Council 57 Executive Director Michael Seville sat down with Priya Mathur at the AFSCME California PEOPLE Convention for a "fireside chat" about the California Public Employees Retirement System and retirement security. 

Mathur, a member of AFSCME Local 3993, was elected president of the CalPERS Board of Administration, becoming the first woman to hold that post.

In the discussion, Mathur covered a range of topics, including what it means to be the first woman elected to the largest public pension fund in the U.S., the CalPERS approach to divestment and her strong belief that every American should have retirement security.

She also dispelled the myth that there is a pension crisis in California.

“Local governments suffered as a result of the last two recessions,” she said. “But a lot of employers have made decisions that have further constrained the revenues of local government.”

For example, Mathur said, the City of Anaheim agreed to waive Disney’s entertainment taxes for 30 years but then turned around and blamed CalPERS when the board asked the city to increase its contributions.

“Does that make any sense?” she said.