Ray Ellis: Businessman, philanthropist, public servant
Ray Ellis never thought he’d run for public office. Having spent most of his life building businesses and raising a family, he’s been involved in the community through charitable work, civic service, and youth sports. But when Mayor Jerry Sanders asked him to volunteer to help reform the city pension system by serving on the San Diego City Employees Retirement System Board, Ray couldn’t say no.
As president of the pension board, Ray saw first-hand how our city’s increasing pension liabilities jeopardized the services our families depend on: public safety, roads, parks and libraries. He watched a dysfunctional City Council stagger from one crisis to the next, incapable or unwilling to make the tough decisions needed to get the city back on track.
Serving on the retirement board, Ray was powerless to change the policies passed by the Council. That’s when he decided that the only way to straighten out City Hall and make it work for us again was to run for council himself. He wants to use his experience as a job creator and community leader to make our city government what it should be: effective, accountable, affordable, and transparent.
Ray Ellis moved to San Diego in 1987 and invested every dollar his family had into a marketing company with five employees. With a lot of hard work and some good luck, he built the business into a real success story, with over 200 employees in San Diego and Virginia. After his company was purchased in 2001, Ray became president of a division of a larger company until starting his own consulting firm. These experiences taught Ray how to build businesses and create jobs.
Shortly after coming to San Diego, still building his business, Ray began to get involved in efforts to improve our community. In 1989, Ray joined the Board of Voices for Children, a charity focused on improving the lives of abused children, and worked with others like Second Chance, which helps transition the homeless from the streets into jobs.
Ray found his passion in philanthropy and public service. Over the last six years, Ray started a second career in volunteer philanthropy and public service. In addition to the pension board, he is a board member of the Balboa Park Conservancy, a non-profit foundation that raises funds to improve Balboa Park. He is the board chair of San Diego Social Venture Partners, which cultivates and connects volunteers with non-profit organizations. And as a board member of The Parker Foundation, an endowment that funds charitable efforts leading to the betterment of life for the people of San Diego County, he helps foster other charitable work in the city.
Ray Ellis views his candidacy for City Council as a continuation of his community service. He is an unusual candidate: a successful job-creator turned community philanthropist with real government experience. He knows how to get things done. He is not afraid to make tough decisions. Ray isn’t running for city council to play the political game, he’s running to turn our city around. Ray has experienced and sees the wonderful potential for San Diego. He wants to ensure our city is a vibrant place to live and work for future generations.
Ray Ellis Announces He Will Not Accept Any Pension and Will Donate Salary
Businessman Ray Ellis announced this week that he will not be taking a city pension or accepting any city retirement benefits if he is elected to the City Council. Ellis has never run for public office and has no taxpayer funded retirement of any kind. Ellis also announced the he will not be accepting any taxpayer funded salary while on the City Council. Instead, Ellis will be donating part of his salary back to the City in order to offset the high cost of Sherri Lightner’s pension and the remainder of his salary to charitable causes that focus on improving the lives of others in the San Diego community.
Incumbent politician Sherri Lightner has one of the most expensive pensions of anybody working for the City. Lightner pays less into her own pension than other employee classifications and allows the taxpayers to cover the largest share. In 4 years Sherri Lightner will pay less than $24,000 into her pension while taxpayers will pay nearly $100,000. The San Diego Union-Tribune estimates Lightner’s lifetime pension payout to be above $500,000 for just 8 years of service if she were to be reelected in 2012.
“The fact that Sherri Lightner’s own pension is one of the most lavish pensions in San Diego is probably why she has been so resistant to meaningful pension reform,” said Ellis. “What kind of message is Ms. Lightner sending to the taxpayers who pay for her pension or to other City employees who pay considerably more for their pensions – this is a complete lack of leadership.”
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