At a work session held August 5, the Moraga-Orinda Fire District (MOFD) Board of Directors responded to press reports and community reaction regarding MOFD pension issues, and specifically Fire Chief Pete Nowicki’s pension structure. Board member Frank Sperling noted that several avenues of action have been taken to inform the public, clarify the Board’s position, and correct specific errors. The Board formed an ad hoc committee, consisting of Sperling, Board member Brook Mancinelli, and Chief Nowicki to address these issues. The ad hoc committee sent a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal to correct inaccuracies in a recent article, and submitted a letter to Lamorinda Weekly’s Public Forum section http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0311/Public-Forum.html. Sperling said the committee has also been responding to numerous press inquiries and community letters. In the letters to the editor, Sperling affirmed that the pension system, in its current state, doesn’t work; that the Board did not make last minute deals to increase the Chief’s contract; that MOFD needs to remain competitive to attract highly-qualified employees; and, that all parties involved: the Board, the firefighter’s Union, Contra Costa Supervisors and even state legislators, need to sit down and agree to make substantial changes. During the work session, the Board members decided that this information needed to be made available to the public and requested that these letters be put on the MOFD website (www.mofd.org) and sent out with the District mailer.
The Board formed an ad hoc committee, consisting of Sperling, Board member Brook Mancinelli, and Chief Nowicki to address these issues. The ad hoc committee sent a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal to correct inaccuracies in a recent article, and submitted a letter to Lamorinda Weekly’s Public Forum section http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0311/Public-Forum.html. Sperling said the committee has also been responding to numerous press inquiries and community letters. 
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA