Kevin Shelley's PUC gig gets him benefits buy-in

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan speaks with reporters on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Quan said Oakland Police Chief Chief Anthony Batts' job search has taken her by surprise. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan speaks with reporters on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Quan said Oakland Police Chief Chief Anthony Batts' job search has taken her by surprise. Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Kevin Shelley's PUC gig gets him benefits buy-in 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who resigned amid a wave of scandals in 2005, came back to his old haunts in San Francisco City Hall with no fanfare for the briefest of stints - thus allowing him to qualify for a city pension and retirement health benefits.

Shelley spent just a month with the city Public Utilities Commission, where he was hired even though he had no background in regulating utilities.

He was paid $13,041 for his one month of service in 2009. His output consisted of meeting with Millbrae officials about a possible real estate development and putting together a single eight-page memo about the deal.

The former city supervisor's return served another purpose as well. Although he had spent six years in the Assembly, he was not eligible for a spot in the state retirement system because of the passage of legislative term limits in 1990, which stripped lawmakers of retirement other than Social Security.

His two years as secretary of state fell short of the four years needed to qualify as well.

Returning to work for San Francisco allowed Shelley, now 55, to obtain a $314-a-month pension for life with cost-of-living raises, plus the option of joining the city retiree health plan.

Federal law prevents the city from disclosing whether Shelley is on the health plan.

"He called looking for short-term work. I asked around to see if there was any work for him," PUC head Ed Harrington said.

At the time, the commission was talking with Millbrae officials about small development deals involving PUC land. Harrington said the job seemed like a good fit for Shelley, who is a lawyer.

Harrington said the job was not created for Shelley and that he had to apply like anyone else.

The position was posted Dec. 15, 2008. Four days later, the posting closed after invites to apply were e-mailed to 12 eligible candidates.

Three people applied, but one dropped out - leaving Shelley and one other candidate to compete.

Shelley got the job and worked from Jan. 15 to Feb. 14, 2009.

Harrington declined to say why Shelley was looking for a temporary job but that he "would not be surprised" if it was in order to qualify for city retirement benefits.

Shelley - the son of ex-congressman and former San Francisco Mayor Jack Shelley - began his political career by serving as a San Francisco supervisor from 1991 to 1996. Back then, however, supervisors were not included in the city's pension plan.

In 2001, city voters approved a measure that allowed current supervisors into the retirement system and allowed former supervisors to buy in as well - that is, if they went back to work for the city.

In Shelley's case, his return, no matter how short-lived, allowed him to "buy" credit for his six years on the board, thus qualifying him for pension and retiree health benefits.

Shelley's buy-in cost was $24,548. He paid it Aug. 21, 2009, and began receiving his pension the next month.

Shelley has maintained a low profile ever since he left state office in 2005, amid allegations he had received laundered campaign contributions and mistreated employees. He was never charged with a crime.

"I worked for the PUC, laying the groundwork for some real estate projects in Millbrae," Shelley said. "I spent a lot of time meeting with local officials, scoping out the project and turned in a report. That's what I did."

By all accounts, Shelley showed up every day of his brief tenure.

"He was very nice and everyone liked him, but everyone knew why he was there," said one co-worker, who is still employed at the agency and asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

When Shelley left, his fellow workers tossed him a goodbye party.

After we called the PUC for information on the Shelley hiring, Harrington decided to give commissioners a heads-up that something might be appearing in the press.

Commission President Francesca Vietor said that, based on Harrington's account, Shelley's hiring "appeared to be aboveboard."

Although, Vietor said, the retirement angle was a bit curious.

"It would be interesting to know how often it happens," she said.

Indeed it might.

Flying high: Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is certainly racking up the frequent-flier miles.

This week's schedule kicks off with a trip back to Washington, D.C., for a National League of Cities meeting, along with get-togethers with administrative officials to talk about jobs, transportation, trade with China and the Port of Oakland.

She'll also be attending the Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials meeting.

On Wednesday, she's off to New York City, where she is being honored by Asian Americans for Equality.

She returns to Oakland on Friday, then drives up to Yosemite for the Ahwahnee Conference sponsored by the Local Government Commission, where she is incoming chair.

Then on Monday she heads to Sacramento, where she is scheduled to be honored by her friend and ally Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Alameda, as his district's Woman of the Year.

Busy lady.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.