Nugent testified his obligation as a trustee was to members of the city's pension plan which prompted Ferguson's lawyer, Rod Gillis to ask what was his obligation to the city. Nugent told the court to suggest this was self serving was wrong and the makeup of the Pension Board was not some scheme concocted by employees.
The trial heard about how the comparison of Saint John's pension plan problems with those in San Diego came about. The Pension Board objected to the comparison because of lawsuits and a fraud investigation into San Diego's pension plan.
Ferguson's lawyer Rod Gillis pointed out it was former City Finance Commissioner and Provincial Auditor-General Darryl Wilson who emailed Ferguson suggesting San Diego had similar pension problems as Saint John. It was Wilson who suggested someone from Saint John should contact the people in San Diego.
Gillis told the court eliminating early retirement in 2005 would have saved more than 32 million dollars and deindexing would have saved another 29 million when the pension plan's deficit was 45 million dollars.
