Tom Curtis to Marilyn Eckhart re: CORE meeting, endorsements

From: Tom Curtis
To: Marilyn Eckhart
Sent: January 22, 2006
Subject: Curtis Resp To Eckhart, Re CORE Meeting, Endorsements

Good morning Marilyn,

Thank you for your kind and supportive comments, as always. The current board is at somewhat of a disadvantage right now in that it has 8 of its 11 members with very little experience and virtually no knowledge of the history of the operation of the STRS and the procedures that have to be followed. I believe the STRS management has always handled the board members of the past 10-15 years. I believe this is why some of these things are happening, such as voting for legal agreements without having a document in front of them, only to find that other language was then added when the final version appeared. This is inexcusable and both Dennis Leone and John Lazares objected to such, but were not heard.

We hope we have endorsed two electable candidates. Dr. Thomas Hall, from Miami University ran for the seat left by Jack Chapman when he retired in 2004, but the OEA controlled board selected Conni Ramser for the position. She was an OEA executive committee member, which has usually been a prerequisite of the OEA. Conni in my opinion was not nearly as qualified, as was Tom Hall, with his entire background in economics and as a professor of such. But, the OEA controlled the board and always elects their own candidates. They have had no consideration for anyone that is not one of theirs. In my opinion, they had their many years of controlling the board and here we find ourselves with an under funded health care stabilization fund, which currently is expected to run out of funds in 2018. That is, if another dedicated source if income is not found before then. Tom Hall appears to have the qualities we desire. He is not affiliated with any union, therefore has nothing other to direct his vote then his own personal experience and we feel can be objective and follow ORC 3307.15.

Mark Fredrick was a candidate last year. He is a member of the OFT, but did not seek their endorsement last year. He is not one of the OFT leadership and does not fit the criteria the OEA requires of their candidates. He seems to know all of the issues and wants reform of the STRS. He asked for and was endorsed by the OFT leadership this year, though he professes to be an independent thinker and voter and promises he will not be influenced by the OFT leadership, as the OEA candidates are required to be.

You are correct, only actives, inactives and disability retirees are permitted to vote this year. All of those classifications of STRS members are considered "actives" for the purpose of voting for board members. As far as a donation, you may make such to CORE. You can mail your donation to the following address.

CORE
P.O. Box 141358
Columbus, OH 43214

It would be nice to meet you at a meeting, but you have such a long way to travel to attend such, so that is probably out of the question. Any support you might be able to provide for our candidates would be greatly appreciated. You could help, if you were able to attend your local RTA meetings and ask for the support of those who still know actives. Our greatest obstacle is getting the personal contact with actives. Most people are unwilling to open emails from those they do not know today, for fear of getting a virus in their computer. Consequently, that avenue is open to us, but probably unproductive, unless we personally know the person we would send the email to. If you have any suggestions, please share them with us.

If you know any actives, inactives or disability members of the STRS and can provide a name, address or email address, phone number, etc., I would be happy to contact them and ask for their support and provide them with information. If you would have the ability to get information flyers placed in teacher mailboxes that would be another way of helping.

I will pass along your thanks to those that help in our cause. Please stay healthy and I hope to hear from you again. Your support of our efforts is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Take care, Tom Curtis CORE Advisory Committee Member

From: Marilyn Eckhart
To: Tom Curtis
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Subject: CORE meeting

Tom, I just read your speech you gave about the misdeeds of the STRS chair person and vice chair. It was great! I can't believe that Robert's Rules of Order are not followed. I also read the minutes where CORE interviewed the candidates running for the Board. I agree wholeheartedly with the two we are supporting. Do I understand correctly that only active teachers vote this time? To whom would I send a small donation? Give my thanks to all who work so hard. Wish I could get to a meeting some time, but don't think it will happen. Take care, stay healthy, and keep up the good work.

Marilyn Eckhart