‘I simply don’t want to be a part of it’ — treasurer-tax collector abruptly retires

Treasurer-Tax Collector Gordon Ford is retiring Aug. 1, more than a year before his term expires because he believes the Stanislaus County Employees’ Retirement Association is taking on too many risky investments.

Ford is required to serve on the StanCERA board. He has voiced concerns with the the retirement system’s decisions in the past and had not planned to seek re-election when his current four-year term ends January 2019. He said the pension board’s May 23 decision to take on more risk was the tipping point for him.

“They have decided to invest in futures, options and swaps,” Ford said. “It is my belief that riskier investments will be subject to lawsuits, and I simply don’t want to be part of it. I was elected as a fiscal conservative. We used to be more conservative in our investments and not take unnecessary risks.”

The StanCERA board voted 6-0 with one abstention May 23 to invest $270 million of the system’s $2 billion portfolio with two portfolio managers, according to StanCERA Executive Director Rick Santos. He said the strategy the managers will pursue includes what are called swaps and futures but not options. He said in isolation swaps and futures can be risky but not as part of a larger strategy, which is what StanCERA is pursuing.

He said that strategy is designed to minimize risk and said he is not aware of any lawsuits that have resulted from the strategy StanCERA is pursuing. He said the pension system’s board members are fiscally conservative and attended educational sessions at their meetings before voting to hire the portfolio managers. Santos said Ford has not been at board meetings this year but has sent a representative from his office. The representative abstained from voting on the portfolio managers.

Ford’s department is responsible for the collection of property taxes and other revenues and managing the investment of $1 billion in county funds. Ford, 71, has lead the department since 2005. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet in closed session Tuesday to discuss its options regarding Ford’s departure.

Donna Riley — the deputy director of the county’s General Services Agency and a former assistant county treasurer — filed paperwork this month with the county election office indicating she will run for treasurer-tax collector in the 2018 election. Former county Supervisor Bill O’Brien said in August he would run for the office in 2018. He confirmed Monday that his plans have not changed.

O’Brien caught some flak in March 2016 because his announcement not to seek another term on the Board of Supervisors came the day before the June primary filing deadline. Some believed O’Brien and Kristin Olsen — who was being term out of the state Assembly and filed right before the deadline for O’Brien’s seat — timed their announcements to give other potential hopefuls little time to organize a campaign.

No one else filed to run for O’Brien’s seat, and voters elected Olsen.

This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 4:25 PM with the headline "‘I simply don’t want to be a part of it’ — treasurer-tax collector abruptly retires."