Retiree to Meuser: Strike One

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Dear Mr. Meuser:

My name is (name withheld by request) living in Lima, Ohio. I retired in 1989 after 31 years in Ohio as a successful educator. During the past few years I have closely monitored STRS. My wife has MAJOR health issues and, in my opinion, STRS has failed to deliver on their promise to provide quality and affordable health insurance. I am fortunate to have the resources to pay for the premium for insurance, Medicare premium, co-payments for the prescriptions, and co-payments for the medical coverage.

Mr. Meuser, some of my former associates do not have the money to pay these benefits.

This past week you voted to NOT require the executive director to provide documentation on any contract over $100,000. This is a reasonable requirement to expect Dr. Asbury to explain to the board, and to the retirees how OUR money is being spent. Obviously you do not agree with this position, or you were totally unprepared for issues that were on the agenda for the monthly board meeting.

Wake up Mr. Meuser! We cannot afford to have you sleeping on the job.

If this were baseball, the call would be Strike 1. Unfortunately, this is not baseball, but the retirement funds of the many dedicated educators who rely on you to treat THEIR funds with respect. You failed at the October meeting.

We will all be watching your batting average. Listen to Dr. Leone and John Lazarus. They know what is going on and what is not going on. Read the study of the corruption that has occurred in pervious years. Please listen to the concerns of the retirees.

Thank you for your interest in STRS. I hope I can say next time, Thank you for your dedication. That remains to be seen in future months.