Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

DROP-out chief hits Las Vegas

Already this year Zimmerman has logged at least five major out-of-town trips

In advance of her March 2018 retirement as police chief, Shelley Zimmerman exercises her travel muscle.
In advance of her March 2018 retirement as police chief, Shelley Zimmerman exercises her travel muscle.

As she counts down the days until her lucrative retirement on the city’s notorious Deferred Retirement Option Plan, widely known as DROP, San Diego chief of police Shelley Zimmerman has increasingly taken to the road, courtesy of taxpayers. That word comes via travel-expense documents posted on the city’s public records web page.

Already this year Zimmerman has logged at least five major out-of-town trips. On February 2, she went to Washington DC for two days at the Major Cities Chiefs Meeting, running up a $1653 tab. In March she headed for Palm Springs to attend the San Diego County Chiefs and Sheriffs Association annual training, at a cost of $924. There the chief shared “information on current concerns and issues that could impact the city of San Diego,” per her travel report. In May it was off to Sacramento for the California Peace Officers Memorial ceremony, costing taxpayers $762. Four days after she got back from that event, Zimmerman jetted off for Washington again, this time for the National Law Enforcement Memorial, running up total expenses of $2018. At the end of the month, the chief traveled to Las Vegas for the Police Executive Research Forum’s annual meeting, to “share information on different issues that could impact the city of San Diego,” costing $691.

Sponsored
Sponsored

As first revealed here in February 2014, shortly after Zimmerman was named police chief by newly elected mayor Kevin Faulconer the city acknowledged that she would have to depart after four years. Zimmerman “entered DROP on March 2, 2013, and will exit DROP on March 1, 2018. DROP is irrevocable, and as such, a DROP participant must exit DROP at the end of the designated period.”

That started the clock ticking on Zimmerman’s lame-duck tenure, during which she has received both her chief’s salary and benefits along with six-figure annual pension payouts from her prior 31 years of service. Under the terms of the controversial program, the chief’s pension — about 85 percent of her 2013 salary — has been about $131,000 a year, per a Union-Tribune report, tucked away for her in a savings account until the day she leaves the city. The nest egg will be worth a tidy $654,729 by the time Zimmerman departs the city, according to the paper’s calculations.

Additionally, Zimmerman’s annual compensation and benefits as chief during 2016 totaled $234,841, according to Transparent California, which notes “The City of San Diego does not provide the cost of pension benefits on an employee level and, as such, the ‘total benefits’ value reported is incomplete and significantly understated.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
Next Article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
In advance of her March 2018 retirement as police chief, Shelley Zimmerman exercises her travel muscle.
In advance of her March 2018 retirement as police chief, Shelley Zimmerman exercises her travel muscle.

As she counts down the days until her lucrative retirement on the city’s notorious Deferred Retirement Option Plan, widely known as DROP, San Diego chief of police Shelley Zimmerman has increasingly taken to the road, courtesy of taxpayers. That word comes via travel-expense documents posted on the city’s public records web page.

Already this year Zimmerman has logged at least five major out-of-town trips. On February 2, she went to Washington DC for two days at the Major Cities Chiefs Meeting, running up a $1653 tab. In March she headed for Palm Springs to attend the San Diego County Chiefs and Sheriffs Association annual training, at a cost of $924. There the chief shared “information on current concerns and issues that could impact the city of San Diego,” per her travel report. In May it was off to Sacramento for the California Peace Officers Memorial ceremony, costing taxpayers $762. Four days after she got back from that event, Zimmerman jetted off for Washington again, this time for the National Law Enforcement Memorial, running up total expenses of $2018. At the end of the month, the chief traveled to Las Vegas for the Police Executive Research Forum’s annual meeting, to “share information on different issues that could impact the city of San Diego,” costing $691.

Sponsored
Sponsored

As first revealed here in February 2014, shortly after Zimmerman was named police chief by newly elected mayor Kevin Faulconer the city acknowledged that she would have to depart after four years. Zimmerman “entered DROP on March 2, 2013, and will exit DROP on March 1, 2018. DROP is irrevocable, and as such, a DROP participant must exit DROP at the end of the designated period.”

That started the clock ticking on Zimmerman’s lame-duck tenure, during which she has received both her chief’s salary and benefits along with six-figure annual pension payouts from her prior 31 years of service. Under the terms of the controversial program, the chief’s pension — about 85 percent of her 2013 salary — has been about $131,000 a year, per a Union-Tribune report, tucked away for her in a savings account until the day she leaves the city. The nest egg will be worth a tidy $654,729 by the time Zimmerman departs the city, according to the paper’s calculations.

Additionally, Zimmerman’s annual compensation and benefits as chief during 2016 totaled $234,841, according to Transparent California, which notes “The City of San Diego does not provide the cost of pension benefits on an employee level and, as such, the ‘total benefits’ value reported is incomplete and significantly understated.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Art Of Dr. Seuss, Boarded: A New Pirate Adventure, Wild Horses Festival

Events December 26-December 30, 2024
Next Article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader