Enlightenment, please......

Just trying to find some answers here. How can spending retiree funds on out-of-state travel for STRS Board members be justified when these people come home and vote to approve multimillion dollar contracts without having the sense to even read them; or allow pension funds to be spent on legal fees for ethically challenged ex-Board members when free legal services were available to them all the time? How is this serving the membership? If we have Board members spending thousands of dollars so they can attend conferences in Chicago and Milwaukee, then we need to be getting thousands of dollars worth of intelligent returns from them when they get back. Hey -- it's our money, isn't it?

In addition to detailed reports on their respective conferences, I believe we have a right to expect intelligent decisions from traveling Board members at all subsequent Board meetings; decisions that will only BENEFIT the membership, as is their moral and ethical duty, and as mandated by ORC 3307.15. Is this too much to ask? Will they be shopping and playing on these trips? Will they be thinking about the many needy retirees back home who could use that money to buy food and medicine? Will they be thinking about the many retirees who are already financially strapped, who will soon be forced to tighten their belts past the last notch to pay for their healthcare premiums so that others can fatten their wallets with big salary increases? Is this another board of "entitled" individuals who will look the other way so they can enjoy the good life while others struggle just to put food on the table? We will most assuredly find out when they return from their trips. They can rest assured their every action will be closely monitored, with high expectations for performance that will benefit ONLY the membership and not themselves. KBB