Saint John council ignored pension woes for 6 years

Saint Johns former city manager told a defamation trial that he told city politicians for six years that they needed to fix its pension problems.

Terry Totten, who resigned as city manager in 2009, outlined how he tried to have Saint John council address the worsening pension issue every year between 2003 and 2008.

He said city council ignored his advice every year.

"You can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink," he said.

Totten was testifying at the defamation trial of former Saint John city councillor John Ferguson.

The citys pension board is suing Ferguson over comments he made starting in 2005 about the boards handling of the pension fund, which had a $47-million deficit at the time.

The deficit has since ballooned to more than $190 million.

Totten is the latest of the former members of the citys pension board to appear in court.

He said the pension plan was properly managed with professional help and advice.

"But if a stock tanks, it tanks," he said.

Totten said he is supporting the lawsuit against Ferguson to protect reputation of himself and the pension board.

The former city manager had served in that position from 1993 to June 2009. He resigned amid controversy.

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court said in 2009 that negative media attention led to Tottens departure. Totten received aone-time severance payment of $500,000plus a supplementary pension of $16,000 per year.

When Totten resigned,Court directly blamed Jamie Irving, the publisher of the Telegraph-Journal.

"I and our former manager met Jamie Irving and his editorial staff in the manager's office. And we were told that unless we did what they wanted, they would continue what you see daily in the paper. And we saw the result of that: We no longer have a city manager," Court said in June 2009.

Totten raised a similar issue in court on Wednesday.

He told the court that Irving said, "Weve been on you and well stay on you until youre fired."