Minutes of CORE meeting 1/19/06: Four STRS Board candidates interviewed; two endorsed: Hall and Fredrick

The CORE Advisory Board met at STRS on Thursday, January 19th, 2006 at 11:45. In attendance were Kathie Bracy, Dave Parshall, Chuck Chapman, Nancy Boomhower, Betty Bell, Tom Curtis, Chuck Angeletti, Mary Ellen Angeletti, and Ryan Holderman substituting for Nancy Hamant who is in Texas for the winter.

The 11:45 meeting was dedicated to meeting and interviewing four of the nine STRS Board candidates. Tom Curtis served as moderator for this part of the CORE meeting. Tom opened the meeting by welcoming the large crowd of CORE members and visitors attending in the Sublett Room. He recognized special guests Blin Scatterday of ORTA, Ann Hanning of ORTA, and Lou DiOrio of the Ohio Council of Higher Education Retired as well as STRS Board members.

Next he introduced each of the candidates and thanked them for coming. They were Dr. John K. Brackett from the University of Cincinnati & a professor of African-American Studies & Renaissance Italy, Mark Fredrick from the Cleveland Municipal Schools & an English teacher, Dr. Thomas E. Hall from Miami University & a professor of Economics, and Mark Meuser from Gahanna-Jefferson City Schools & a math teacher.

Each of the candidates were then asked eight questions sent in by CORE members to which each gave a two minute answer on a rotating basis. At the end of this question and answer period and because there was ample time, Tom entertained questions from the audience and five more questions were answered in the same format as before. During this question and answer session, Mary Ellen Angeletti, Nancy Boomhower, Ryan Holderman, and Molly Janczyk served as scribes for each candidate. The session was also tape recorded for CORE's review. The meeting was adjourned at 12:55 so that all could attend the resumption of the STRS Board meeting on the 6th floor.

Following the Public Speaks portion of the STRS Board meeting, the CORE group met again in the Sublett Room to hold our regular monthly meeting and also to discuss the candidates from the morning interview. CORE members shared what they considered to be pros and cons for each candidate, and there was lengthy discussion and good participation.

Mark Fredrick was dynamic, well-rounded, and connected with his audience. He was adamant that he would be an independent thinker, and his answers centered on his desire to work for the membership. Mark is also endorsed by OFT. He assured us that he would be well-informed on all of the issues before voting, or he would not vote. As a literature teacher, he is experienced with plowing through stacks of reading material and finds this an exciting challenge in which he is personally vested for both himself and his wife as educators.

Tom Hall has a strong background in areas pertinent to being a Board member, namely economics, finance, and the stock market. His resume contains an impressive list of books and articles he has written on financial topics. He is determined to find solutions for STRS membership benefits and health care. He expressed concern that STRS problems were uncovered and confronted externally instead of internally, and he said he would work to ensure that such a situation never occurs again. Professor Hall's schedule at Miami University is due to become freer as he will only have classes two days a week versus three days a week.

Mark Meuser was gracious, and we are happy that he came to meet us. Many of his statements seemed well-founded and grounded in wishing to help the membership of STRS. He stated that he was endorsed by OEA and would probably vote according to their thinking most of the time. It was because of this statement that members felt CORE could not endorse him as voting along 'party lines' is not what CORE is about. We are interested in independent thinkers. CORE was very interested in Dr. Brackett and Dr. Hall as they are both university professors. It is important to have a higher education level member on the Board as many are not as versed in STRS issues, and they would be representing an entire body of membership.

John Brackett seemed to be a learned gentleman but his lack of understanding of STRS issues was a concern to CORE. While Professor Brackett would no doubt be a quick study, it was felt that Dr. Hall's economic, investment, and finanacial background made for an easier transition and therefore was an additional asset for him. Of the four candidates, CORE members favored Tom Hall and Mark Fredrick. Both Hall and Fredrick expressed outrage at the past spending abuses by the STRS Board and staff and were well aware of Dr. Leone's efforts in exposing these abuses.

Bev Rice moved and Nancy Boomhower seconded a motion to endorse two candidates. This motion passed by a vote of 26 to 4. Paul Boyer moved and Leon Knore seconded a motion to endorse Tom Hall's candidacy today. This motion passed by a majority vote. Ryan Holderman moved and Molly Janczyk seconded a motion to endorse Mark Fredrick today. This motion also passed by a majority vote.

Discussion then ensued regarding the passing of petitions by CORE members for both candidates. These petitions must be obtained from STRS and are due to be returned to STRS by Feb. 27th. CORE will hold another similar candidate meeting in February IF any of the other five candidates request CORE support. The same questions will be asked of those candidates as were asked today.

Dave Parshall reported that no contributions were received in December probably due to the time of the year so the balance of the CORE financial fund is the same as reported in December. We need to be more proactive and pass out more CORE yellow pamphlets which have the membership form in them. Lots of these pamphlets were taken today.

There were no suggestions made today concerning additions or changes for the CORE website (www.concernedohio.org) or for the blog site (www.kathiebracy.blogspot.com).

Dave Parshall announced that the next Damon/CORE meeting will be held Thursday, March 16th from 11:00 to 1:00. Anyone who would like to attend this meeting is welcome and should try to be at the Sublett Rm. by 10:30 that morning.

It was announced that the Hazel Sidaway trial has yet again been postponed until February 14th and 15th at 10:30 a.m. in Room 15A at 375 S. High St. in Columbus. We encourage attendance at this trial.

The membership was reminded that the Buck Consultants Study is due to be shared tomorrow, Friday, January 20th at the STRS Board meeting during the morning session. Many are planning on attending to learn of their evaluation of the effects of SB 190 (the 35 year enhancement rule) on the STRS pension system.

Old business issues were discussed. It was determined that active employee contributions to STRS cannot be raised without legislative action. It was also determined that CORE could endorse three candidates for the two open STRS Board seats.

Correspondence to CORE was discussed at today's meeting, and it was decided that Dave Parshall would share it with STRS Board members Leone and Lazarus and then report back to CORE.

The meeting was adjourned around 3:00. The next CORE meeting will be Thursday, February 16th, 2006 at 11:45.

Respectfully submitted by Mary Ellen Angeletti