Minutes of May 15, 2008 CORE meeting

Minutes for the CORE Meeting held on May 15, 2008 at the STRS building Columbus Ohio

The May 15, 2008 CORE meeting was called to order by President Dave Parshall at 11:40 a.m. Dave immediately introduced STRS Board member John Lazares. Mr. Lazares spoke to the CORE members in attendance for more than 40 minutes. John thanked CORE for its support of him and Dennis Leone over the years, and he urged CORE to continue constituted as it has been in the past because there is still a great need for a watchdog group to protect our pension. He pointed to the term limits guiding our state legislature. Because of term limits most legislators are no longer a members of OPERS. Thus the temptation will grow even greater in the future to alter our pension, or to use our pension fund to fund state projects or to help balance the budget. This has already happened in other states.

After Mr. Lazares left, the business meeting was called to order. The reading of the minutes was dispensed with and the treasurer's report was given by Dave Parshall for C.J. Myers. We had more than 42 checks in our mail box last week. Thanks will be sent to many of those members contributing and a general alert thanking all who sent donations, and reminding members to continue to dig deep, as CORE’s work must go forward. Under Old Business the recent election results were discussed. Dave Parshall and Nancy Hamant put the results in perspective. Only 32,000 out of a possible nearly 200,000 active teachers even bothered to vote. We were outspent by OEA by a ton, but even with all their money spent there was a poor turnout. CORE’s name was sent out to all corners of the state and much was learned about possible strategies for our next election efforts.

Under New Business the future of CORE was finalized after a three month discussion. It was decided that CORE must to go forward and that we need to keep the organization and constitution as before. Members stepped forward to fill and complete the needed board seats and slate of officers for the fall election when new terms of office begin. Ryan Holderman was asked and agreed to write a constitutional amendment to reinstate annual dues at the $10.00 level. They will be due and collected at our annual meeting in September. This was agreed upon by a unanimous vote. The amendment will be discussed/reviewed at our June meeting and voted on at our August meeting. Dave thanked all who stepped forward to serve. The new brochure was discussed and copies of ideas from Molly Janczyk were handed out. The need for bullet points was discussed and a call for more ideas was made. Members were encouraged to send suggestions to Dave Parshall. CORE President Dave Parshall handed out copies of his written rebuttal to the talking points found on the Whitehall School District Education Association web site. It will be (has been) sent out to all CORE members to use as they wish. Dave will send a personal copy and cover letter to the President of the Whitehall Education Association.

Members in attendance: Dave Parshall, Ruby and Herman Fisher, Nancy Hamant, George Justice, Kathie Bracy, Carole DePaola, Marie Fetters, Ryan Holderman, Donna Thorp, Nancy Boomhower, Mary Thomas, Molly Ganz, Boyd Kultus, Lou DiOrio, Lloyd Knudsen and Barbara Carvey.

Minutes compiled by Dave Parshall and Marie Fetters