Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being from Chicago I say it's a good thing to pay down the pension obligations. Pension obligations can cause a lot of problems in the future. Although I don't believe governments should be growing their budgets aggressively, squaring gov obligations is a good thing.
Why do government pensions even exist anymore? There is absolutely no reason for them and they need to go. The government can pay a reasonable salary if they wanted skilled workers.
Government doesn't even pay a reasonable salary + benefits for many positions including pensions, in overall monetary value, and the public and politicians aren't generally interested in fixing that.