Tom Curtis: Letters to legislators

WAY TO GO, TOM!! We need for many, many others to follow your example. KBB

From Tom Curtis, December 20, 2006

Subject: 122006 Letters To Senators & Representatives

I have called and sent letters to various Senators and Representatives asking for their support of the appointment of Thomas Hall to the STRS board. Thus far, I have sent to the following:

Senators Dann, Fedor, Harris & Schuring

Representatives Boccieri, Husted, Oelslager, Otterman, Schneider & Williams

I will attempt to find time to send to more.

TC

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From Tom Curtis, December 20, 2006

Subject: 122006 Sen Fedor, Tom Hall & STRS Unfunded Liability
Dear Senator Fedor,
I am writing to request that you please consider and support others who will be recommending Dr. Thomas Hall to fill the vacated position on the STRS board. According to SB133, The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House appoint this position. Geoffrey Myers, the former CFO of Ohio Manor Care recently resigned from his appointment. In my opinion, Mr. Myers though very pleasant when we have spoken, was far removed from the level of income garnished by educators and their concerns for the much-needed reductions in spending and staff at the STRS. He was far to supportive of the spending practices that occurred in the past and continue to this date. During a regular board meeting, he recently told Dennis Leone that issues he has brought to the board were a waste of time, such as actually viewing contracts before voting to approve them. We absolutely do not need board members that will rubber-stamp the continuance of the spending practices and management style that Herb Dyer established while serving as the executive director at the STRS. Much of that wasteful spending still exists today and management continues to fail to respond to stakeholder requests to stop such actions. In my opinion, Tom Hall will not support such actions and will represent the membership with far more experience and knowledge in business practices and finance then others that were elected to the board.

Tom Hall is a professor of economics at Miami University. He has a very adequate background in various areas of finance and should prove to be beneficial to the board. Please review his vitae, which follows. Further, Tom is a contributing member to the STRS and understands the many issues that need to be addressed. Senator, our retirement system is at risk. I personally believe the problem can be corrected, but not by doing business as usual. Please support Tom Hall by asking the President of the Senate to appointment him to the STRS board.

In closing, I would like to bring to your attention an issue I have grave concerns about, the STRS unfunded liability. The most recent 2006 STRS valuation report from Buck Consultants indicates that the unfunded liability has been reduced to 47 years, from 55.5 due to the outstanding returns on investments over the past two years.

In my opinion, this is incorrect and needs immediate attention. One of the numbers used in figuring the unfunded liability, the percent of payroll increase at 4.5% is far from the correct number. The actual number as I view it from the 10-year history listed on page 43 of that report should be 3.2%. If this is true, the STRS unfunded liability is at infinity and that is very disturbing to me. Would you kindly respond to my request and concerns?

If I could arrange a time to speak with you by phone, I will gladly contact you at you convenience. If you would permit me some time to talk with you about the STRS during the Holidays when you are back home in our area, I would appreciate it. I view our unfunded liability as something to be very worried about. Beginning in 2001, STRS retirees started loosing the benefits they were promised when they retired and this has never stopped. We have lost more ground each and every year, while management continues to justify their poor performance in running an efficient operation.
Sincerely,
Thomas Curtis

[Address, phone no.]

[Tom Hall's credentials]

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From Tom Curtis, December 20, 2006

Subject: 122006 Rep Boccieri, Dr Thomas Hall Appointment To STRS Board

Dear Representative Boccieri,

I am writing to request that you please consider and support others who will be recommending Dr. Thomas Hall to fill the vacated position on the STRS board. According to SB133, The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House appoint this position. Geoffrey Myers, the former CFO of Ohio Manor Care recently resigned from his appointment. In my opinion, Mr. Myers though very pleasant when we have spoken, was far removed from the level of income garnished by educators and their concerns for the much-needed reductions in spending and staff at the STRS. He was far to supportive of the spending practices that occurred in the past and continue to this date. During a regular board meeting, he recently told Dennis Leone that issues he has brought to the board were a waste of time, such as actually viewing contracts before voting to approve them. We absolutely do not need board members that will rubber-stamp the continuance of the spending practices and management style that Herb Dyer established while serving as the executive director at the STRS. Much of that wasteful spending still exists today and management continues to fail to respond to stakeholder requests to stop such actions. In my opinion, Tom Hall will not support such actions and will represent the membership with far more experience and knowledge in business practices and finance then others that were elected to the board.

Tom Hall is a professor of economics at Miami University. He has a very adequate background in various areas of finance and should prove to be beneficial to the board. Please review his vitae, which follows. Further, Tom is a contributing member to the STRS and understands the many issues that need to be addressed. Representative, our retirement system is at risk. I personally believe the problem can be corrected, but not by doing business as usual. Please support Tom Hall by asking the Speaker of the House to appointment him to the STRS board.

Sincerely,

Thomas Curtis

[Address, phone no.]

[Tom Hall's credentials]