Tom Curtis to ORTA: Shame on you!

From Tom Curtis, April 6, 2007
Subject: 040607 To The ORTA Executive Committee

April 6, 2007

To The ORTA Executive Committee,

I received my ORTA newsletter yesterday and found that the column Dr. Dennis Leone (one of two retiree representatives on the STRS board) submitted to ORTA for publication this quarter had been omitted.

Shame on all of you who made this decision! This is such a travesty on your part and shows that ORTA is clearly only a social organization and nothing more. This act is the final straw in a long series of failures to support the one person that had the courage and knowledge to step forward and begin a reform process that might save our retirement system from insolvency in the not to distant future.

This decision is a childish act by each of you who perpetrated such a cause. It clearly shows that the mind bank running this organization does not have the capability or vision of being anything greater then a lunch group. ORTA has continually shown me that it is not a strong advocate for the retired teachers' benefits, simply by not supporting Dr. Leone on the many changes he has brought about to date. If it were not for Dennis Leone, our retirement system would be in a far greater financial situation then it is currently, as other states that have had poor management throughout the years.

Those of you that voted for this decision are a disgrace to your profession and violate your statement for existence as an organization. I have lost complete confidence in the ORTA leadership and will strongly advise people to join the only true advocate for STRS retirees, which is CORE (Concerned Ohio Retired Educators).

ORTA Life Member,
Thomas Curtis
Stark County