Tom Curtis and others; an old dialogue: Leadership from ORTA?
Hello Molly,
Hey, it could happen! It just cannot happen quickly due to the huge bureaucracy ORTA has established over the years, which results in the snails pace at which they are able to make decisions. The leadership jobs have become much more demanding and stressful then in the very recent past. It is not just a nice little social order any longer, it has become a task each officer and/or administrator is being forced to deal with.
It may not appear that much is going on at ORTA, but believe me, there is plenty for them to be doing. That is probably one of the many things they despise about CORE. CORE is only focused on improving the situation that got out of hand by a bunch of greedy people. We have been focused on improving retirement for those already retired and all those that will follow. It would appear that ORTA never placed that concern at the top of their priorities. Obviously, they would say that is absurd, but have they? For as many years as that organization has been in operation, they only have ever had one seat on the STRS board. Yes, I understand they have tried to make that change, but let's face it, until Dennis Leone, John Lazares and CORE came on the scene, that was never going to happen for ORTA. It would appear the strongest advocate ORTA ever had was Joe Endry and look at what a disappointment he turned out to be. He almost immediately resigned himself to believing that because he was only one vote, that he could not make a difference, sat back and started enjoying the ride with the OEA leadership.
Heck they have to worry about things such as offering plans for reduced telephone minutes to their members. Is that truly a priority ORTA should be concerning them with? In my opinion, absolutely not!
CORE has been focused all along. We supported Dennis Leone's findings and responded as well to our own feelings of being lied to about our health care. AND WE WERE! They just do not get it. The baby boomers started retiring and damn well want value for their dollar. If they do not get it, they are not going to support people and programs that do not provide that result. They know what they were promised and want it, rightfully so.
Right now the ORTA leadership has to tread water with one hand and do everything else with the other. How is it going to look when they report at the NRTA the next couple of years, that even though they have used the NRTA's $10,000 to design a program for all RTA's to improve their membership, they cannot even improve their own. Would you feel confident about following a plan that was drafted by people that could not understand how to make it work for themselves?
That style of management is responsible for this country not producing many products in the USA. They cannot run a company efficiently and pay the workers well. They have to have labor at minimal cost to cover all the inefficient ways they operate. They cannot at all costs FAIL! That would be unacceptable. Consequently, they think if they hire enough management staff to support decisions they make, they will be successful. That just does not work, as they might expect. Their fear of failure overrides what common sense they possess.
Look for changes at ORTA to begin next year. They cannot possibly work through all their problems in any less time. We have accomplished a lot in two years, but we have been focused. On their behalf, they do have numerous irons in the fire. Maybe some should be reduced, as their membership numbers do not represent that people are flocking to their door to join. I talked with a fellow classmate of mine at my 40th class reunion this summer. She retired from teaching after 35 years in the Cleveland area and had never heard of ORTA. I thought she was pulling my leg, but not so.
That is the sweet side of our success as CORE. We won! We had no officers, constitution, by-laws, or guidelines to hold us back and simply went about our business. Of course they did not choose to have Dennis Leone on their team, so they had a huge handicap. Too bad for them!
What we stated we wanted to see happen just seemed impossible to those in ORTA. Just who did we "Johnny come latelys" think we were? Just what did we think we were going to get accomplished, that they could not for many years.
Take care,
Tom Curtis (10/09/05)
We had high hopes for THIS year with all the 'talk' of looking into all bylaws etc. for needed change giving members expectations for more forward thinking but alas, not to be.
--Molly Janczyk (10/08/05)
I decided a couple of years ago not to renew my ORTA Membership. I hope for a change in ORTA's attitude toward Dr. Leone and CORE. A positive stand for compounded COLAs would go a long way toward convincing me and probably others to rejoin. I could never understand how ORTA could be against the very constituents they claimed to represent! I hope a new president will make things right.
-- Jim Kimmel (10/08/05)
42 States provide compounded COLA's for retirees. Ohio is not one of them. Molly writes to Blin Scatterday, asking ORTA to fight for Compounded COLAs.
-- Nancy Hamant (10/08/05)
Hey, it could happen! It just cannot happen quickly due to the huge bureaucracy ORTA has established over the years, which results in the snails pace at which they are able to make decisions. The leadership jobs have become much more demanding and stressful then in the very recent past. It is not just a nice little social order any longer, it has become a task each officer and/or administrator is being forced to deal with.
It may not appear that much is going on at ORTA, but believe me, there is plenty for them to be doing. That is probably one of the many things they despise about CORE. CORE is only focused on improving the situation that got out of hand by a bunch of greedy people. We have been focused on improving retirement for those already retired and all those that will follow. It would appear that ORTA never placed that concern at the top of their priorities. Obviously, they would say that is absurd, but have they? For as many years as that organization has been in operation, they only have ever had one seat on the STRS board. Yes, I understand they have tried to make that change, but let's face it, until Dennis Leone, John Lazares and CORE came on the scene, that was never going to happen for ORTA. It would appear the strongest advocate ORTA ever had was Joe Endry and look at what a disappointment he turned out to be. He almost immediately resigned himself to believing that because he was only one vote, that he could not make a difference, sat back and started enjoying the ride with the OEA leadership.
Heck they have to worry about things such as offering plans for reduced telephone minutes to their members. Is that truly a priority ORTA should be concerning them with? In my opinion, absolutely not!
CORE has been focused all along. We supported Dennis Leone's findings and responded as well to our own feelings of being lied to about our health care. AND WE WERE! They just do not get it. The baby boomers started retiring and damn well want value for their dollar. If they do not get it, they are not going to support people and programs that do not provide that result. They know what they were promised and want it, rightfully so.
Right now the ORTA leadership has to tread water with one hand and do everything else with the other. How is it going to look when they report at the NRTA the next couple of years, that even though they have used the NRTA's $10,000 to design a program for all RTA's to improve their membership, they cannot even improve their own. Would you feel confident about following a plan that was drafted by people that could not understand how to make it work for themselves?
That style of management is responsible for this country not producing many products in the USA. They cannot run a company efficiently and pay the workers well. They have to have labor at minimal cost to cover all the inefficient ways they operate. They cannot at all costs FAIL! That would be unacceptable. Consequently, they think if they hire enough management staff to support decisions they make, they will be successful. That just does not work, as they might expect. Their fear of failure overrides what common sense they possess.
Look for changes at ORTA to begin next year. They cannot possibly work through all their problems in any less time. We have accomplished a lot in two years, but we have been focused. On their behalf, they do have numerous irons in the fire. Maybe some should be reduced, as their membership numbers do not represent that people are flocking to their door to join. I talked with a fellow classmate of mine at my 40th class reunion this summer. She retired from teaching after 35 years in the Cleveland area and had never heard of ORTA. I thought she was pulling my leg, but not so.
That is the sweet side of our success as CORE. We won! We had no officers, constitution, by-laws, or guidelines to hold us back and simply went about our business. Of course they did not choose to have Dennis Leone on their team, so they had a huge handicap. Too bad for them!
What we stated we wanted to see happen just seemed impossible to those in ORTA. Just who did we "Johnny come latelys" think we were? Just what did we think we were going to get accomplished, that they could not for many years.
Take care,
Tom Curtis (10/09/05)
We had high hopes for THIS year with all the 'talk' of looking into all bylaws etc. for needed change giving members expectations for more forward thinking but alas, not to be.
--Molly Janczyk (10/08/05)
I decided a couple of years ago not to renew my ORTA Membership. I hope for a change in ORTA's attitude toward Dr. Leone and CORE. A positive stand for compounded COLAs would go a long way toward convincing me and probably others to rejoin. I could never understand how ORTA could be against the very constituents they claimed to represent! I hope a new president will make things right.
-- Jim Kimmel (10/08/05)
42 States provide compounded COLA's for retirees. Ohio is not one of them. Molly writes to Blin Scatterday, asking ORTA to fight for Compounded COLAs.
-- Nancy Hamant (10/08/05)
Labels: CORE, Dennis Leone, Joe Endry, John Lazares, OEA, ORTA
posted by Kathie Bracy at 12:09 AM
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