Category: Board News

Effective July 1, 2021, Commissioner Belinda M. Vega was re-appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti and confirmed by the City Council to serve a new five-year term ending June 30, 2026. Commissioner Vega was first appointed to the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners in October 2012 to serve the unexpired term of a former Commissioner and served as the Board President for a one-year term ending July 2015.

Congratulations on your re-appointment, Commissioner Vega and thank you for your continued service!

Additional information on all current Commissioners may be found on our website here.

MARCH 24, 2023

03/24/2023 UPDATE: LAFPP is pleased to announce that Joseph Salazar’s appointment as General Manager has been confirmed by the City Council and Mayor. He now begins his official tenure as the General Manager of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions Department. 

(The article below was originally posted on January 23, 2023)

On January 19, 2023, the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners announced the selection of Joe Salazar as the permanent General Manager, following a nationwide executive recruitment process which began in June 2022.

Ray Ciranna retired as General Manager in September 2022, and to ensure a seamless transition of leadership, the Board appointed Joe Salazar as the Interim General Manager, effective September 25, 2022.

Joe has over 20 years of experience working in the City’s retirement systems, including almost 15 years with LAFPP.  He served as Assistant General Manager for the Pensions Division, overseeing all member service functions, from April 2011 until his interim appointment in September 2022.

Joe shared, “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the members and beneficiaries of the LAFPP plan. I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Board, our staff, and all stakeholders, focusing on our core mission to advance the health and retirement security of our members.”

The appointment of the new General Manager must be confirmed by the Mayor and City Council. A separate search for the Chief Investment Officer will commence once the permanent General Manager’s appointment is confirmed. Tom Lopez, who retired in 2021 after more than 40 years of service with LAFPP, returned to serve as the interim Chief Investment Officer until a permanent appointment is made.

We will continue to keep all members informed of the General Manager and Chief Investment Officer appointment statuses.

This is in response to the October 26, 2021 L.A. Times article that mentions a member of the LAFPP Board of Commissioners titled, “Unvaccinated L.A. City Workers Will Have More Time to Get COVID-19 Shots” by Emily Alpert Reyes

In order to meet the ordinance requirements of the vaccine mandate for City employees, the City’s Personnel Department was instructed to secure a vendor who could provide the City with COVID-19 testing, telehealth services, and a software platform and mobile application to track and report vaccination, exemption, and testing status for City employees.

After thoroughly evaluating and vetting several vendors based on their fees, ability to provide the variety of services needed, and their respective software and testing platforms, the contract was awarded by the City to PPS Health, LLC (dba Bluestone). While Bluestone lists LAFPP Commissioner Pedram Salimpour as a partial owner, Commissioner Salimpour was not engaged nor part of the review and vetting process concerning the COVID-19 testing and related services contract.

The LAFPP General Manager has verified with the Personnel Department and Los Angeles City Ethics Commission that the Personnel Department followed all appropriate contracting provisions as currently authorized by the City Council per Council resolution adopted on March 17, 2020. Additionally, all applicable ethics and contracting laws were followed by all parties throughout this process.

PLEASE NOTE: LAFPP was not part of the selection process and contract awarding, as it does not relate to administering the pension system. Please direct any inquiries regarding the COVID-19 services contract and bidding process to the City’s Personnel Department.

Each year in July, the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners elects its Officers of the Board to serve one-year terms. On July 16, 2020, the Board elected Brian Pendleton as President and Ken Buzzell as Vice President.

As President, Commissioner Pendleton will exercise the following duties:

• Approves the Board agenda; presides at all Board meetings, ensuring that meetings are conducted in an efficient manner and in accordance with the City Charter and Administrative Code, applicable public meeting laws, and relevant Board policies;
• Determines who will act as spokesperson for the System should the need arise; and,
• Approves the travel expenses incurred by the General Manager and the Board.

As Vice President, Commissioner Ken Buzzell will assume the duties of the Board President when the President is absent or if the President should delegate the Vice President to act. He will also assume the duties of the President if the President becomes unable to carry out his duties.

Congratulations to Commissioners Pendleton and Buzzell as they begin their new roles with the Board!

Effective July 1, 2020, Commissioner Adam Nathanson was re-appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti and confirmed by the City Council to serve a new five-year term ending June 30, 2025. Commissioner Nathanson was first appointed to the Board of Fire and Police Pensions in May 2015 to serve the unexpired term of a former Commissioner and served as the Board President for a one-year term ending July 2020.

Congratulations on your re-appointment, Commissioner Nathanson and thank you for your continued service!

For a current list of Commissioners, please view the Board Directory.

On May 21, 2020, the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners approved the Plan actuary’s recommendation to lower the investment return assumption from 7.25% to 7.00%. This action will help ensure the long-term viability of the Plan to properly fund the benefits for members. Additionally, this change more closely aligns with the Plan’s expected returns based on the current asset allocation and capital market outlook.

Segal, the Plan’s actuary, presented its findings from its review of the economic assumptions to the Board and recommended that the investment return assumption be reduced to 7.00%, primarily due to a continued decline in inflation over the past two decades. (The assumption was previously lowered in 2017 from 7.50% to 7.25%.)

The investment return assumption is the expected long-term rate of return on the Plan’s investments, after expenses. One component of this assumption is the inflation assumption, which was also lowered from 3.00% to 2.75% due to the low inflationary economic environment.

In addition to the economic assumptions, the Board considered the findings and recommendations detailed in Segal’s triennial Actuarial Experience Study covering July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019. The study compares the Plan’s actual experience to the non-economic (or demographic) assumptions previously adopted by the Board. Based on the Plan’s experience, the Board adopted the actuary’s recommendations to adjust various assumptions such as retirement rates, termination rates, and disability incidence rates. There were no changes in the mortality assumptions since at the December 19, 2019 meeting, the Board adopted new public safety mortality assumptions recommended by Segal, which were used beginning with the June 30, 2019 pension and retiree health benefits valuations.

Adoption of the economic and non-economic assumption changes is estimated to have a 2.3% impact on the City’s contribution rate to the Plan. The new assumption changes adopted by the Board will be used beginning with the June 30, 2020 actuarial valuation, which will determine the City’s contribution rate for the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year.

It is important to note that the actuarial assumptions do not determine the “actual cost” of the Plan. The actual cost is determined by the benefits and administrative expenses paid, offset by contributions and investment income received. The use of realistic actuarial assumptions is critical in maintaining adequate plan funding, while fulfilling benefit commitments to LAFPP members. Accurate actuarial assumptions aid in achieving equity across generations of taxpayers. The goal is to fund employees’ benefits while they are rendering service and taxpayers are receiving services from those employees.

The current actuarial experience study as well as historical studies can be found on our website at https://www.lafpp.com/about/financial-reports.

The term of the Board’s Fire Department Retired Member, Commissioner Kenneth E. Buzzell, ends on June 30, 2020. An election was held on March 31, 2020 for this position. A candidate must have received the majority of all votes cast in order to have won the election. Commissioner Buzzell received 97.04% of the vote and will serve the term of office from July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2025.

Congratulations, Commissioner Buzzell!

The Board normally meets on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 8:30 a.m. at the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions building at 701 E. Third Street, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Most meetings, including special and committee meetings, are from three to four hours in duration.

For a current list of Commissioners, please view the Board Directory. If you have any questions concerning the election results, please contact the Administrative Services Section of the Department of Fire and Police Pensions at (213) 279-3080.

The Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP or “Fund”) is seeking their next General Manager.

LAFPP was established by the City of Los Angeles in 1899 and operates under the provisions of the City Charter and Administrative Code. LAFPP is a single employer public employee retirement system whose main function is to provide retirement benefits to the safety members employed by the City.

The Fund serves over 26,000 active and retired police officers, firefighters, harbor and airport police, and their beneficiaries. With approximately $30 billion in assets under management, the pension fund is 96.8% funded.

The General Manager serves as the chief administrative officer of the Fund. Under the direction of the Board of Commissioners, the General Manager directs the daily internal operations and benefits administration of LAFPP. The General Manager will be responsible for leadership, administration, and management of LAFPP with Board delegation of authority. The General Manager will oversee an operating budget of approximately $1.7 billion and a total staff complement of 128.

To learn more about the Responsibilities and Preferred Qualifications please click on the link below or view the listing on the LA City Personnel Department Website:

LAFPP General Manager Position Specifications

TO APPLY: Please send your resume to Tamara at tamara.wesely@eflassociates.com

Earlier this year, LAFPP General Manager Ray Ciranna announced his intent to retire at the end of September 2022. To ensure a seamless transition of leadership for the Department, the Board appointed Joseph (“Joe”) Salazar as the Interim General Manager, effective September 25, 2022.

Joe has over 20 years of experience working in the City’s retirement systems, including almost 15 years with LAFPP. He has served as Assistant General Manager for the Pensions Division, overseeing all member service functions, from April 2011 until his new appointment. Chief Benefits Analyst Gregory Mack will serve as Acting Assistant General Manager – Pensions Division, during this period.

Joe shared, “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the members and beneficiaries of the LAFPP plan. I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Board, our staff, and all stakeholders, focusing on our core mission to advance the health and retirement security of our members.”

An executive recruitment search for a permanent General Manager began on June 16, 2022. The Board plans to have the recruitment process completed by the end of the calendar year and the permanent General Manager in place by early 2023. A separate search for the Chief Investment Officer will commence once the permanent General Manager is appointed. Kristy Nguyen, Investment Officer III, is serving as the Acting Chief Investment Officer until that time.

We will continue to keep all members informed of the Board’s actions and the status of the executive recruitment process.

LAFPP welcomes Rigo Arellano, the Fire Department Employee Member-elect, to the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners! Mr. Arellano will be sworn-in during June 2022 to fulfill his fiduciary responsibilities as a Board member beginning July 1, 2022.

Commissioner Ruben Navarro’s term on the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners (Board) as the Fire Department Employee Member will end on June 30, 2022. In accordance with Section 23.102.2(b) of the Los Angeles Administrative Code, the Board authorized the Office of the City Clerk to conduct an election on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. The candidate receiving a majority of all votes cast (at least 50% plus one vote) is then declared elected as the Fire Department Employee Member of the Board.

Mr. Arellano received 54.31% of the vote, a majority, and as such is elected to serve the term of the Fire Department Employee Member of the Board beginning July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027. Congratulations Mr. Arellano!

For a current list of Commissioners, please view the Board Directory. If you have any questions concerning the election results, please contact the Administrative Services Section of the Department of Fire and Police Pensions at (213) 279-3080.