ca.gov,
DAVID.FELDERSTEIN@SENSMTP.CA.GOV
In an otherwise excellent article on the CalPERS elections, Eric Young made a few errors which, if uncorrected, may leave the wrong impression on Sacramento Bee readers.
First, the dispute over the ballot statement is not that Crist was a few days late with his changes. The July 17th deadline your reporter referred to was not a deadline for substantive changes; it was a deadline for pointing out typographical errors. The real dispute is much more serious. As a result of a June 20th memo from Crist to Jim Burton (CEO of CalPERS), changes were made to Crist's June 2nd submission even though CalPERS regulations (CCR, Title 2, section 554.4) clearly prohibit candidates from making any changes unless requested by the election coordinator. Public records show that no such request was made.
Second, your article mentions only two of the changes to Crist's statement; there were several others. Interested readers can compare the statements themselves. The one which should have appeared on the ballot is posted on my internet site at http://www.perswatch.net/links/crist.html.
Third, I have not challenged Crist twice before. We both ran for a vacant seat twelve years ago. I believe he won because I essentially split much of the state employee vote with another candidate. This year is the only time we have faced each other as candidates since then.
Last, the report stated that "Crist did not violate any laws by accepting gifts." Government Code, section 19990(f), does not prohibit CalPERS board members from taking gifts from contractors unless it "reasonably could be substantiated that the gift was intended to influence." While many would recognize that an intention to influence is the primary reason such gifts are given, we all know it is difficult to prove such intentions in a court of law. That is why I petitioned CalPERS to enact regulations banning all such gifts. Unfortunately, that petition was denied. As long as board members continue to accept such gifts, there will always be questions concerning whether or not they are legal.
Sincerely,
work phone for verification purposes: 327-8642
Jim McRitchie
Candidate for the
CalPERS Board of Administration
e-mail: jm@PersWatch.net
internet: http://PersWatch.net
Contact: 
jm@perswatch.net