San Mateo County

In an apparent about-face, the Peninsula Health Care District has approved $4.6 million in funding for a San Mateo County program that provides health care for uninsured, low-income adults.

The move follows a Bay Citizen investigation in March, which found that the taxpayer-supported district had rejected a request from the San Mateo County Health System last year for a $4 million grant to help the uninsured. At the time, the district had a $43 million reserve of current public assets.

The grant represents a large increase in funding for public health programs by the district. Last year, it spent 3.3 percent of its total assets – or $1.8 million – on health-related grants.

The district awarded the grant Thursday, after facing sharp criticism from state and local lawmakers for failing to provide enough funding for local health programs.

Daniel Ullyot, chairman of the board of the Peninsula Health Care District, said in a telephone interview Friday that the district approved the recent grant because it was comprehensive and detailed, unlike the county’s previous proposal.

Despite staggering pension fund shortfalls, officials overseeing some of the largest public retirement systems in the Bay Area have spent more than $60,000 since the beginning of 2008 to attend conferences just miles from their homes, expense records show.

For example, in May 2009, five trustees and the chief executive overseeing Contra Costa County’s pension system decided it was easier to stay overnight in San Francisco, 28 miles from their office. They billed the pension fund $5,441 for a trip that included three nights at the four-star Hyatt Regency San Francisco, as well as registration, meals and transportation, according to agency records obtained under the California Public Records Act. A sixth trustee canceled at the last minute, costing the fund an additional $353.

“It’s discretionary,” said Jerry R. Holcombe, an alternate member of the county’s Employees’ Retirement Association board who attended the conference. “Sometimes, it is more inconvenient to be commuting late in the evening and then come back in the morning.”

With a $1.3 billion unfunded pension liability – the difference between the retirement benefits owed to public employees and retirees and the funds available to pay for them – the Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Association is expected to run out of funds by 2025, according to a 2010 report by researchers from the University of Rochester and Northwestern University.