Shelden

Appellant Richard Shelden filed a petition for writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1085) and administrative mandamus (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) alleging respondents Marin County Employees’ Retirement Association (MCERA) and its governing Board of Retirement (Board) calculated his retirement benefits incorrectly. The trial court disagreed and denied the petition. Shelden now appeals arguing the trial court erred when interpreting the controlling statutes. We disagree and will affirm.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Appellant Richard Shelden worked as a deputy sheriff for the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. In the year 2000, Marin County had developed a backlog of approximately 10,000 unserved arrest warrants. Hoping to reduce that backlog, the Marin County Sheriff (Sheriff) decided to create an arrest warrant service team to serve the outstanding warrants. The Sheriff asked Shelden if he wanted to work as a member of the new team. Shelden agreed.

Shelden’s work schedule, like that of all deputy sheriffs in Marin County, was established by a collective bargaining agreement between the county and the local deputy sheriff’s association. Under that agreement, the…