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Friday, February 17, 2012

Former City Finance Commissioner Continues Testimony In Trial

Former city finance commissioner and pension board trustee Andrew Beckett with more testimony in the John Ferguson defamation case.

He says the pension board made a presentation to common council about the plan's deficit but Ferguson did not ask any questions or raise any concerns.

Beckett adds the pension board grappled with the difficulty of defining and changing what constituted a total and permanent disability as well as dealing with the unusually high number of claims.

Beckett told the jury he sympathized with the board's medical advisor but trusted his judgement.  He says if the advisor ruled that an employee was permanently disabled, the board would approve the claim.

Beckett is back on the stand today.