Paul Boyer to STRS Board: Do not appoint Tim Myers

From Paul Boyer, October 8, 2006
Friends, here is my letter to the Board concerning the desire of Tim Myers to be appointed to the board to fill the vacancy of Mike Billirakis. I hope it does some good. We need many letters to be written to help them make the right decision. Some of the quotations were furnished to me by others.

Paul

From: Paul Boyer To: Steven Puckett ; Mary Flannagan ; John Lazares ; Jeff Chapman ; Geoffrey Meyers ; Dr. Dennis Leone ; Constance Ramser ; Mark Meuser ; Tom Johnson
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 3:46 PM

Subject: Appointment

Ladies and Gentlemen of the STRS board:

It has come to my attention that Tim Myers has gone on record to be appointed to the position vacated by Mike Billirakis. There is a rumor going around that high ranking OEA officers feel that he will be appointed. That would be a disaster and I would like to give some evidence to that statement. If the board member's minds are already made up, then it seems to me that that would be a violation of due procedure.

I have known Tim for many years, going back to the days of my teaching and I retired in 1985. Tim is a very radical young man and if he becomes a member of the board then the board will never be able to get anything done. I feel very strongly about this, as do many other retirees, and if there were any way that I could keep him off I would do so but I think the most I can do is to write this letter to you and appeal to your good sense.

Some time ago, Tim and I had an exchange of emails and I am going to print them here. Please read the bottom one first and progress to the top.

"Paul, we just disagree on whose version of the story is correct. Or for that matter whether Mr. Leone is a savior or a crack pot."

"Tim, all I can say, then, is that if you were there when all of the misspending was going on, then you must be blind and hearing impaired or just too plainly stubborn to agree with the facts of the case.

Paul"

-----

From: Tim Myers
To: Paul Boyer

Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Subject: Re: article

"You are correct, you will never convince me. I was there before Leone started." (He also said that "changes were underway before he (Leone) stirred things up. That is absolutely wrong.)

"Sorry, Tim, there were no changes made until we started complaining about the misspending. Mr. Dyer and the Board were going right on spending as though, as Mr. Dyer replied to a retiree, (paraphrased) "The money is not yours; it is the Board's to spend as it sees fit". That is totally contrary to ORC 3307.15."

"I know that I will never convince you but I am sticking to my guns."

Here is some more. After he wrote to me what he did, several people (like John Curry) wrote to him and ripped him. He wrote back to Curry on June 12, 2003, and said, among other things:

"Did you read the article about STRS in the Plain Dealer. It gives an objective report on the problem. They did some of their own research, and found too many flaws in Leone's accusations."

Molly (Janczyk) blasted him after he wrote the above, challenging him to cite one single time the Plain Dealer found a "flaw" in my accusations. In fact, ALL that the Steve Ohlemacher wrote that day (6-8-03) was based on my research. Four days after Ohlemacher's article, the Plain Dealer editor praised me in a newspaper editorial. Myers never responded to Molly's repeated requests for a single example of his stupid statement.

Also, later in the 6-13-03 letter to Curry, Myers wrote:

"Don't get me wrong, I do not trust Herb Dyer, but I do trust the teachers on the board, Joe Endry and two of the three statutory representatives." That sounds like that means he trusted 8 of the 9 STRS Board members.

Let's see, when Myers wrote the above, members on the STRS Board included Jack Chapman (convicted), Hazel Sidaway (convicted), Eugene Norris (convicted), Debbie Scott (convicted), Michael Billirakis (convicted), Joe Endry (convicted), Betty Montgomery (removed pursuant to SB 133), and Jim Petro (removed pursuant to SB 133). Interesting that 8 of the 9 STRS Board members that Myers apparently trusted were either convicted in court or removed from the board for being asleep at the switch.

Mr. Myers is quite a judge of character, isn't he.

I feel compelled, in closing, to remind you of the words of ORC 3307.15.

The board and other fiduciaries shall discharge their duties with respect to the funds "solely" in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries; for the "exclusive" purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the system; with care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with these matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims; and by diversifying the investments of the system so as to minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so.

Does this not also apply to your consideration of who you appoint to fill a vacancy? Please give true diligence to this matter as your debate and vote on the appointee.

Paul L. Boyer

Retired since 1985

Life member OEA/OEA-R, NEA, ORTA, CORE Proud to be named a "core" of CORE

These are actual copies that are filed in my computer. Please do some investigation on your own before you make the appointment.

Paul L. Boyer