“It is just as important to the Firefighters Association as it is to the board of directors and administration that the Fire District remains financially healthy,” said Captain David Livingstone. “There was a lot of discussion, but the solution we developed made a lot of sense based on the economic times. We felt it was a win for the firefighters as well as the district.”

Under the new tiered retirement system, all new employees hired after April 1, 2012, will retain their retirement plan through Cal-PERS, however, at a lower formula of 3 percent at 55. In other words, a current employee is eligible for retirement at age 50 while a new employee will be eligible for retirement at age 55, both receiving a credit of 3 percent for each year of service. In addition, the new formula will also require new employees to pay 50 percent of the employee portion of Cal-PERS costs.

Director Randall Malin, who led negotiations on behalf of the district, stated “We are very fortunate to have employees who fully understand the negative impact on property tax revenue resulting from the deterioration of the real estate market.” Malin noted that almost 90 percent of the district’s revenue comes from property taxes, which have fallen by 9.4 percent in the last three years. He commended the firefighters who, while not having a wage increase since July 2008, proposed a significant change to the health insurance program that will reduce the district’s costs.

Malin also pointed to two areas where the district is in a more favorable financial position than other districts in the state. “First, in 2004 our pension program was underfunded by $4.2 million, which cost the district over $300,000 per year in interest. We paid off the entire amount and the district is now debt-free. Second, as we do not offer post-retirement health benefits, we do not face the same underfunding problem in this area as do many fire districts, cities, and the State of California itself.”

Director Nancy Hillgren commented that “for more than a decade the board of the RSFFPD has been especially mindful of the escalating costs related to Cal-PERS mandated pension requirements and has been taking proactive measures to curb their fiscal impact on the district. In addition to reducing our costs associated with Cal-PERS, the board has not granted pay increases to district employees in over four years. The board and the district’s employees recognize that personnel costs comprise 83 percent of the district’s budget, and have worked well together to contain and further reduce those costs in an environment of decreasing revenues. The implementation of a new hire scale was an astute move that, combined with other recently adopted measures, will provide needed savings for the district going forward.”

In addition to adding the second tier for retirement benefits, the board and Firefighters Association also took steps to save on the employees’ health care plan. By adjusting the health insurance cap the district could save up to $80,000 annually while continuing to provide health insurance for its employees. Also, the number of sick leave hours an employee can accrue was increased, leading to a potential annual savings of $255,000.

Fire Chief Tony Michel stated that “It is good to know that we can take steps to maintain the financial stability of the organization without compromising our high level of customer service to our community. As always, it is our goal to meet the needs of our community and fulfill our mission to ‘protect life, property, and environment through prevention, preparedness, education and emergency response.’”

— Submitted press release by the RSF Fire District.

Dr. Donald Bernstein’s new boss at Sotera Wireless describes the Rancho Santa Fe man as a “mathematician trapped in an anesthesiologist’s body.”

Dr. Donald Bernstein and his wife, Linda Lederer-Bernstein, enjoy a light moment outside their Rancho Santa Fe home. Photo: Kathy Day

“I enjoy the science of medicine … and was a very good anesthesiologist,” he said, relaxing at his home on a recent Sunday morning. “But my real love is in discovering and finding new ways to monitor (blood flow).”

Good thing for both of them that he’s not trapped in that body any more. Instead, he gets to use his talents in math and physics as senior scientist with Sotera Wireless, a company developing rapid response monitoring devices.

“It didn’t take one nanosecond to leave medicine when they offered me a full-time job,” he said, professing that he’s always been particularly skilled in math and physics.

While Sotera’s first device – now with the FDA for approval — is one that would track a person’s vital signs continuously with a sensor worn on the body, it is Bernstein’s expertise and the patent he has licensed to the company that are being applied to another device focusing on blood flow, said Matt Banet, president and chief scientific officer of the Sorrento Mesa company.

Bernstein — whose retirement will be marked at an event hosted by his former employer Anesthesia Consultants of California Medical Group on March 3 at the Marriott Del Mar — is an acknowledged expert in the field of bioimpedence cardiology — using non-invasive methods to approximate pulsations from the aorta and translate it through equations to how much blood flows from the heart with each beat.

Banet calls the field “the holy grail of medical monitoring,” noting that Bernstein’s passion for it is like nothing he’s seen before.

“He has a really active brain … He’s like a first-year graduate student in how he approaches his work. You don’t see that very often.”

That brain is why Sotera brought Bernstein on board and is using his discoveries to develop a portable system for medics to use on the battlefield that is being funded, in part, by a grant from the military.

If a patient is bleeding internally, there are no existing ways to monitor it and you can’t see it, Banet explained. “The body is good at keeping your heart rate at normal levels even if it is dying inside.”

If you could measure that internal blood flow, he added, “you could almost immediately increase survivability.”

Bernstein’s lengthy resume includes more than two pages listing his accomplishments, patents and publications. That will be expanded by one more article in the coming weeks when a European scientific journal publishes his latest analysis of his work. He’s on the editorial boards for the journals Obesity Surgery and Critical Care Medicine, and is section editor for the journal of Electrical Bioimpedance.

He’s made previous forays into the corporate world before at BoMed in Orange County and as director of medical science and services at San Diego-based CardioDynamics.

But now 70, he said, “I hope I live long enough to see the fruits of my work take root.”

He attended Franklin and Marshall College, but didn’t earn a degree because he was accepted to George Washington University School of Medicine before serving on active duty as a Navy lieutenant that included a WESTPAC deployment from 1969-70 and a year at the Oakland Naval Hospital.

Although he had originally thought about being a cardiologist, after the war he “was in the frame of mind that I didn’t care about anything,” he said, adding that now he has “all but forgotten about Vietnam.”

That was until one night, sitting with friends in an apartment overlooking San Francisco Bay, the topic of what they wanted to do with their medical careers was up for discussion. One said he was going to be an orthopedic surgeon; another would pursue public health and was heading for the Centers for Disease Control.

“They asked me and I didn’t know,” Bernstein said, adding that his pals suggested pediatrics or pathology or radiology. “But I can’t see in 3D so I knew that was out. “

“Hey, why not anesthesiology,” one friend said. “It has good hours, lots of money and no office.”

He took the suggestion and headed for Stanford University School of Medicine for a residency. While there, he said, he saw some of the first heart transplants and witnessed “the birth of the cardiopulmonary bypass.”

All the while, though, his physics and math brain was focusing on science, leading him to his new occupation.

His wife, Linda Lederer-Bernstein, a Prudential California Realty agent, says her husband is a “humble, giving man” and “the most positive person I’ve ever met.”

He calls her “the greatest thing to ever happen to me in life. She has made my life complete.”

Lederer-Bernstein was by his side when he was recovering from extensive injuries sustained when his car was hit by a drunk driver as he was heading west on Del Dios Highway after his daily swim at the Iceoplex in Escondido.

His car rolled off the highway and landed upside down on its roof near the dam, leaving him with a concussion, as well as severe cuts on both wrists from putting his hands through the skylight to try and keep the roof from collapsing. For several months he had expressive aphasia — he knew what he wanted to say but the words wouldn’t come out. He later reached a settlement with the man who caused the accident.

Long past those days, the couple occasionally gets away to Hawaii but, Bernstein said, for the most part he’s “lost his wanderlust … I can read National Geographic or watch the Discovery Channel.” Even so, he added, he’d like to see Machu Picchu and the Galapagos.

Mostly, he said, “I live inside my work … I’m so satisfied, I sleep better than ever.”

And Lederer-Bernstein, he added, makes that possible. “She gave me the ability to let my mind soar like a hawk.”

This year marks the 16th Gala event for The Nativity School. Although it’s a labor of love to plan and execute a fabulous party each year, it is the highlight of the school’s fundraising activities. This year’s Event Chair, Karla Ishino Banning, has envisioned an upscale, VIP cocktail party with lounge seating and ethereal red and white décor. The party’s “Noche de Fuego” theme hints at the Mexican cultural undertones provided by the food and entertainment. Banning’s commitment to detail and Mexican ancestry lends itself to making this a truly memorable and entertaining event not to be missed. Guests will be treated to dinner, drinks, dancing, a silent and LIVE auction.

Advance tickets are $100 per guest and are available at the school or through the website. For additional information or if interested in sponsoring the event, please call (858) 756-6763 or visit www.thenativityschool.org.

Covenant Administrator Ivan Holler said there are still important issues to review: the EIR for the roundabouts is scheduled to come out this year and a number of roads are due for radar recertification. The committee can also discuss parking issues.

If interested in applying for the committee, contact the RSF Association at (858) 756-1174.

John Cox

By Joe Tash

John Cox moved to Rancho Santa Fe from his native Chicago last year for the golf, tennis and great weather.  But he’s also trying to put his stamp on California politics.

Cox, 56, bought a home in the Rancho Valencia resort, and gets out on the court and the links as much as possible.  “It ain’t hard to figure out why I’m here,” said the attorney and CPA, who also controls a $150 million real estate portfolio and provides financial advice to wealthy clients.

When he’s not running his business, slamming tennis balls or swinging a golf club, he’s stumping for a statewide initiative that would remake the California Legislature.  According to Cox, his plan, which he calls the “Neighborhood Legislature Reform Act,” is based on New Hampshire’s 400-member state legislature, and would take special interest money out of California politics.

So far, Cox said he has spent $100,000 of his own money on the effort, and is willing to spend another $200,000.  The initiative has been filed with the California attorney general’s office and is qualified for signature gathering, the next stage in the process.

Cox’s plan would divide each of the existing 40 state Senate districts and 80 state Assembly districts into 100 “neighborhood districts.”

Under the initiative, Californians would elect 8,000 neighborhood assembly members and 4,000 neighborhood senators, who would in turn elect 80 assembly and 40 senate working group members.  The working group would function similarly to existing Legislature.

Because neighborhood senators would represent only 10,000 constituents, and neighborhood assembly members would represent 5,000 residents, Cox said, they wouldn’t need to raise or spend a lot of campaign money to get elected.

“When you don’t have to raise campaign money, your motivations for getting into office are completely different,” Cox said.  “You get people that aren’t bought by special interests.”

The working committees would introduce and debate bills, and the neighborhood legislators would vote up or down on bills before they could be sent to the governor.  As drafted, the initiative would amend the state’s Constitution.

State Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Carlsbad, whose 38th District includes Rancho Santa Fe and Solana Beach, said Cox’s initiative has a “great goal.”

“It certainly would bring more accountability and bring government closer to the people, and that’s always good,” Wyland said, noting that he would have to study the proposed initiative more closely before deciding if he would support it.

But he said the state’s current rules for putting initiatives on the ballot create an ironic twist in the case of Cox’s proposal.  Once an initiative is qualified for signature gathering, Wyland said, proponents have 180 days to gather the necessary signatures.  And gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures over six months costs several million dollars, which generally requires special interest money.

Wyland said he plans to introduce a bill this month that would allow initiative supporters to take up to two years to gather the necessary signatures, which means they wouldn’t need to raise so much money to put a measure on the ballot.

“My goal is to make the initiative process what it’s intended to be, to allow people to get something into law they want and the Legislature has failed to do,” Wyland said.

Cox said he needs to gather 800,000 signatures by June 1, which he has been told will cost $2 million to $3 million, money he hopes to raise from donations.

So far, he has garnered support from leaders of such disparate organizations as the Tea Party Express and Common Cause.

The plan calls for neighborhood legislators to be paid $1,000 per year, while working group members would be paid $30,000.  (Currently, legislators are paid $95,291 per year.) According to the state Legislative Analyst, California would save $180 million per year on legislative costs under Cox’s proposed initiative, but county election costs would rise “potentially in the range of tens of millions of dollars initially and lower amounts annually thereafter.”

Cox, however, said he doubts local election costs would be so high, because the neighborhood districts would be built from existing precincts.

Cox said he first got into politics in 2000 after establishing a successful business career, and ran for Congress and the U.S. Senate in the early 2000s, once debating health care and education policy with then-Sen. Barack Obama.  He also ran for president as a Republican candidate in 2008.

He has four daughters and lives with his wife, Sarah, and youngest daughter in Rancho Santa Fe.

“I’m a voice in the wilderness, maybe,” he said, but insisted, “I’m no nut case.”

He believes the concept of his initiative could work in other states and even the U.S. Congress.

“If California can do this, I think it’ll sweep the country, it’ll be like a wild fire,” he said.

For more information on the initiative, visit www.rescuecalifornia.org

Covenant Administrator Ivan Holler said that while doing preliminary work on Lago Lindo the county discovered that a section of the road, from Avenida de Acacias to Via de la Cumbra, was too badly damaged to re-seal so it will be repaved entirely. The work on Lago Lindo will be completed later than the April/May date given for the other five roads.

Holler said it was a bit of good news/bad news that the road will take longer to fix, but the good news is that it will be fixed in the way it should be.

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Boys basketball:
Canyon Crest Academy extended its winning streak to seven games as the Ravens reeled off two more decisive wins to close out the regular season with a share of its second consecutive Valley League title.

The Ravens defeated San Dieguito Academy 78-48 on Feb. 16. The victory followed a 74-35 win against Orange Glen the previous day.

Akira Tachiwana scored 21 points and J.P. Chenevey added 13 points to lead the Ravens in the SDA game. Dylan Osetkowski contributed 10 points.

Tachiwana scored 19 points to lead the Ravens in the Orange Glen game. Justin Rapoport added 11 points and Scott Patterson contributed nine points.

The Ravens improved to 9-1 in league and 14-12 overall for the season, sharing the title with Valley Center.

*****

After experiencing consecutive losses for the first time this season, Cathedral Catholic bounced back with a decisive 57-54 victory over La Jolla in a regular season finale for both teams on Feb. 16.

The victory followed a 72-68 loss to Lincoln on Feb. 10 and a 63-58 setback at the hands of Mission Bay on Feb. 7. The Dons had won 12 consecutive games and 23 of their first 24 games before the two-game skid.

Xavier Williams scored 14 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Dons, and Brendan Reh contributed nine points and 12 boards.

The Dons improved to 10-2 in league and 24-3 overall for the season.

*****

Torrey Pines extended its winning streak to six games with a decisive 79-52 Palomar League victory over Ramona in a regular season finale for both teams on Feb. 17.

The victory followed a 69-63 league win against Rancho Bernardo three days earlier.

Joe Rahon scored 29 points and Garrett Galvin added 24 points to lead the Falcons in the Rancho Bernardo game.

The Falcons improved to 8-2 in league and 18-10 overall for the season.

*****

San Diego Jewish Academy had its three game winning streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion, as the Lions lost narrowly to Tri-City Christian, 41-40 in a Pacific League finale for both teams on Feb. 16.

Jacob Katz scored 23 points and had 12 rebounds for the Lions, who were playing for a share of the league title.

Adam Sloane had 10 rebounds and Rick Saxe contributed five steals.

The loss followed a 66-46 league victory over Pacific Ridge the previous day in which Ryan Marchetti and Ilan Graubart each scored 16 points to lead the Lions and Katz added 14 points.

The Lions fell to 12-10 overall for the season.

*****

Santa Fe Christian defeated Bishop’s 57-52 in a Coastal League game Feb. 15 for their fourth win in five games.

But that victory was followed by a 49-46 loss to Francis Parker two days later in a league finale for both teams.

Grant Corsi scored 19 points to lead the Eagles in the Bishop’s game. Justin Byrd added 16 points and Cole Needham contributed 11 points.

Byrd led the Eagles with 17 points in the Parker game and Byrd added 12 points.

The Eagles fell to 4-6 in league and 16-10 overall for the season.

Girls basketball:
Santa Fe Christian put the finishing touches on a perfect Coastal League North campaign with two more decisive victories.

The Eagles defeated Escondido Charter 80-34 in a regular season finale for both teams on Feb. 17. They defeated Calvin Christian 76-20 two days earlier.

Erin Moody scored 19 points and Megan Franke added 17 points to lead the Eagles in the Escondido Charter game.

Lindsey Almquist and Maile Burtech each added 13 points.

Bekah Askew contributed eight rebounds and Erin Moody had eight steals and four assists.

Franke and Burtech each scored 18 points to lead the Eagles in the Calvin Christian game and Moody added 12 points.

The Eagles improved to 10-0 in league and 14-10 overall for the season.

*****

Canyon Crest Academy defeated San Dieguito Academy 49-38 in a Valley League game on Feb. 16 as the Ravens won for the sixth time in seven games.

The victory followed a 52-38 league win against Orange Glen the previous day.

Stephanie Bieler scored 16 points to lead the Ravens in the SDA game and Julia Brew added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Bieler scored 14 points to lead the Ravens in the Orange Glen game and Brew added 11 points and eight boards. Kathryn Brandos contributed 10 points.

The Ravens improved to 7-3 in league and 15-11 overall for the season.

*****

Torrey Pines rebounded from a three-game skid with two wins to close out the regular season.

The Falcons defeated Rancho Bernardo 66-42 in a Palomar League game on Feb. 14, and then beat Ramona 50-42 three days later.

Alex Helfrich scored 23 points and Mia Gallo scored 22 points to lead the Falcons in the Rancho Bernardo game. Sarah Lawrence added 11 points.

Lawrence and Helfrich each scored 13 points to lead the Falcons in the Ramona game.

The Falcons improved to 4-6 in league and 13-14 overall for the season.

Boys soccer:
Torrey Pines defeated Ramona 3-1 in a Palomar League game on Feb. 16.

Parker Klein scored one goal and also had an assist. Falcons goalie Dean Meltz had seven saves.

The Falcons improved to 7-2-1 in league and 18-5-3 overall for the season.

Girls soccer:
Cathedral Catholic defeated Coronado 1-0 in a Western League finale for both teams on Feb. 14.

Betsy Muirhead scored the game’s only goal off an assist from Tamara Gomez.

Lizzie Stabile had two saves, combining with Hanna Macaulay for the shutout.

The Dons improved to 5-1-2 in league and 14-6-5 overall for the season.

Paul Vanosky, Dan Pittard

The Village Church and Rancho Santa Fe Foundation featured British Gen. Graham Hollands at their Viewpoints event Feb. 19 at the church Fellowship Center. Hollands, said to provide “a soldier’s insight and an unmatched knowledge of history,” gave a lecture on D-Day and the Normandy invasion. Hollands lectures regularly on the Queen Mary 2 and has appeared on the Discovery Channel and the BBC as an expert commentator on D-Day and the Battles for Normandy. The goal of the lecture series is to inform, inspire and impact by providing a forum in which individuals, renown in their field, share their knowledge, wisdom and experience with members of the Rancho Santa Fe community. www.villageviewpoints.com. Photos: Jon Clark