PENSION BOARD HIRES SANDOVAL AS CEO

San Diego County pension officials have turned to a familiar face to take over the retirement system: longtime county official Tracy Sandoval.

The San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, which manages more than $12 billion on behalf of tens of thousands of current and former county workers, named the county’s assistant chief administrative officer to her new post Oct. 15.

“After conducting a nationwide search which attracted over 80 applicants, Tracy was the board’s unanimous choice to be SDCERA’s chief executive officer,” Chairman Richard Tartre said in a statement.

“Her management skills, experience and financial acumen made her the board’s top choice,” he said.

Sandoval will be the first woman to head the county retirement system. She has been a top official in San Diego County government for more than 20 years, working her way up to the job of senior deputy to CAO Helen Robbins-Meyer.

Sandoval lives in Chula Vista. She earned an accounting degree from New Mexico State University and is a certified public accountant.

She said she is pleased to take over the pension system, which operates independently from the county government. “I am honored to have been selected to lead SDCERA and look forward to serving the more than 45,000 current and former retirees and beneficiaries.”

She succeeds David

Wescoe, who took over the pension fund during a tumultuous period five years ago and steered the agency away from an investment strategy that board members had decided was too risky and led to the departure of the former CEO and top investment adviser.

Wescoe and former Trustee Richard Vortmann left the county pension agency earlier this year. Vortmann was succeeded on the board by Tom Hebrank, a private-sector accountant who also serves on the San Diego Ethics Commission.

The board still has one vacancy to fill. Long time Trustee Samantha Begovich retired from the county and resigned her seat on the Board of Retirement in September.