10 Questions for David B. Wescoe, Administrator/CEO of San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System

David B. Wescoe has been the administrator/CEO of the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System since May 2006.

Before that, David was executive director of Messner & Smith Investment Management, an independent investment advisory firm in San Diego.

His professional experience includes serving as the chief financial officer and general counsel of NYSE-listed companies, as a partner in private law practice and as counsel to two commissioners of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

David received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a bachelor’s from the University of Kansas. David has served as a director of the La Jolla Music Society, a member of San Diego Social Venture Partners, chair of the KPBS Planned Giving Advisory Committee and a member of the Development Committee of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

David’s wife, Sibyl, is a physician in private practice in La Jolla. They have four children.

Q: What brought you to La Jolla?

When we were living in Milwaukee, our son Ben, then a sophomore in high school, set a goal of playing golf in college. He said he’d like to move to a warmer climate so he could play year round. It took us two minutes to decide to move and another 10 seconds to pick La Jolla. The move has been a transforming event for the entire Wescoe family, including Ben, who is now playing golf at Yale.

Q: What makes La Jolla special to you?

The warmth of its people and climate.

Q: Who or what inspires you?

People who pursue their passion.

Q: What are you currently reading?

Today’s New York Times, this week’s New Yorker and Economist, and a bunch of books that I’m half-way through.

Q: What is your motto or philosophy of life?

Life is good, but nothing is easy.

Q: What is your most prized possession?

My martini shaker.

Q: What do you do for fun?

Make martinis!

Q: If you could snap your fingers and have it done, what might you add, subtract or improve in La Jolla?

I would like to see our public policy decision making improved by focusing on facts and civility, making sound decisions and then moving ahead. There is too much negative energy spent on issues for too long without any decisions being made or implemented.

Q: If you hosted a dinner party for eight, whom (living or deceased) would you invite?

Woody Allen, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Miles Davis, Jodi Foster, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Phillip Roth and Tiger Woods.

Q: Please describe your greatest accomplishment.

Raising four kids.