Tom Curtis to STRS Board: Bonuses and inexcusable behavior of Board officers

From Tom Curtis
December 11, 2005

Hello Board Members,

Just for reference, attached are the salaries and the amount of bonuses those of you, who voted for such, just awarded to the STRS non-investment staff.

I am sure most of you have received bonuses of these amounts for doing your jobs. Right? I would think Ms. Fisher and Mr. Myers have received such, if not more then any of these people, but I doubt any of the others of you have.

It is my hope that the board will continue to reward the STRS staff commensurate to the job performed and commensurate to what that person could find elsewhere. However, I highly doubt that we received value for the dollars spent for the majority of those listed. Many of these bonuses are purely gifts of our money.

When are the stakeholders going to be considered this seriously? All we ever receive are excuses for why we are not entitled to anymore then we currently receive. It is obvious, as I indicated in my 3-minute presentation last Thursday, that there certainly was no concern that I lost a spousal subsidy and the buying power of over 1/3rd of my pension. Isn't that what 3307.15 is all about? Please be highly conscious of getting value for our dollar. I realize that thought is different for each of you, but do we have quality evaluation policies in place that actually justifies the salaries listed?

As I explained to the IFS consultants (company hired to complete the performance audit for the ORSC) last year, the people you represent, the stakeholders, find the salaries and bonuses to be far from what any of us ever received while we toiled in our jobs. I for one spent as many hours in my teaching profession and related duties as any of these people and would gladly match my dedication to such and hours spent each year with any of them.

Have we made any progress in changing the 37-1/2 hour workweek that has been discussed for 3 years now? If not, why not?

On another issue, I find the chair and co-chair to be out of line and ask for some support from the rest of the board in discussing their performance with them. My concerns are these. Bob Brown called Dennis Leone out of order in October for attempting to respond to a public speaker. Dr. Leone was not out of order and I have heard no apology for such. Conni Ramser called for an objection of Dr. Leone's addendum motion even prior to his finishing his statement, which she demanded to be made in a particular manner to begin with. This behavior is unacceptable from a chair and co-chair. If this continues, I will file a complaint with the State Attorney General's office asking for censure and possible removal from their position, if this behavior continues. The attempts to keep Dr. Leone from having his input are becoming very alarming. I for one will no longer accept this behavior from two board members that were not elected to the board by the membership. They represent the prior board, not the membership.

Consequently, neither of them truly represents what the membership has asked for. Secondly, it is unfortunate that these two board members, who obviously do not possess the skills to hold the positions they have obtained by default of anyone else being eligible, or desiring to hold the two positions. Mike Billirakis should be the chair, as he has the most experience and status on the board. I am very troubled with this situation. Further, if Conni Ramser is elected next year, should I assume she would become the chairperson of the board next year?

Thank you,

Tom Curtis